Louisiana Vs. Marshall Betting Odds, Picks, and Predictions (12/18/21)

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana Vs. Marshall

The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl features the local Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (11-1) and Marshall (7-5). Louisiana is coming into this one with 12 straight wins and their only loss this year came in the opening week against Texas. Coming off a Sun Belt championship win, this team is only a four-point favorite against Marshall. A lot of their success has come on playing terrific defense and having a strong run-game to pair with it. Marshall is a pass-happy team, throwing 57% of the time this year, led by Grant Wells. A test of two different offenses will make for an interesting nightcap on Saturday’s bowl games.

Louisiana Vs. Marshall Betting Odds

Louisiana Ragin Cajuns Betting Odds

An impressive 2021 season can be capped off this weekend by a win over Marshall. It will have to come under a coaching change as Billy Napier took over the Florida job a few weeks ago, leaving Michael Desormeaux to lead the way for Louisiana. While we tend to get caught up in coaching changes around bowl season, I am not too worried about this one. He has had some time to prepare now and this is a group of older classmen.

Quarterback, Levi Wallace will play his final college game and has had a successful career. He doesn’t turn the ball over, which is a big plus for this offense, and has some rushing upside as well. Louisiana’s rushing attack is really the strength of this offense and they don’t have one face carrying it. Chris Smith, Montrell Johnson, and Emani Bailey all have chipped in this season and have been tremendous on the ground.

While the offensive line is a bit banged up, Marshall has allowed 189.7 yards per game on the ground this season, often surrendering 200+ yard games. Finishing off drives will be key for Louisiana as Marshall has allowed 22 points per game. Negating the pass rush and being able to produce on the ground will be big for Louisiana in this one.

Defensively, Louisiana has an edge here ranking 53rd in defensive FEI, per Football Outsiders. They allowed just 6.5 yards per pass and 180.3 passing yards per game. This ranked top 20 in the NCAA. Against a pass-heavy offense, they will have their hands full.

Marshall Thundering Herd Betting Odds

As mentioned above, Marshall is a team that likes to air it out. They ranked top-30 in yards per pass and yards per game through the air. They also put up 34 points per game. The matchup will be tricky against this Louisiana defense that allowed just 18.3 points per game this season and was tough to beat on third down. Trying to get anything going on the ground will be tough as they averaged just 135 yards per game and Louisiana’s defense held teams to just 3.9 yards per carry.

Grant Wells had a 67% completion percentage this season and had 14 touchdowns, but the interceptions reached the double-digits and giveaways were somewhat of an issue for Marshall this season. Corey Gammage is a name to watch in this one, who boasts 69 catches this season and is the top pass-catcher on the team. It is a talented group of wideouts but the matchup will be tough.

Pointing towards Rasheen Ali as an x-factor in this one would be easy if it was a better matchup. He has rushed for 1,241 yards on the season and found the end zone 17 times, yet this Ragin Cajun defense isn’t giving up much on the ground. Marshall’s offensive line is going to have to have one of their best performances on the season. Louisiana was tied with Cincinnati in sacks this season (37) ranking 26th.

Louisiana Vs. Marshall Picks & Prediction

The ground game will be too much for Marshall to handle throughout four quarters and it is going to go hand-in-hand with Louisiana’s defense to make it a tougher day for Marshall. While this will be a closer game throughout, I expect Louisana to win by a touchdown and the under to hit. This is essentially a home game for them and I won’t be making too much of the coaching changes over the last few weeks. Louisiana has been a stout team all year long and I expect them to finish the season strong and hit win number 13 on the year.

My Pick: Louisiana 27-20, ULL Covers, Under 55.5