Sammy Stava: After a 10-win season under head coach Michael Desormeaux, Louisiana was picked to finish 1st in the West Division from the Sun Belt preseason poll. After a 1-1 start to this season, is this team still capable of contending for a conference championship with the unfortunate injury to starting quarterback Walker Howard?

Shannon Belt: It’ll be a much tougher road for Louisiana to make a run for the Sun Belt West without Walker Howard but I believe it’s still possible. The Cajuns live by the next man up mentality so that’s how they will operate moving forward with Daniel Beale. It’ll also require more from their defense and run game to pull it off.