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  • Louisiana Tech @ Texas 7 PM 8/31 on LHN


    Machinator

    It is no longer "way too early". Game week is here.

    Time to go 1-0.

    H/T to @Bevo for digging this up.

    LA Tech football depth chart projections ahead of 2019 opener at Texas

    https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/sports/college/louisiana-tech/2019/08/23/louisiana-tech-football-depth-chart-projections/2098111001/

    RUSTON — Game week is upon Louisiana Tech, which’ll begin preparations for its season opener versus No. 10 Texas Saturday morning after the team conducts a closed scrimmage Friday.

    The next media availability for Tech head coach Skip Holtz and a few players will be Tuesday for the first weekly press conference of the year and the first official depth chart will be provided.

    With the kickoff to the 2019 season right around seven days away, here are projections on what the Bulldogs’ two-deep at each position could look like:

     
    OFFENSE
    QB: J’Mar Smith, redshirt senior; Westin Elliott, redshirt junior; Aaron Allen, redshirt freshman

    Smith enters his third season as Louisiana Tech’s starter and with offensive coordinator Todd Fitch taking over as his position coach, more is to be expected from the quarterback who already has 27 career starts and has thrown for 6,546 yards, 33 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

    RB: Israel Tucker, redshirt junior; Justin Henderson, redshirt junior AND Jaqwis Dancy, redshirt senior

    Tucker, who started five games a year ago, is primed to take the first snap against Texas. But expect to see plenty of Henderson and Dancy, when healthy, this season as the position will be a by-committee approach.

    X-receiver: Adrian Hardy, redshirt junior; Praise Okorie, redshirt sophomore AND Malik Stanley redshirt senior

    Hardy looks to follow up his breakout 2018 season, where he caught a team-high 75 passes for a career high 1,145 yards and six touchdowns.

    H-receiver: Cee Jay Powell, redshirt junior; Davon “Smoke” Harris, redshirt freshman

    Powell appears set to take over Teddy Veal’s former spot in the receiving corps and get his first amount of significant playing time in his career. In two seasons, the 5-7, 163-pound slot receiver has 22 catches for 138 yards.

    A-receiver: Griffin Hebert, redshirt sophomore; Joshua Matthews, redshirt sophomore

    Hebert put in impressive work on his body over the offseason, filling out with more muscle and he’s followed that up with a solid fall camp.

    Z-receiver: Isaiah Graham, redshirt junior; George Scott III, junior

    Graham, a TCU transfer, has had one of most impressive camps of any players on Tech’s roster and looks primed to be a major difference maker in the passing game.

    Y-receiver: Bobby Holly, redshirt senior; Jacob Adams, redshirt sophomore

    Whenever Louisiana Tech projects to start with an offensive formation that’ll include the Y position, Holly will be there. The Farmerville native started three games last season and two of his four total receptions went for touchdowns.

    RT: Gewhite Stallworth, redshirt senior; Antawn Lewis, junior

    Stallworth has been taking the majority of the first-team snaps in practice, leading to believe he’ll get the start at Texas. The big, 6-8, 322-pound tackle has started three games in his career.

    RG: Ethan Reed, redshirt senior; Joshua Mote, redshirt sophomore Reed, an All-Conference USA honorable mention lineman last year, has started every game the last three seasons for the Bulldogs. Mote adds valuable depth at the position with four starts under his belt.

    Kody Russey, redshirt junior; Abraham Delfin, redshirt sophomore Russey returns to once again anchor Tech’s offensive line in the middle, starting 26 straight games.

    LG: Drew Kirkpatrick, redshirt senior; Carter Habich, sophomore

    After redshirting in 2017, Kirkpatrick emerged as the starting left guard as 2018 progressed, playing in 11 total games.

    LT: Willie Allen, redshirt junior; Biron Rossell, redshirt freshman

    Allen, an LSU transfer, seems to have tapped into the potential coaches saw in him when they recruited him two years ago out of Tyler (Texas) Community College. If he gets the nod next weekend, his first FBS collegiate start will come against Texas.

    DEFENSE
    DE: Ka’Derrion Mason, senior; La’Dante Davenport, redshirt senior

    Mason earned two starts a season ago and had six his sophomore campaign. For his career, the 6-4, 291-pound end has 40 tackles with one sack.

    NG: Courtney Wallace, redshirt senior; D.J. Jackson, redshirt freshman OR Keivie Rose, freshman

    Wallace looks to get his first start of his Tech career against Texas. He’s played in 22 games and has 13 tackles, including three tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks.

    DE: Milton Williams, redshirt sophomore; Steven Shaw, redshirt freshman

    Williams (6-4, 262) has garnered a lot of praise from coaches since the spring and he’s parlayed his solid play into an expected starting role on the defensive line. He saw action in seven games last season.

    OLB: Willie Baker, redshirt junior; Tristan Allen, redshirt sophomore

    Baker switched positions from end to outside linebacker in defensive coordinator Bob Diaco’s 3-4 scheme. His pass rush skill set will still be utilized, highlighted by four sacks coming in the Hawaii Bowl last year, but he’ll handle come coverage duties as well.

    MLB: Connor Taylor, senior; Randy Hogan, redshirt senior OR Trey Baldwin, redshirt junior

    The former JUCO National Defensive Player of the Year looks to be more effective this season for the Bulldogs. Taylor ended 2018 with 30 stops.

    MLB: Collin Scott, redshirt senior; Alex Zayed, redshirt junior

    Scott led the team in tackles last season with 87. The senior linebacker is poised to have another solid season along with handling the defensive calls.

    S: James Jackson, redshirt senior; Ezekiel Barnett, redshirt junior

    Jackson started every game a season ago, finishing second on the team in tackles with 74, including 8.5 TFLs and had one interception.

    S: Darryl Lewis, redshirt senior; Bee Jay Williamson, redshirt freshman

    Lewis has collected 130 career stops and six picks in 40 total appearances, including 26 straight starts. He’s one of the veteran leaders on backend of Tech’s defense.

    S: L’Jarius Sneed, senior; Jaiden Cole, redshirt sophomore

    In the spring, Sneed moved from cornerback to safety and it’s paid dividends for Louisiana Tech’s defense. His three interceptions last year was good enough for second-best on the defense to go along with his 59 total tackles.

    CB: Amik Robertson, junior; Zach Hannibal, redshirt junior

    Unquestionably the most notable star for the Bulldogs, Robertson enters his third season starting at corner. He paced Tech with four picks, has nine total in two seasons, and for his career, has 123 total stops.

    CB: Michael Sam, redshirt senior; Aaron Roberson, redshirt senior

    Sam has battled some injuries during his career, but Holtz called him the “most pleasant surprise” this spring after he moved from safety to corner. Sam has pieced together a great fall camp and looks to more talent to an already deep Bulldog secondary.

    SPECIAL TEAMS
    PK: Bailey Hale, redshirt senior; Brady Farlow, redshirt junior

    Hale transferred to Tech from Eastern New Mexico before 2018 and ultimately earned the starting place kicking job. He had a 68 percent field goal rate in his first year, making 15-of-22 with a long of 46.

    P: Brady Farlow, redshirt junior; Jacob Barnes, freshman

    Behind Davan Dyer last season, Farlow punted five times for 179 yards for a 35.8-yard average.

    PR: Davon “Smoke” Harris, redshirt freshman OR Cee Jay Powell, redshirt junior

    The two combined for three punt returns in 2018.

    KR: Davon “Smoke” Harris, redshirt freshman OR Praise Okorie, redshirt sophomore OR Justin Henderson, redshirt junior

    Okorie and Harris piled up a combined 247 yards on 13 kickoff returns last year. Expect those two to be in the mix to field the opening kickoff for Louisiana Tech at Texas next weekend.


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    1 minute ago, Ghost of Shag said:

    Roschon looks pretty decent back there.  

    Watching the spring game. The dude was just looking like a great athlete out there. He needs to play this year, it actually worked out great for him. Maybe it's God's will he just plays RB. Would've been better for Swoops to just play TE back in the day...

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    1 minute ago, Zavala said:

    Watching the spring game. The dude was just looking like a great athlete out there. He needs to play this year, it actually worked out great for him. Maybe it's God's will he just plays RB. Would've been better for Swoops to just play TE back in the day...

    I'm still holding out hope for his throwing motion to improve in the offseason. Either way, though, the kid needs to be on the field as much as possible.

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    2 minutes ago, Girdwood said:

    Good win. Should have been 63-0. Something to build on.

    If not for a bullshit roughing the passer call, it would have at least been 52-7.

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    Stayed off this thread to enjoy the game. 

    Sam missed some throws, defense was ass in the 4th, but it sure was nice to more or less dominate a g5 team that should be fairly decent. 

    Hope the defensive abortion in the 4th was playing some bench and/or trying new stuff. They couldn’t handle the quick outside passes. Need to clean that up next week. 

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    5 minutes ago, Zavala said:

    Watching the spring game. The dude was just looking like a great athlete out there. He needs to play this year, it actually worked out great for him. Maybe it's God's will he just plays RB. Would've been better for Swoops to just play TE back in the day...

    I still think he's a QB, but he's just one of those guys that just makes plays whenever the ball is in his hands. In this situation he can perform well as a RB. 

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