Louisiana @ Tulane preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 24, 2016 ) UL Lafayette 39, Tulane 41

CURE BOWL STORYLINES

1. A pair of Louisiana teams that finished strong will travel to Orlando to meet in the AutoNation Cure Bowl on Dec. 15, when Tulane takes on Louisiana Lafayette. The Green Wave of the American Athletic Conference won four of their last five games, including a 29-28 win over Navy in the finale of the regular season to gain bowl eligibility for the first time since 2013, when they also faced the Ragin' Cajuns. Louisiana had won three straight and four of five to reach the Sun Belt conference title game - where it lost to Appalachian State 30-19 - to qualify for a bowl game for the sixth time in eight seasons.

2. The Pelican State foes have plenty of history, and their last two encounters have been memorable. Louisiana blew a 21-point lead before kicking a late field goal to top Tulane 24-21 in the 2013 New Orleans Bowl. The Green Wave got a measure of revenge with a 41-39 win in quadruple overtime at home in 2016 in coach Willie Fritz's first season at the helm.

3. Louisiana enters bowl season with the 19th-ranked rushing offense in FBS action with an average of 229.1 yards per game, while Tulane is 30th (208.3). Ragin' Cajuns sophomore Trey Ragas tops all rushers in the game with 1,141 yards - most in the Sun Belt - and teammate Elijah Mitchell, who was tied for second in the conference with 12 touchdowns on the ground, needs 49 yards to join him in the 1,000-yard club. Junior Darius Bradwell (984 yards, nine TDs) leads the ground game for the Green Wave, one of six players on the team with at least 120 rushing yards.

TV: 1:30 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network. LINE: Tulane -3.5

ABOUT TULANE (6-6, 5-3 American): Despite the strong ground game the Green Wave rank 93rd among FBS teams in scoring (25.7), which led to the recent dismissal of offensive coordinator Doug Ruse and the promotion of Alex Atkins - an assistant under Fritz first at Georgia Southern and again at Tulane - to interim offensive coordinator duties. "I think he’s chomping at the bit (to call plays)," Fritz told reporters of Atkins. "He's never had an opportunity to call. This will give him some real good experience as well. I'm sure he's going to take some suggestions from our other offensive staff as well as the head coach." Senior Justin McMillan took over at quarterback midway through the season and had 10 TDs (four on the ground) over the final five games.

ABOUT LOUISIANA (7-6, 5-3 Sun Belt): Senior Andre Nunez has thrown for 2,136 yards with a 64.4 percent completion rate and 19 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. Junior Ja'Marcus Bradley leads the team with 557 receiving yards and 10 TDs while senior Ryheem Malone has a team-high 41 catches, including six for 91 yards and a score in a 31-28 win over Louisiana Monroe on Nov. 24 to clinch the Sun Belt West. Four of the Ragin' Cajuns losses came to No. 1 Alabama, No. 18 Mississippi State and twice to Appalachian State, three teams with a combined record of 31-6.



PREDICTION: Louisiana 31, Tulane 30