New Orleans Bowl: UL Lafayette vs. Tulane

Rich Douglas

Matchup: UL Lafayette vs. Tulane
Line: Tulane -2.5. Total 49.5
Location: New Orleans, LA ~ Superdome

Louisiana State pride is on the line between two teams that should give their best efforts in New Orleans.

Keys to Victory for UL Lafayette
-At first glance, I thought that making UL Lafayette underdogs of any kind in this matchup was ridiculous. I then found out that star QB Terrance Broadway is listed as doubtful with a wrist injury. Sophomore QB Brooks Haack may be looked at to take over for the Rajun Cajuns. The difference in winning and losing will likely come down to the way Haack responds to starting duties.
-Justin Anderson is an absolute beast of a linebacker. He has 124 tackles on the season which is good for 12th in the nation, and leads an underrated aggressive Defense.
-Broadway is a big part of the running game that averages 206 yards per game, but Alonso Harris and Elijah McGuire will have to carry the load as Haack is more of a pro style QB. Harris and McGuire both eclipsed 800 yards and combined for 20 TDs. McGuire is the more explosive back and is averaging nearly 9 yards per carry on 92 rushes.

Keys to Victory for Tulane
-Nick Montana will have to be more accurate. Montana's biggest knock is that while he has a big arm, he just hasn't shown the accuracy necessary to become a big time QB. He's only completing 53% of his passes while gaining 5.7 Yards/Attempt due to the low completion rate.
-Lorenzo Doss is tied for second in the nation in interceptions with 7, and is the leader of a defense that has put together some nice performances. Doss was named a second team All-American last week.
-Speaking of defense, they'll likely have to do what they've been doing all season. Limit rushing yards allowed. They're 16th in the nation allowing just 120 yards per game, and are 22nd in scoring defense with 21 points allowed per game. Remove an outlying loss to Syracuse where they allowed 52 points early in the season and you're looking at a team allowing under 20 points per game.
-Senior DE Julius Warmsley and LB Nico Marley made the All-Conference USA first team and have disrupted backfields all season.

Outcome: Tulane is 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games, and 9-3 overall on the season. They've largely exceeded expectations due to their defense. If Broadway were starting, UL Lafayette would have the clear advantage, but because he's out, there is a lot of uncertainty as to the outcome of this game.