Louisiana football vs. Eastern Michigan: Score prediction, scouting report

Season openers are never clean, and for Louisiana, there was plenty to tighten up following its 24-7 win over Southeastern Louisiana last weekend.

The Ragin' Cajuns (1-0) will try to play a much cleaner game Saturday night and reach 2-0 on the young 2022 season against Eastern Michigan (1-0) at Cajun Field (6 p.m., NFL Network).

First-year head coach Michael Desormeaux commanded a lot of the preseason talk along with the Ragin' Cajuns' new starting quarterback, sophomore Chandler Fields. For both, there were some great calls and plays — and others they both would like to have back in their respective debuts.

LOUISIANA QB PLANCajuns sticking with quarterback plan for Eastern Michigan game

DESORMEAUX DEBUTGrading Michael Desormeaux's debut as the Ragin' Cajuns coach

UL WINS OPENERWhat we learned from Louisiana's win over Southeastern Louisiana

Overall, UL left a lot to be desired against the Lions and making in-game corrections should be slightly more difficult in this game, taking on its first FBS opponent in EMU, which dropped 42 points in an opening win over Eastern Kentucky.

Game 2 for Chandler Fields

Fields admitted after the Southeastern game that he would've liked to have been crisper in the passing game. His stat line wasn't bad, 13-of-20 (65 percent) for 173 yards and two touchdowns. He'll get a chance Saturday to display that Week 1 to Week 2 progression.

UL took some shots downfield and expect just as many this week against a fairly porous Eagle defense that gave up 34 points to Eastern Kentucky. With Michael Jefferson, Johnny Lumpkin and company, there are winnable matchups in the pass game for Louisiana.

Cajuns secondary's first test

UL fans and players should be familiar with Eagles quarterback Taylor Powell. He transferred this offseason to EMU from Troy after losing his starting job due to an injury last year.

Powell, a Missouri signee out of high school, will be a much more skilled passer than what Louisiana saw last week. UL cornerbacks coach Jeff Burris said this week that his players will be tested by the Eagles' passing attack and receivers led by Dylan Drummond.

Corner Trey Amos is not expected to play for UL as he's still battling a hamstring injury. With depth still a concern, guys like Amir McDaniel and Keyon Martin will need to have big performances.

Who is Louisiana's kicker?

Late in the season opener, it was obvious Desormeaux didn't have much confidence in the place-kicking situation.

Preston Stafford went 1-for-2 Saturday, with his make being a 36-yarder and his miss from 43 yards. There was a chance for UL to try another field goal in the fourth quarter but Desormeaux opted to leave the offense out there.

It's likely that another placekicker, Kenneth Almendares, will get an audition this week for the Cajuns as it appears the battle for the full-time job rages on.

Score prediction

Louisiana 31 Eastern Michigan 19: Eastern Michigan will certainly be a stiffer test for UL. But the homestanding Ragin' Cajuns will look much sharper in the second time out this season. The offense will look better and it'll need to as the Eagles will score as well.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana football vs. Eastern Michigan: Scouting report, prediction