Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
WAC
Louisiana Tech managed to navigate through a brutal schedule and come out of it all with a trip to a bowl game. Between October 1st and November 26th, the Bulldogs had just one home game. The unbalanced Western Athletic Conference schedule was in part to blame for that, but Coach Sonny Dykes did a magnificent job not just keeping his team above water, but thriving under tough circumstances.
2011 Record: 8-4, 6-1
Last Bowl Appearance: 2008 Independence Bowl vs. Northern Illinois (W 17-10)
Big Wins: 11/5 at Fresno State (41-21), 11/12 at Mississippi (27-7)
Bad Losses: 9/3 at Southern Miss (17-19), 10/1 Hawaii (26-44)
Coach: Sonny Dykes (13-11 at Louisiana Tech, 13-11 overall)
Bowl Record: 0-0 at Louisiana Tech, 0-0 overall
Offensive Coordinator: Tony Franklin
Defensive Coordinator: Tommy Spangler
Strengths:
The big reason Louisiana Tech was able to win on the road was turnovers. The Bulldogs finished the regular season with one of the best turnover ratios in the nation. The defense has a knack for picking off passes and they will give the offense the ball in great field position on a regular basis. The scary thing for the Bulldogs competition is that the turnover margin is getting better. The Bulldogs started the season with Nick Isham under center. He has a nice arm, but he was the one forcing passes and committing turnovers. That changed when Colby Cameron took over. The offense may not be very explosive under Cameron, but he will not throw many interceptions and is getting more efficient with every game. The defense does more than just picks off passes. They do a very good job of stopping the run and middle linebacker and tackling machine Adrien Cole deserves a lot of the credit for stopping the ball carrier at, or behind, the line of scrimmage.
Weaknesses:
Turnovers are always very important, but the Louisiana Tech defense does give up a lot of big plays through the air. They may not look for the boom or bust play, but it often works out that way. If it is not an interception for the Bulldogs, it might be a touchdown for the opposition. The pass rushing skills of defensive ends Matt Broha and Christian Lacey does often force the quarterback to make poor decisions, but sometimes the secondary needs to play it safe. However, it does tend to work for the Bulldogs and those interceptions can pay off big time even if the next pass comes back to haunt them. On the other side of the ball this is a pretty inconsistent offense. Cameron is doing a good job controlling the game, but he completes under 60 percent of his passes. The rushing game has Lennon Creer who is a threat to score every time he touches the ball, but this is a unit that can disappear for a while before they turn things back around. The good news is they rarely go an entire game without scoring quite a few points and that is enough to keep them in games against better teams, especially if the defense can create a turnover or two.
Statistical Leaders:
Rushing: Lennon Creer, RB, 838 yards
Passing: Nick Isham, QB, 1,457 yards
Receiving: Quinton Patton, WR, 1,135 yards
Tackles: Adrien Cole, LB, 120
Sacks: Christian Lacey, DE, 8.5
Interceptions: Jay Dudley, LB, 4
2011 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 150.42 (68th in nation, 3rd in conference)
Passing Offense: 247.08 (44, 6)
Total Offense: 397.50 (49, 6)
Scoring Offense: 30.58 (40, 4)
Rushing Defense: 122.08 (23, 1)
Pass Defense: 252.75 (94, 5)
Total Defense: 374.83 (55, 2)
Scoring Defense: 22.50 (37, 1)
Turnover Margin: .92 (12, 1)
Sacks: 2.67 (17, 1)
Sacks Allowed: 2.00 (64, 5)
