Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Last Year: 9-4 (6-2)/2nd West
What a year for the Bulldogs in 2015. From the outside looking in, a 9-4 record looks great, but there has to be frustration. A close loss to WKU hurts, but their scrappy play in that game set the tone for the season. The 3OT loss to Kansas State just flat out sucks, but KSU was a P5 team, not the worst. Mississippi State was a legit team top to bottom. And then we get to Southern Miss. A chance to get to the Conference USA Championship game with both team at 6-1 in conference play. Both bitter rivals. And what happens? The Bulldogs lay an egg of all eggs. A 34 point defeat to the tune of 24-58. The Golden Eagles outscored the Bulldogs just with their 4th quarter scoring (27-24). Louisiana Tech was able to beat Arkansas State in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, but so much was left on the table.
Players to Watch
WR Trent Taylor
DE Jaylon Ferguson
S Xavier Woods
Going into 2016, half of 2015’s starters have left for bigger and better things. The offense returns 6 starters most notably NOT Jeff Driskel. Ryan Higgins looks to be the next man up under center, and he’ll have a huge target in a small frame in SR WR Trent Taylor. Taylor stands tall at 5 foot 8 inches and caught 99 passes last year for 9 TD. He had more than the second leading pass-catcher in Paul Turner (who isn’t returning) who had 45 receptions.
On the defensive side, 8 starting spots will need to be filled, and 1st round draft pick Vernon Butler has some big shoes to fill. The top 3 tackler on the 2015 team were the 3 starting LBs who have left and 2 CBs including Bryson Abraham who picked off 3 passes and had 3 defensive TDs. 2-time All-Conference Selection Xavier Woods leads the defense alongside Freshman All-American DE Jaylon Ferguson. I wouldn’t expect the Bulldogs to keep that 9th overall rushing defense after all of these new LBs taking the field.
Total Offense
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21st/3rd (482.8)
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Total Defense
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53rd/2nd (380)
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Passing Offense
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13th/3rd (323.2)
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Passing Defense
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112nd/ (265.8)
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Rushing Offense
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81st/7th (159.6)
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Rushing Defense
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9th/1st (114.5)
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Scoring Offense
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19th/3rd (37.5)
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Scoring Defense
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68th/5th (26.8)
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Big Games of 2016
Sep 3 @ Arkansas
Oct 6 WKU
Nov 25 @ Southern Miss
Prediction
7-5 (5-3)/3rd West
There are so many question for this Louisiana Tech squad going into 2016. QB play, LB corp, Front 7 in general, and CBs. There are 5 winnable conference games on the schedule being in the West and getting a downed WKU team, but don’t expect another division topping team. 7-5 is respectable and should garner another bowl game.
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