Texas vs Louisiana 9/4/21 College Football Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Texas Longhorns meet the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Saturday in week 1 college football action at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium. Louisiana is coming off a 10-1 season and is winning 71.8 percent of its games under coach Billy Napier. Texas finished 7-3 last season and enters the first year under coach Steve Sarkisian.

The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns averaged 33.6 points and 421.5 yards per game last season. Louisiana allowed an average of 22 points and 355.4 yards per game last season. Levi Lewis returns at quarterback after throwing for 2,200 yards and 19 touchdowns. Chris Smith should get more carries after averaging 5.6 yards per carry on 62 touches. Kyren Lacy and Jalen Williams is a returning receiving duo that combined for 700 yards and eight touchdowns. Defensively, Lorenzo McCaskill returns after leading Louisiana with 83 tackles, Ferrod Gardner had 4.5 sacks and Bralen Trahan has four interceptions. The Ragin’ Cajuns are loaded on both sides of the ball and they should be able to build on what they did last season. Louisiana beat a ranked Iowa State in last years season opener, so you should expect a confident bunch in this game as well. 

The Texas Longhorns averaged 42.7 points and 475.4 yards per game last season. Texas allowed an average of 28.5 points and 406.6 yards per game last season. Casey Thompson or Hudson Card will replace Sam Ehlinger at quarterback. Bijan Robinson returns at running back after leading Texas with 700 yards and four touchdowns. Joshua Moore and Jordan Whittington is a receiving duo that combined for 600 yards and nine touchdowns. Defensively, DeMarvion Overshown returns after 60 tackles, Moro Ojomo had two sacks and Chris Adimora had one interception. Texas should be fine defensively from the gate and has another great recruiting class coming in to fill any holes. The main question for Texas is at the quarterback position, as replacing Ehlinger won’t be easy. Ehlinger was a second-team All-Big 12 selection last season and produced 127 total touchdowns for his career.

The Ragin’ Cajuns are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog. The Longhorns are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 non-conference games and 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 home games. The under is 6-2-1 in Ragin’ Cajuns last 9 games overall. The over is 7-3 in Longhorns last 10 games overall.

The Texas Longhorns are obviously the better team on paper, should be favored and should win. However, Texas has holes to fill, especially at quarterback, and we’ve seen the Longhorns struggle in the favorite role in the past. Louisiana returns a lot of players on both sides of the ball and has a proven quarterback in Lewis. The Ragin’ Cajuns also beat Iowa State last year, so this is a confident team that won’t be scared of the bright lights. This game could be a lot closer than people expect. Give me the points with Louisiana on the road.