What to expect from Louisiana Tech

By Steve Lansdale

The Texas Longhorns kick off the 2019 season Saturday night against a Louisiana Tech team that went 8-5 last season that included a 29-27 season over a better-than-anyone-expected North Texas team and a 31-14 win over Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl.

The Bulldogs are led by head coach Skip Holtz, who keeps saying that Saturday’s game against No. 10 is a great change for his team to measure its progress.

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Make a defensive choice
LaTech has at least one very capable cornerback in Amik Robertson and a standout safety in L’Jarius Sneed. Given the rash of injuries that has befallen the Texas running backs during preseason camp, don’t be surprised if the Bulldogs drop an extra defender or two downfield in an effort to take away from passing targets and hope their defensive front can keep the UT running game in check. That could be a tall task, considering the talent of the Texas receivers and the experience and production of quarterback Sam Ehlinger. But if the Bulldogs can make the Texas offense one-dimensional, it definitely would benefit them.

Establish the run
The Bulldogs are not a great running team — they ran for 129.6 yards per game as a team last season — but they’re a modest passing team, too. Quarterback J’Mar Smith, now a redshirt senior, completed 57.3 percent of his passes a year ago for 3,160 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions — not great numbers, but not awful. So if talent puts a team at a disadvantage both on the ground and through the air, it is in that team’s best interest to forge some kind of a running attack and chew up the clock, to allow at least a fighter’s chance if the score can be kept close for most of the game.

Take chances defensively
LaTech went 8-5 last year, but only outscored its opponents by 24.69-23 points per game. If the Bulldogs try to trade punches with the Longhorns, they could be in for a rough night, so look for LaTech to spend the game trying to generate turnovers in an effort to level the playing field a little.

Generate a pass rush
Part of the reason for LaTech’s success last season was the pressure applied to quarterbacks: the Bulldogs sacked opposing passers 45 times, compared to 33 by opposing defenses. The problem is that the defense’s best pass rusher, defensive end Jaylon Ferguson (who led the nation with 17.5 sacks in 2018), is now a former Bulldog, having been drafted — as a linebacker — by the Baltimore Ravens. Where that pressure is going to originate remains to be seen.
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