ULL not taking Bobcats lightly
Texas State is 0-4 against Cajuns and on 5-game skid in ’17.
Start these guys
■ Philip Rivers, QB, Chargers: He’s had just one bad game so far. Otherwise he’s been great. Rivers faces the Raiders, who have yet to intercept a pass this season. ■ Carson Palmer, QB, Car- dinals: Palmer has a good matchup; the Buccaneers give up more than 300 yards passing per game. ■ Marshawn Lynch, RB, Raiders: He’s been under- whelming so far, but his game against the Chargers should be a good one. They give up the most yards rushing per game and allow 5 yards per carry. ■ Mike Gillislee, RB, Patriots: Things started great for Gillislee when he scored three times in Week 1 against the Chiefs. Since then he has just one touchdown. But he’s carried the ball at least 12 times per week and faces the Jets, who give up 143 yards rushing per game. ■ Jets starting running back: Whether it’s Bilal Powell or Elijah McGuire, the starting running back for the Jets should do well against the Patriots. New England gives up 124 yards rushing per game and 5 yards per carry. Powell strained his calf Sunday, so watch his availability. ■ T.Y. Hilton, WR, Colts: Andrew Luck isn’t back, but Hilton is coming off his best game of the season. He faces the Titans, who have given up a league-high 12 touch- down passes this season. ■ Jermaine Kearse, WR, Jets: The Jets will take on a struggling Patriots defense and likely will trail in the game. Kearse has put up good numbers as the Jets’ No. 1 receiver. The Patriots allow 335 yards receiving per game and are tied with the Titans in TD passes allowed. ■ John Brown, WR, Cardinals: He hasn’t been impres- sive as he’s dealt with injury issues, but the matchup with the Buccaneers is too good. Larry Fitzgerald won’t be the only productive wideout in the game. I’m banking on Brown having a solid outing. ■ Evan Engram, TE, Giants: Suggesting him right after he turned in a goose egg may sound crazy until you look at the Giants’ situation closely. He’s the best viable target for the Giants outside of Shane Vereen and Ster- ling Shepard — if Shepard is healthy enough to return. Engram faces the Broncos, but they allow tight ends to get loose.
Sit these guys
■ Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Steelers: His home-road split is remarkable, but he’s even starting to have bad games at home. Coming off a five-interception performance, I’d look for a better option as Big Ben has to travel to Kansas City. ■ Jared Goff, QB, Rams: The Rams should hand the ball to Todd Gurley 30 times against the Jaguars. Jacksonville has the best second- ary in the NFL right now. The Bucs had five intercep- tions in their last game. The matchup and potential game script has me sitting Goff this week. ■ Is a iah Crowell, RB, Browns: The Texans are hurting on defense but their new explosive offense means the Browns will have to throw to keep up. That means Crow- ell will take a back seat to pass-catching Duke Johnson. ■ Wayne Gallman, RB, Giants: Though he’s looked pretty good as the starting back, there’s no way you should start him against the Broncos. ■ Tyrell Williams, WR, Chargers: He’s had just one good game this season and doesn’t have a good matchup this week as he faces the Raiders. ■ Cooper Kupp, WR, Rams: Kupp is facing the Jaguars, and Sammy Watkins has just one catch the last two games. Odds are Watkins isn’t held down for a third straight week. I’d sit the rookie in favor of another option with a better matchup. ■ Martavis Bryant, WR, Steelers: I’m not happy with his performance thus far. Given that Roethlisberger will likely struggle on the road, I don’t bet Bryant has a good game this week. ■ Amari Cooper, WR, Raiders: Can he really slump for this long? Don’t wait to find out. No fantasy points, outside of PPR leagues, for three straight weeks means you sit him until he looks like his old self.
Texas State will look to avoid a sixth straight loss when the Bobcats take on Louisiana-Lafayette in front of a national audience Thursday at Cajun Field in Lafayette, La.
Oh, and the Ragin’ Cajuns (2-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) have never lost to Texas State in the four all-time meetings between the two conference rivals.
Regardless of the Bobcats’ 1-5 record and recent woes, Louisiana-Lafayette coach Mark Hudspeth isn’t overlooking Texas State.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for (Texas State coach) Everett Withers,” Hudspeth said at his weekly news conference. “You’ve got to look past their record to see that they’ve been very competitive. Don’t let the record fool you. They lost 20-13 to Appalachian State and were on the 1-yard line with a chance to win the game. They were also tied late in the fourth quarter with Louisiana-Monroe, so they’ve been very competitive in this conference.”
One thing in Texas State’s favor is the Ragin’ Cajuns defense is allowing 46.2 points per game, the most by any team in the Sun Belt Conference. However, the Bobcats’ offense is the lowest-scoring in the conference.
Texas State’s defense is tied with Idaho for the most sacks, with 15, while the Ragin’ Cajuns have allowed 16, the second most given up by an offense in the conference.
The Bobcats will need to apply plenty of pressure this week to supplement their poor passing defense, which has allowed eight touchdowns and 266.5 yards passing per game while remaining the only Sun Belt team without an interception.
Junior quarterback Andre Nunez has completed 40 of 61 attempts for 500 yards and three touchdowns in the past two games for the Ragin’ Cajuns. He will get the start Thursday. He took the starting job from Jordan Davis, benched for poor play.
“I think (Nunez) has earned the right to start this week,” Hudspeth said. “He’s come in and played awfully well.”
Left tackle D’Aquin Withrow was a surprise scratch for the Ragin’ Cajuns last week, missing the game against Idaho to attend his grandfather’s funeral. Robert Hunt, who normally starts at guard, played tackle last week in a victory over Idaho.
Both players will be back at their normal positions this week.
Injury report: Freshman running back Elijah Mitchell, the Ragin’ Cajuns second leading rusher, with 257 yards and four touchdowns, has been ruled out with a foot injury.
Defensive back Denarius Howard will also miss the game with a hamstring injury.