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FACTS & STATS: Site: Floyd Stadium (30,788) -- Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Television:Sun Belt Network. Home Record: Louisiana 4-0, Middle Tennessee 1-2. Away Record: Louisiana 2-2, Middle Tennessee 1-2. Neutral Record: Louisiana 0-0, Middle Tennessee 0-0. Conference Record: Louisiana 4-1, Middle Tennessee 1-2. Series Record: Series is tied, 6-6.

GAME NOTES: Louisiana looks to bounce back from their first conference loss as it travels to Floyd Stadium in Murfreesboro to take on the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee in a battle between the Sun Belt Conference's two best scoring offenses.

The Ragin' Cajuns got off to a hot start winning six of their first seven games, only losing to Big 12 powerhouse Oklahoma State in the season opener. But Louisiana's win streak came to a surprising halt at the hands of Western Kentucky due to a stellar performance by the SBC's leading rusher Bobby Rainey as the Hilltoppers ran away with the victory, 42-23.

Middle Tennessee is looking to build on its first conference win of the season last week against the winless Florida Atlantic Owls. The Blue Raiders have four losses on the year, but only lost by more than a field goal to Georgia Tech. Their losses to Purdue, Troy and Western Kentucky were all by a margin of just three points.

The series is tied with both teams winning six games a piece. In last year's contest, Middle Tennessee dominated Louisiana winning, 34-14 in Lafayette. The Blue Raiders' senior running back Phillip Tanner, who is now a member of the Dallas Cowboys, gave Louisiana all kinds of problems as he ran for 104 yards and a touchdown.

Louisiana's offense was held to 23 points in its loss to Western Kentucky, its lowest output since their week-two win over Kent State (20-12). Despite scoring just 23 against the Hilltoppers, the Ragin' Cajuns amassed 540 yards of total offense. Blaine Gautier, who leads the conference in passing efficiency, threw for a career-high 419 yards in the loss. Gautier has been exceptional this season, as the junior signal caller's touchdown-to- interception ratio is 12-to-2.

The Louisiana running game is led by Alonzo Harris who has 373 rushing yards on the season. Harris was held to just 19 yards on nine carries by the Hilltoppers. The freshman running back should have a better game this week as he goes up against the worst rushing defense in the conference. Harry Peoples was a targeted often by Gautier last week as he caught 10 passes for 140 yards, marking his second 100-yard receiving game of the season. Javone Lawson also had his second 100-yard receiving game as he caught eight balls for 102 yards.

The Louisiana defense was dismantled last week as it surrendered 42 points and 507 yards to Western Kentucky. The unit has given up an average of 26.8 points per game in conference play. The rushing defense was a turnstile last week and will have to stop a red-hot Blue Raider rushing attack this week. Linebacker Lance Kelley leads the team in tackles with 68, and he is tied for the team lead with three interceptions.

Middle Tennessee's offense paces the Sun Belt and ranks 20th in the nation, averaging 298 ypg through the air and 172.3 ypg on the ground, which has led to four straight 30-plus point games for them.

The nation's 17th-best passing offense is led by Logan Kilgore as the sophomore has completed 151-of-250 attempts for 1,630 yards in six games. Kilgore set a school record with 19 consecutive completions against the Owls to start the game. The sophomore is also on pace to shatter the school record for passing yards in a season.

The powerful Middle Tennessee rushing game has a three different options to hurt opposing defenses. Benny Cunningham was leading the team with 287 rushing yards in the first four games, but has missed the last two and is listed as questionable for this contest. With Cunningham out of action, William Pratcher has thrived by posting back-to-back 100-yard rushing games. Against FAU, Pratcher carried the ball 23 times for 125 yards and a touchdown. D.D. Kyles has also been an option at the running back position as he has 275 yards on the season. Kyles did not see any action last week, but could be a factor in this one.

The Blue Raider defense had its best performance of the year last week, holding Florida Atlantic to 14 points. The defense needs to continue that effort against the high-scoring Cajuns for the Blue Raiders to win. Leighton Gasque has been a problem for opposing offenses as his four sacks ranks second in the conference. Eric Russell leads the team with 49 tackles and two interceptions.

Last week showed that Louisiana is not going to run away with the conference crown. Middle Tennessee's offense is more than capable of putting up 40-plus points against the Cajuns. Louisiana will need to rush the ball more effectively if it wants to avoid a two-game losing streak.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Middle Tennessee 38, Louisiana 31