Enjoy The Offensive Production Between Louisiana And Delaware

Louisiana vs. Delaware, 8:30 ET

For teams that aren’t really successful, but aren’t truly bad, is a Bowl Game their goal for the year? There are only 12 teams that make the College Football Playoffs, and no matter how optimistic you are, you have to be realistic that the vast majority of schools will not play in that tournament. So, is the hope to be good enough to make a Bowl Game? I’m sure the financial incentives are out there somewhere for me to read about, but I also don’t know that it matters all that much. I’m more curious if, as a player or coach, this is the goal at the beginning of the year for a team like Louisiana or Delaware. 

Louisiana enters the game with a 6-6 record, which, I believe, could be the bare minimum for getting into a Bowl Game. It isn’t quite the tale of two halves of the season for Louisiana, but it is mighty close. The first six games of the season saw the team go 2-4, and the final six games saw them go 4-2. They lost three of their first four games, and although two of the three were close, they were still losses. It seemed like they couldn’t figure the passing game out at all with two different quarterbacks. After beating Marshall in a double-overtime game, they dropped three straight against James Madison, Southern Miss, and Troy. Then the team finally was clicking, and they beat South Alabama, Texas State, Arkansas State, and UL Monroe. Again, these aren’t overly impressive squads, and three of those wins were by one score, but a win is a win. 

Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Delaware is also 6-6 for the season, but they’ve had an easier schedule in many ways. They started the year with a win over Delaware State, then lost to Colorado. After beating UConn and Florida International, they fell to Western Kentucky and Jacksonville State. It seems like they struggled to get their footing, and even when they did, it slipped out from under them. They alternated wins and losses for a while before losing to Sam Houston and Wake Forest in back-to-back games. Their saving grace was beating UTEP in a laugher in their final game. They demolished them, posting 61 points in that game. I’m not quite sure that there is anything Delaware does exceptionally well, but I’ll give quarterback Nick Minicucci credit. He threw for 3,514 yards this season with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. 

The good news for this game is that neither team has reported any significant opt-out at the time of this writing. So, let’s play this one as if these two teams are at full strength. I personally think that Louisiana is the right side for this game. They have faced tougher competition this season. It isn’t like they are a dominating force that was beaten by tough competition, though. They are a good team that played good competition, and sometimes won and sometimes lost. Delaware is a team that kind of fits that bill. I think this will be a hard game for either defense to make a major impact. Give me the over for this one. 

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