Interesting Battle In The Big Easy
It’s hard to believe we’re in mid-December and 2023’s coming to an end. Of course for any college football fan it’s the most wonderful time of the year, bowl season. The 2023 campaign kicks off Saturday with a whopping seven games. One of the more interesting match ups takes place between a newcomer and a squad with plenty of bowl experience. Let’s break it down and give you a prediction with our 2023 New Orleans Bowl Preview. But first let’s find out a little about the game.
Now A Word From Our Sponsor
The inaugural New Orleans Bowl came in 2001 when Colorado State beat North Texas 45-20. R+L Carriers has been the title sponsor of the game since 2006. They are a Global Freight Transportation and Logistics company that’s been in business since 1965. They signed an agreement keeping them as the title sponsor through 2026.
A Great Story
If you’ve followed college football at all in 2023 you know the story of Jacksonville State. Under second year coach Rich Rodriguez the Gamecocks finished the regular season with an 8-4 record and 6-2 in Conference USA. The record looks even better when you realize they are in the their first season of transitioning from FCS to FBS football. As a result they weren’t eligible for either the CUSA title game or a bowl.
However since there were only 79 teams with six wins, they along with their more talked about counterpart James Madison both made a bowl. In the process Jacksonville State became the first team since 1997 to make a bowl in their inaugural year of division one football.
The Gamecocks love running the ball including games where they gained 522 and 484 yards in 2023. Quarterback Zion Webb was second on the team with 638 yards on the ground and seven touchdowns. In addition he threw for 1,238 yards and five more scores. Malik Jackson leads the rushing attack with 860 yards and seven touchdowns.
All totaled Jacksonville State has five players who have run for more than 280 yards in 2023. When they do throw the ball Perry Carter is the leading target. On the year he caught 34 passes for 603 yards and three touchdowns.
Now that we’ve told you the story of Jacksonville State as we continue with our 2023 New Orleans Bowl Preview let’s move to Louisiana.
Scouting The Ragin’ Cajuns
Louisiana comes into Saturday sporting a 6-6 record under coach Michael Desormeaux and 3-5 in the Sun Belt. They are one of 12 teams from the league who went bowling this year. They had a bit of a revolving door at quarterback as as Zeon Chriss, Chandler Fields, and Ben Wooldridge all saw playing time. Wooldridge began 2023 as the starter but suffered a season ending injury in week three. Chriss also suffered a season ending injury on November 4th against Arkansas State.
Chriss wound up the leading passer with 1,222 yards and 11 TDs, but Fields started the last three games throwing for seven touchdowns and only one interception. Jacob Kibodi is the leading rusher with 729 yards and seven touchdowns. In addition Chriss ranks second on the team with 492 rushing yards and six more scores. Whoever is playing quarterback the favorite target is Jacob Bernard who has 37 receptions for 473 yards and one touchdown. All totaled they have six players with 23 or more catches.
Now that we’ve told you about both teams let’s look at some history with the schools as we continue our 2023 New Orleans Bowl Preview
Bowl And Series History
Saturday marks the 11th time Louisiana has played in a bowl game and they sport a 7-3 record. In addition this is the seventh time they’ve played in the New Orleans Bowl, the most by any school. The Ragin’ Cajuns are 5-1 in this game, however two of the wins were vacated due to NCAA violations. It’s the sixth straight year they’ve played in the postseason. Last year they lost to Houston in the Independence Bowl.
As we talked about it’s the first ever bowl appearance for Jacksonville State. However the two schools have met once on the gridiron. Way back on November 11th, 2000 the Gamecocks won 28-14 in Lafayette.
It’s prediction time as we finish our 2023 New Orleans Bowl Preview.
Who Wins On Saturday?
More often than not the New Orleans Bowl is one of the better early season games. This battle of bowl rookies versus bowl veterans should be no exception. The number to watch on Saturday is 31. Louisiana is 6-0 when they score 31 or more points and 0-6 when they don’t. However Jacksonville State has only allowed more than 31 once and that was in a 38-28 loss to South Carolina.
JSU has been one of the best stories in college football in 2023 and they’ll finish their story in what should be a great game.
Jacksonville State 34-27
Thanks for checking out our 2023 New Orleans Bowl Preview here at Last Word On College Football. We’ll be back after the game with a recap.
