Preparing for the unknown

Louisiana-Lafayette, Idaho’s homecoming opponent this afternoon at the Kibbie Dome, is ranked last among 129 FBS teams in scoring defense, yielding 53.8 points per game.

The Ragin’ Cajuns are also ranked 127th in total defense, giving up 563.5 yards per game, and are next to last in rushing defense at 299.0 yards per game.

Perhaps not coincidentally, earlier this week Louisiana-Lafayette brought back James Willis, the Ragin’ Cajuns’ defensive coordinator when they won bowl games in 2013 and ’14, as a “defensive analyst.”

That means Idaho (2-2, 1-0 Sun Belt) had to watch a little more tape than usual on Louisiana-Lafayette (1-3, 0-1).

“We’re back watching 2014 tape,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “We game-planned all last week for what they’ve been doing, and now we have to look at what they’ve done in the past. We have to prepare for it all, because the unknown is out there. We’re not sure what they’re going to do.”

Earlier this week, Lafayette wasn’t sure who its quarterback would be because of injuries. One thing’s for sure — Trey Regas is averaging 8.2 yards per carry, and Elijah Mitchell is averaging 6.6 yards per carry. Both have scored four touchdowns.

“They’re both big and physical, and they run through tackles,” Petrino said, “so we better play with low pads, and we better wrap up. If you try to arm-tackle them, they will run right through it.”