The Louisiana Monroe Warhawks and the Alabama Crimson Tide meet Saturday in college football action from Bryant-Denny. Here’s an Alabama vs Louisiana Monroe prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Alabama vs Louisiana Monroe pick.
Louisiana Monroe Warhawks Betting Preview
Louisiana Monroe will be looking to make some improvements over last season, which was a pretty disappointing campaign (granted, in a rebuilding year under new head coach Bryant Vincent). The Warhawks ended up going 5-7 overall in 2024, posting a 3-5 record in Sun Belt matchups. That effort would give Louisiana-Monroe a fifth-place finish in the West Division of the conference, finishing ahead of only Troy and Southern Miss. The good news is that LA-Monroe started out a nice 5-1 with a loss to only Texas in there. The final six games were all losses to South Alabama, Marshall, Texas State, Auburn, Arkansas State and Louisiana in succession, however.
The Warhawks were back in action last Thursday versus St. Francis PA in their opener. Louisiana-Monroe didn’t have too many difficulties in that game, scoring points in every quarter on the way to a 29-0 blowout victory. QB Aidan Armenta threw for 95 yards, one TD and one interception among his 12-of-23 passing alongside a rush score. Landon Graves added 28 yards and a passing TD as well. Leading the rush was Braylon McReynolds with 11 totes for 113 yards. Tyler Griffin was tops among receivers on three catches for 32 yards and a touchdown of his own.
Alabama Crimson Tide Betting Preview
Over on the Tide’s side, they were in the mix among a very tough conference last season. The campaign didn’t finish on a high note, however. Alabama would go 9-4 overall with a 5-3 record in the Southeastern Conference. Among the SEC rankings that would put the Crimson Tide in fifth place behind Texas, Georgia, Tennessee and Ole Miss. After capping the regular season with a November 30 win over Auburn, the Crimson Tide headed to the ReliaQuest Bowl to take on Michigan. That one ended up a tense 19-13 loss on New Year’s Eve, though.
In their season opener back on Saturday versus Florida State, the Tide faced the season’s first big upset, going into the final quarter with a 24-10 deficit. Alabama couldn’t climb out of the hole and eventually lost 31-17. QB Ty Simpson had 254 yards with two touchdowns while Kevin Riley led the rush with 31 yards. Germie Bernard topped the receivers with his eight catches for 146 yards.
Alabama Crimson Tide Player Prop Facts
- Heading into Week 2, Daniel Hill ranks T1st amongst qualified players for catch rate (100.0%) this season.
Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks Player Prop Facts
- Heading into Week 2, Braylon McReynolds ranks T1st amongst qualified players for catch rate (100.0%) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- Alabama ranks 122nd among FBS teams for rushing yards allowed per game this season (230.0).
- Alabama ranks T119th among FBS teams for average point differential in second quarters this season (-10.0).
- Louisiana-Monroe ranks T1st among FBS teams for points allowed per game this season (0.0).
- Louisiana-Monroe ranks T1st among FBS teams for Q1 opponent points per game this season (0.0).
Alabama vs Louisiana-Monroe Prediction
I might take a stab on LA-Monroe here, but it’s more likely that I’ll just skip it all together. The Warhawks were looking pretty good overall in their season opener versus a no-so-great St. Francis PA team, collecting 434 yards of offense (311 rushing), 6.3 yards per play and 24 first downs. The 5-of-12 rate on third-down tries probably could have been better, but the defense made up for it. LA-Monroe held the Red Flash to just 131 yards on the other side (50 passing), 2.8 yards per play, seven first downs and 2-of-12 on third-down conversions.
As for Alabama, they’re coming off a pretty shocking opener upset against Florida State, and they’ll be taking out all of their frustrations on LA-Monroe this weekend. The Tide were lacking in several areas during their loss to FSU, notably the 230 rush yards allowed, eight penalties and rough 6-of-17 rate on third-down conversions. It was a pretty sloppy overall game by a team that should know better—though it’s worth noting that the Seminoles were fired up and made for a tricky opponent at home. In any case, Alabama will be able to right the ship with a big win this weekend.