College Football News Preview 2020: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Offense
The offensive line has to be great right out of the box. Three starters are gone from a line that was okay, but wasn’t great at keeping defenses out of the backfield. The success of the rushing attack ties into the team’s success, and it all starts up front.
The Bulldogs failed to run for 100 yards four times last season. Once was in the loss to Texas, the other two were in the losses to Marshall and UAB – however, both defenses teed off against the run with QB J’Mar Smith out – and the fourth game was in a way-too-close 23-20 win over a bad Rice team.
The team is 2-11 in its last 13 games going back to 2015 when it can’t hit 100.
Biggest Key To The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Defense
Is it possible to get the pass rush going again? The 2018 defense came up with 45 sacks on the year thanks to the 17.5 from Jaylon Ferguson, the NCAA’s all-time leading sacker. It wasn’t just him, though, with most of the other top pass rushers coming back for 2019.
No Ferguson, though, big problem.
The leading Bulldog sacker was Milton Williams, who came up with just 5.5 of the team’s 24 sacks on the year. The defense still turned out to be fine despite the lack of a steady pass rush and with 21 fewer sacks, but with decent-looking passing teams in Southern Miss and Baylor on the road in the first month, being more disruptive would be nice.
Key Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Player To A Successful Season
QB Aaron Allen, Soph.
The 6-1, 193-pound dual-threat option got a few starts last year when J’Mar Smith wasn’t allowed to go, finishing the year with 446 passing yards and three scores with a pick. In his two starts – both losses – he struggled to move the offense, completing 35-of-66 passes for 332 yards and two touchdowns, and he wasn’t able to get going on the ground.
For a team that’s rebuilding a bit, Allen – or one of the option quarterback options – has a lot of work to do to replace Smith.
Former JUCO transfer Weston Elliott is a 6-5, 221-pound passer who got in a little work ver the last two years, but has yet to make big strides – it’s Allen’s gig to lose.
Key Game To The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Season
at Southern Miss, Sept. 12
The Bulldogs start out with three road games in the first four weeks, but only one of them is against a Conference USA team. They lost four in a row to Southern Miss before coming up with a key 45-30 victory last year. Win, and with three of the next four conference games at home, they can take charge of the West.
– Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Louisiana Tech Fun Stats
– Red Zone Scores: Louisiana Tech 43-of-49 – Opponents 33-of-51
– 1st Quarter Scoring: Louisiana Tech 98 – Opponents 58
– 4th Down Conversion: Opponents 15-of-31 (58%) – Louisiana Tech 6-of-16 37.5%)