FSU football: Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns preview and prediction

FSU football (7-3, 5-3 ACC) has been rolling since their bye week three weeks ago. The Noles have secured bowl eligibility for the first time since 2019 and have a decent shot to reach 10 wins(with a bowl win) for the first time since 2016.

They will take on a team from the Sunbelt Conference in the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (5-5, 3-4 Sunbelt) Saturday at noon.

FSU will be the lone Power 5 team they face this year and enter the game as +24 betting underdogs. The over/under point total is 52, which implies a 38-14 FSU football win.

I wrote about three Louisiana-Lafayette facts Thursday, mostly centered around how different this team is compared to last year and all the changes they’ve gone through with then-head coach Billy Napier taking the job at Florida.

I’m not going to spend too much time breaking this game down. This is a game FSU football should win handily and says more about where FSU is as a program than anything regarding Louisiana.

FSU has a large edge in the trenches and everywhere else. However, Louisiana has an opportunistic defense, and FSU has the propensity to turn the ball over at least once every game. FSU’s defense should defend the run well and stifle the Ragin Cajuns offensively.

Louisiana has one receiver that’s responsible for most of their production, but FSU has defended better receivers this season.

The Noles should continue their streak of 200 yards rushing unless they want to use this game to work on the pass. As long as they don’t turn the ball over multiple times, this game should be over early in the second half.

However, it is a noon kickoff, and the Noles have only played at noon one other time this season. They started off sloppy in that game before getting it together and running through Georgia Tech.

This one might start similarly, but we should see the FSU backups getting some reps to continue building quality depth. I’m going FSU 41-10.