Preview
East Carolina vs UL Lafayette
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 22, 2012
Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
By SportsDirect Inc.
R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL GAME STORYLINES
1.
Louisiana-Lafayette won four of its last five games, scoring 31 or more
points in each of the wins in claiming second place in the Sun Belt,
and makes its second consecutive trip to The Big Easy after winning the
bowl last year. The Ragin' Cajuns will put their high-scoring attack to
the test against East Carolina in a near inevitable shootout. The
Pirates, who won five of their last six before losing the Conference USA
tiebreaker to Central Florida, have scored more than 40 points in four
of those wins.
2. The Ragin' Cajuns and the Pirates
make the most of their scoring opportunities. Louisiana-Lafayette is
tied for second in the country in red zone efficiency while the Pirates
lead C-USA and are tied for fifth nationally.
3. While both teams have had little trouble scoring the
ball, neither has had much success stopping their opponents as they
allow close to 30 points per game. The Pirates suffered each of their
four defeats by at least 20 points.
TV: 12 p.m. ET, Saturday, Dec. 22. Line: Louisiana-Lafayette -5
ABOUT EAST CAROLINA (8-4, 7-1 C-USA): Shane Carden
has racked up 2,838 yards of total offense and 29 touchdowns this
season. In the Pirates' 65-59 double-overtime victory over Marshall in
their season finale, Carden completed 38 of 47 passes for 439 yards and
three touchdowns while running for another three scores. Justin Hardy,
Carden's top target, has caught 83 passes for 1,046 yards and 10
touchdowns as East Carolina's air attack ranks 35th in the nation.
Vintavious Cooper's 1,030 rushing yards and seven scores helps balance
the attack. The Pirates are likely underdogs because of the four blowout
losses to South Carolina, North Carolina, Central
Florida and Navy. Also, East Carolina failed to record a victory against
a bowl-bound opponent.
ABOUT LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (8-4, 6-2 Sun Belt):
While its the Ragin' Cajuns four wins in their last five games that sent
them to New Orleans, its their lone loss in that span - a 27-20 defeat
at the hands of then-No. 6 Florida that put them in the public
spotlight. Dual-threat quarterback Terrance Broadway has thrown for
2,565 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for 661 yards and another
eight scores. Three of his four best rushing performances came in
Louisiana-Lafayette's last three games -- all wins. Paired with Alonzo
Harris (761 yards, eight touchdowns), the Ragin' Cajuns average 187.3
yards per game, 39th-best in the nation. Louisiana-Lafayette recorded
two victories over bowl teams this season in Louisiana-Monroe and
Western Kentucky.
PREDICTION: Louisiana-Lafayette 45, East Carolina 42
Stats and Records
Team Comparison
| |
W/L |
Strk |
PF |
PA |
Home |
Away |
Grass |
Turf |
Conf |
| East Carolina |
8-4 |
W3 |
31.2 |
30.7 |
5-1 |
3-3 |
5-4 |
2-0 |
7-1 |
| UL Lafayette |
8-4 |
W3 |
34.8 |
27.6 |
5-1 |
3-3 |
2-1 |
6-1 |
6-2 |
Last Meeting
|
East Carolina |
UL Lafayette |
| Date |
Away |
Home |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
| 9/22/90 |
ECAR 20 |
ULLAF 10 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Player Stats
| Passing |
Player |
COMP % |
YDS |
TD |
INT |
| East Carolina |
N/A |
| UL Lafayette |
N/A |
| Rushing |
Player |
CAR |
YDS |
AVG |
TD |
| East Carolina |
N/A |
| UL Lafayette |
N/A |
| Receiving |
Player |
REC |
YDS |
AVG |
TD |
| East Carolina |
N/A |
| UL Lafayette |
N/A |
| Touchdowns |
Player |
TD |
| East Carolina |
N/A |
| UL Lafayette |
N/A |
| Passing |
Player |
COMP % |
YDS |
TD |
INT |
| East Carolina |
S. Carden
|
66.8 |
2838 |
21 |
9 |
| UL Lafayette |
T. Broadway
|
65.4 |
2526 |
16 |
8 |
| Rushing |
Player |
CAR |
YDS |
AVG |
TD |
| East Carolina |
V. Cooper
|
191 |
1035 |
5.4 |
7 |
| UL Lafayette |
A. Harris
|
149 |
761 |
5.1 |
8 |
| Receiving |
Player |
REC |
YDS |
AVG |
TD |
| East Carolina |
J. Hardy
|
83 |
1046 |
12.6 |
10 |
| UL Lafayette |
H. Peoples
|
61 |
774 |
12.7 |
5 |
