College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs season with what you need to know.
CFN in 60 Podcast: 2020 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Louisiana Tech preview in 60 seconds
– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Louisiana Tech Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 10-3 overall, 6-2 in C-USA
Head Coach: Skip Holtz, 8th year year, 56-36
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 48
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 43
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 94
NOTE: Obviously, no one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Offense 3 Things To Know
– When all of the parts were there – blowing off the late season issue when a few of the parts were suspended for a bit – the offense was terrific. It led Conference USA in third down conversions, was second in the league in total and scoring O, and the attack scoring 41 points or more in six of the last nine regular season games. The two late in the year when it didn’t hit the mark? Those two games with the suspensions.
CFN in 60 Video: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Preview
– The one big question mark will be the offensive line. It wasn’t great in pass protection and was fine for the ground game, but now it has to replace three starters. Coming in, though, is former four-star talent Donavaughn Campbell from LSU to push for one of the guard gigs. Size across the board won’t be a problem for a running game that gets back the main guys.
218-pound Justin Henderson ran for close to 1,100 yards with 14 touchdowns, and quick senior Israel Tucker are both back to ease in the new quarterback situation.
– Who’s replacing J’Mar Smith? Former JUCO transfer Westin Elliott is a big option who’ll make a push, but he threw four picks and no touchdown passes in his limited time last year. Sophomore Aaron Allen returns after serving as a decent backup – he’ll be the odds-on favorite to take over.
Leading receiver Malik Stanley is gone, but the next five producing wide receivers return. 6-3 sophomore Griffin Hebert and former TCU transfer senior Isaiah Graham stretch the field, but there are plenty of other veterans to spread the ball around.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Defense 3 Things To Know
– The pass rush took a hit last year after dominating in 2018, and now two starters are done from the front three. Junior Milton Williams is a big end who came up with 59 tackles, but he needs more help and more options in the rotation.
Along with working on the line, the defense that was great at taking the ball away and was middle-of-the-pack in Conference USA in most every area needs tweaking after losing eight of the top 11 tacklers.
– The linebacking corps will work around senior Ezekiel Barnett, a 213-pound rangy hitter who made 59 stops as part of the rotation on the outside. Willie Baker brings more size for somewhere in the mix, and 236-pound senior Trey Baldwin will put up big numbers on the inside.
– Gone is do-it-all baller of a corner Amik Robertson and big-hitting safety L’Jarius Sneed. All four starters have to be replaced, but sophomore Bee Jay Williams got in plenty of work – making 33 tackles – and there should be a decent starting foursome with a little time. The depth … that’s an early problem.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Players
Best Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Offensive Player
RB Justin Henderson, Sr.
A solid, powerful runner, the 5-10, 218-pounder rumbled for 1,062 yards and 15 touchdowns, and caught 24 passes for 200 yards and a score as a steadying factor for the offense.
The former JUCO transfer wasn’t exactly a workhorse – he only carried the ball more than 20 times twice – and he only hit the 100-yard mark four times, but he was a scoring machine with 14 of his rushing touchdowns coming in seven games.
2. WR Griffin Hebert, Jr.
3. WR Adrian Hardy, Sr.
4. QB Aaron Allen, Soph.
5. RB Israel Tucker, Sr.
Best Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Defensive Player
LB Ezekiel Barnett, Sr.
Only 6-2 and 213 pounds, he’s built like a big safety and he moves like one, too. He’s able to work inside or out, but he came up with most of his production on the outside with 59 stops, four sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, and with an important pick-six in the win over Southern Miss. As one of the few returning key parts to the front seven, it would be a huge help if he puts up an all-star caliber season.
2. DE Milton Williams, Jr.
3. LB Willie Baker, Sr.
4. S Bee Jay Williamson, Soph.
5. LB Trey Baldwin, Sr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Keys To The Season
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%)
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
It’s not as good as last year’s Louisiana Tech team that was on a roll before a few late-season suspensions caused the season to hit a snag, but there’s still enough in place to challenge for the Conference USA title …
With a few breaks.
The quarterback play has to be sharp from the start, and that only happens if the rebuild on the offensive line comes together in a hurry. The defensive side needs even more work, but if the pass rush is a wee bit better it should be okay.
The real key will be the scoring ability from an offense that crushed and killed everything in its path after the first few games. But even after winning nine regular season games last year and beating Miami in the Independence Bowl …
Set The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Regular Season Win Total At … 7
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 7.5
The changes and question marks are too big to set the bar too much higher.
The Power Five road games at Baylor and Vanderbilt are both winnable, but even if the Bulldogs lose those two, there’s a shot at a good season with a manageable Conference USA schedule.
Going to Southern Miss and FIU won’t be easy, but they miss Florida Atlantic and WKU from the East and have an almost-certain base of wins with Prairie View, UTEP, Rice, and UTSA to build off of.
Beat UNLV on the road, UAB at home, and six wins shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
However, those two Power Five games, the two tough road trips to USM and FIU, and the home date against Marshall might be just enough to make an eight win regular season a fight.
