App State football heads to Louisiana to take on the Ragin’ Cajuns in a nationally televised Tuesday night conference matchup between two top Sun Belt teams. 

This will be the 10th meeting between the Mountaineers and Ragin’ Cajuns. App State is 8-1 all time against Louisiana, who won its first game against App State last season 24-21. 

“They’re well-coached. There’s no weakness on their team,” head coach Shawn Clark said. “It’s going to be an exciting game. Both teams will be ready for it.”

The Mountaineers head into this game with a 4-1, 1-0 SBC record and a head full of steam after blowing out Georgia State 45-16 last week. Graduate transfer quarterback Chase Brice had the best game of his career as a Mountaineer, throwing for 326 yards and three touchdowns on 20-28 passing. As a team, App State racked up 502 yards of total offense.

App State expects senior running back Daetrich Harrington to see limited playing time and make his first appearance since Nov. 7, 2020, when he suffered a season-ending injury. Harrington joins junior Cam Peoples and sophomore Nate Noel as a third option at running back.

“He’ll get some playing time,” Clark said. “It’s on us to be smart about it. We can’t throw him in there and expect to get 30 or 40 runs. We have to make sure he’s on a rep count.”

Louisiana enters the game with a 4-1, 2-0 SBC record The Ragin’ Cajuns’ only loss came at the hands of Texas in their season opener, and three of the four wins were by eight points or less.

App State has totaled more points and yards per game and fewer points and yards allowed per game. ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the Mountaineers a 67.2% chance to win as a 3.5-point favorite. App State was a three-point favorite to win last year, but Louisiana ended up winning that game.

Kickoff for Tuesday’s matchup is set for 7:30 p.m. at Cajun Field in Lafayette, Louisiana, and can be seen on ESPN2.