No. 24 Louisiana-Lafayette (8-1, 6-0 Sun Belt) at Troy (5-4, 3-2), Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST (ESPN+).
Line: Louisiana by 6 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Series record: Louisiana leads 12-9.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Louisiana has already locked up the Sun Belt Western Division for the fourth consecutive year. Now, the Ragin’ Cajuns are trying to secure homefield advantage for the league championship game. The Trojans need a win to become bowl eligible.
KEY MATCHUP
Troy’s passing game against Louisiana’s secondary. Trojans QB Gunnar Watson has completed 74-of-109 passes for 798 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions since taking over the starting job. For the Ragin’ Cajuns, safety Bralen Trahan has eight career interceptions and cornerback Eric Garror has seven.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Louisiana: QB Levi Lewis is 30-7 as a starter and has already broken Jake Delhomme’s school record for career passing touchdowns with 66. Lewis is coming off a 287-yard passing game against Georgia State.
Troy: Undersized LB Carlton Martial is a tackling machine. The 5-foot-9 middle LB has 409 tackles since the start of the 2018 season, 54 more than any other player in the country. Martial is the active leader with an average of 9.25 tackles per game in his career, and is averaging 15.3 stops over the past three games.
FACTS & FIGURES
Louisiana-Lafayette is 15-0 against division opponents under coach Billy Napier and has won 12 straight regular-season road games in the league. … The Ragin’ Cajuns have four wins by four points or less this season. They’re 14-3 in one-possession games since 2018. … The Trojans lead the nation in tackles for loss (8.7) and sacks (3.78) per game and are also tops in forcing negative plays on 16.75% of opponents’ snaps. … Troy is set to become the only Group of Five team to have hosted a nationally ranked team each of the past four seasons. The Trojans have lost the first three.
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