The East Carolina Pirates from Conference USA will play the Louisiana Lafayette Rajin Cajuns from the Sun Belt Conference in the New Orleans Bowl in an NCAA college football game on Saturday afternoon on December 22nd. Kick off time from New Orleans Louisiana is set for 12PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ESPN.
The betting odds opened up in this New Orleans Bowl with the Louisiana Lafayette Rajin Cajuns favored by -5 ½ points with an over under line of 64 points. Early money from the bettors has landed on the underdog as Louisiana Lafayette is now favored by -5 points. The total has not moved off the opening line of 64 points.
This is the first meeting between East Carolina and Louisiana Lafayette since way back in the 1990 season where East Carolina posted the 20-10 road win as a +2 ½ point underdog. CFB Trend: Louisiana Lafayette Rajin Cajuns are 4-1 ATS in their past five games.
East Carolina concluded their play in the 2012 regular season at 8-4 on the season. They closed out strong with three straight wins and five wins in their past six games. Their four losses came against their four toughest opponents in South Carolina, North Carolina, Navy and Central Florida by double digits and all on the road. The Pirates struggled in pass defense as the club surrendered 272 yards per game ranking 110th in the country. They allow nearly 31 points a game which is 86th in all of college football. On offense the push across 31 points a game and are a good passing team with 272 yards per game which is 35th best in college football. Quarterback Shane Carden a sophomore threw for 21 touchdowns and 9 picks with a 67% completion percentage.
The Louisiana Lafayette Rajin Cajuns finished off play with a record of 8-4 on the year. It was a nice run to the finish for the Sun Belt conference club winning three straight and four of their past five games. On November 10th the team traveled to Florida and was very competitive in a 27-20 road defeat as a +27 ½ point underdog. Their other losses cane at Oklahoma St and North Texas with a home defeat to Arkansas St. Their most impressive win came on the road to Louisiana Monroe by a 40-24 margin as a +8 ½ point underdog. The Rajin Cajuns is poor defending the pass as the team allows 283 yards per game ranking 115th in college football. On offense they score about 35 points a game and allow 27 points. Sophomore quarterback Terrance Broadway had 16 touchdowns and 8 picks on the season with a 65% completion percentage.