TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Top-ranked Alabama appears likely to post another easy victory as it hosts Louisiana on Saturday in nonconference play. The Crimson Tide have outscored their first four opponents 215-51 behind sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and hold a 52-0 edge in points off turnovers.
TV: Noon ET, SEC Network. LINE: Alabama -48.5
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Alabama coach Nick Saban improved to 13-0 against former assistant coaches with last Saturday's win over Texas A&M and faces another of his former co-workers this week. First-year Louisiana coach Billy Napier was the Crimson Tide's receivers coach from 2013-16 before moving to Arizona State as offensive coordinator and then landing the Ragin' Cajuns job following last season. "Billy is a very bright guy and a very good football coach," Saban said during a press conference. "He works hard, and I think he'll make a really good head coach. He did a good job for us, and they were very productive offensively at Arizona State last year when he was the coordinator there." Louisiana dropped a 30-28 decision to Coastal Carolina last Saturday and was mauled 56-10 by Mississippi State of the SEC the previous week.
ABOUT LOUISIANA (1-2)
The Ragin' Cajuns are averaging 29 points per game behind senior quarterback Andre Nunez, who is completing 72.3 percent of his passes for 541 yards and four touchdowns against one interception. Sophomore running back Trey Ragas (294 yards) and junior Raymond Calais (186) each topped 100 yards rushing in the loss to Coastal Carolina, and Calais owns a superb 14.3 average per carry. Junior linebacker Jacques Boudreaux has a team-leading 17 tackles while junior defensive end Bennie Higgins has notched a team-high 3.5 tackles for loss for a unit allowing 34.3 points per game.
ABOUT ALABAMA (4-0)
Tagovailoa is off to an electric start as he has completed 72.5 percent of his passes for 1,033 yards and 12 touchdowns and has yet to be intercepted. Sophomore receiver Jerry Jeudy is also off to a superb start with 17 receptions for 365 yards and six touchdowns for the Crimson Tide, who are averaging 53.8 points per game and have topped 500 yards in each contest. The defense, which is allowing 12.8 points per game, racked up seven sacks in the win over Texas A&M with senior defensive end Isaiah Buggs recording three to raise his team-best total to 5.5.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Alabama has won all eight previous meetings with the most recent being a 25-6 victory in 1990.
2. The Ragin' Cajuns have notched just one victory against ranked programs (29-22 over Texas A&M in 1996 when it was known as Southwestern Louisiana and Jake Delhomme was the quarterback).
3. The Crimson Tide have intercepted seven passes with three of them returned for touchdowns.
PREDICTION: Alabama 55, Louisiana 9