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FACTS & STATS: Site: Dix Stadium (20,500) -- Kent, Ohio. Television: None. Home Record: ULL 0-0, KSU 0-0. Away Record: ULL 0-1, KSU 0-1. Neutral Record: ULL 0-0, KSU 0-0. Conference Record: ULL 0-0, KSU 0-0. Series Record: Louisiana leads, 1-0.

GAME NOTES: Louisiana and Kent State took on two of the top 10 programs in the country in week one, and both failed to hang with powerhouses. The two teams will meet each other this weekend at Dix Stadium in the home-opener for the Golden Flashes.

The Cajuns took on ninth-ranked Oklahoma State and even though the team finished with 34 points, the was not nearly enough as the Cowboys posted a whopping 61 points. Last year the Cajuns posted just three wins, but two of those victories came on the road, so that should give new head coach Mark Hudspeth some hope heading into this contest.

As for the Golden Flashes, they fought an uphill battle when they squared off against then second-ranked Alabama in Tuscaloosa, falling 48-7 to the Crimson Tide. Just like Hudspeth, Darrell Hazell is in his first year at Kent State, and he will also be looking for his first victory. However, he has taken over a team that claimed five wins a year ago, four of which came at home.

There has only been one meeting between the two schools on the football field and it took place in Lafayette back in 2008. In that matchup, the Cajuns claimed a 44-27 decision.

At first glance it would appear that Louisiana had an impressive showing against the ninth-ranked team in the nation, scoring 34 points in a loss to Oklahoma State.

However, that is not necessarily the case because the defense scored 14 of those points. Offensively Louisiana racked up 320 total yards, but saw little success on the ground, rumbling for just 108 yards on 2.9 yards per attempt. Qyenda Griffin scored a touchdown in the loss, but finished with just 37 yards on nine carries. Aaron Spikes was the starting tailback, but he posted just 15 yards on only four totes. Despite the lack of success, Spikes will be the starting back once again this Saturday and he will need to step up his production for a team that averaged just 101 ypg via the run in 2010.

The same goes for quarterback Blaine Gautier. Louisiana's signal caller completed just 50.0 percent of his passes for only 106 yards, but he will also be the starter come Saturday. Gautier, who scored a rushing touchdown against Oklahoma State, was also intercepted once and sacked five times. Chris Masson did spell the struggling Gautier and completed six of his 10 passes and it is likely he will see some time on the field if Gautier has trouble this weekend.

Nothing went right for Louisiana's defense last year, and the result was 37.0 ppg posted by the opposition. It was only one game, and it came against one of the best teams in the country, but the Cajuns hopes of turning things around don't look good.

Louisiana has slowly improved against the run over the past four seasons, but the team still surrendered 163.0 ypg last year, meaning there is still plenty of work to do in this area. In the opener, the Cowboys gashed ULL for 208 yards on 4.7 yards per attempt.

Unfortunately for coach Hudspeth his secondary endured similar problems, as the Cajuns were unable to stop Brandon Weeden and company. OSU's quarterback threw for close to 400 yards and three scores against the Cajuns. However, the defense was able to get a couple of big plays against Oklahoma State and both came via interceptions. Even more impressive both of those picks were returned for touchdowns, as Dwight Bentley went 38 yards for a score in the second quarter, while Jemarlou Moten scampered 50 yards for his TD.

Before the game even started the Golden Flashes knew they were going to be in for a long day in Tuscaloosa.

KSU finished with just seven points behind 90 total yards of offense. Rushing the ball has been a problem for Kent State over the past couple seasons, so when paired against Alabama it was inevitable that the Flashes were going to have trouble. On 23 carries the Golden Flashes were held to negative nine yards. That number should improve significantly against Louisiana.

Hazell decided to let his quarterback sling the ball all over the field against Alabama. Spencer Keith threw 47 passes, but completed just 20 of those throws for only 99 yards. Keith did throw a touchdown, but was intercepted once and sacked four times. However, just like the rushing attack, look for Keith to be much better at home this Saturday.

Kent State allowed 48 points in the loss and usually when a team surrenders that many points there are not many positive things to take away from the game.

Sure, the front line was gashed for 183 rushing yards, but the Flashes were able to limit Trent Richardson, Alabama's top running back to just 37 yards on 13 carries. Richardson did find the end zone three times, but KSU limited his production in terms of yards.

Also coach Hazell's defense forced five turnovers in the contest. Regardless if Alabama put in its reserves or not, collecting five turnovers in a contest is a huge achievement. Four of those takeaways were interceptions.

Both teams were severely overmatched in week one and both Louisiana and Kent State should put forth a better effort this Saturday. Kent State's defense showed tremendous heart and even shut down Alabama's offense at times. That says plenty about that unit and if KSU's defense plays at that level again than the Golden Flashes should have no trouble earning their first win on the year.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Kent State 27, Louisiana 15