By Steve Lansdale, Senior Writer/Editor
Quick: name three players on Louisiana Tech’s 2018 roster.
OK, name any player on the roster other than defensive end Jaylon Ferguson, the LaTech defensive end who ended his career as the all-time FBS leader in quarterback sacks.
Don’t feel badly — nobody else outside of the LaTech fan base can do it, either. But this isn’t an exercise in celebrating the team’s anonymity; on the contrary, it’s about a warning.
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Just because Ferguson has left Ruston and now is in camp with the Baltimore Ravens as a linebacker does not mean the Bulldogs don’t represent a threat. Ferguson might have been the headliner, but LaTech went 8-5 in head coach Skip Holtz’s seventh year at the helm. The Bulldogs have yet to win a Conference USA title under Holtz, but they have established themselves as a consistent contender to do just that.
Statistically, the Bulldogs were exceptionally average last season, outscoring their opponents by less than two points (24.69-23.00) per game. Returning quarterback J’Mar Smith is dangerous enough — he ran for three touchdowns and threw for 3,160 yards and passed for 15 more scores — and wide receiver Adrian Hardy (75 receptions, 1,145 yards, six touchdowns) is a handful for any defense. But after that? The Bulldogs’ offense does not return a whole lot.
The LaTech defense was built around Ferguson, and rightly so. He made more plays than anyone, and when he didn’t, he used the attention paid to him by opposing blockers to free up lanes through which teammates could run free to the ball. Linebacker Collin Scott is back for his senior season after leading the Bulldogs with 87 tackles, as is second-leading tackler James Jordan, who had 74, but to say replacing Ferguson will be difficult is an understatement.
The sheer difference in talent should be lopsided enough against Texas that the Longhorns should win the season opener. But the Bulldogs will be good in 2019 — how good remains to be seen — and two of C-USA’s perceived heavyweights, North Texas (which had nine wins in 2018) and Southern Miss, visit Ruston in 2019, increasing LaTech’s chances for success within the conference.
LaTech wins eight or nine games every year, and often scares or upsets a legitimate Power Five team in the process. Remember, this is a team that beat UNT, only trailed LSU by three points in the fourth quarter and crushed Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl, so while Texas should win, don’t be surprised if the season’s first game is not a 40-point laugher.
Maybe Longhorn fans will be happy with any type of season-opening win, and to not see Maryland on the schedule to start the season.
LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS
2018 RECORD: 8-5
KEY RETURNING PLAYERS:
QB J’MAR SMITH: 3,160 YARDS PASSING, 18 TOTAL TDS
LB COLLIN SCOTT: 87 TOTAL TACKLES
DKR-TEXAS MEMORIAL STADIUM ♦ 7 PM ♦ LONGHORN NETWORK
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