Jump to content

The way too early 2019 La Tech at Texas game discussion


Neonmoon

Recommended Posts

On Herman and Applewhite's staffs at UH...... familiar with Orlando & Herman

Louisiana Tech: Kenny Guiton, who spent the last two seasons as the wide receivers coach at Houston, is joining the LA Tech staff as wide receivers coach, per BleedTechBlue. Guiton had originally joined the Stephen F. Austin (FCS – TX) staff as wide receivers coach back in January.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Bill C's La Tech preview: https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2019/3/5/18234897/louisiana-tech-football-2019-preview-schedule-roster

Quote

In the 2016 and 2017 classes, Tech’s average recruiting ranking, per the 247Sports Composite, was around 0.7900 — basically a high-two-star average. In 2018 and 2019, Holtz has raised that to over 0.8200, signing 30 combined three-stars. There are exciting true and redshirt freshmen in basically every unit, and Holtz has been in Ruston long enough to prove that he’s got a developmental program.

So the future remains bright. And the present ain’t bad either.

But replacing Ferguson, a lot of his line cohorts, and his aggressive coordinator is a tall ask.

The schedule will help, though. Projected 86th in S&P+, Tech plays only one team projected higher than 74th (Texas in Week 1) and is given at least a 41 percent win probability in all of its other 11 games. If the offense improves more than projected or the defense avoids a total collapse (and that pass defense could be awfully good), then maybe the stars finally align.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...
43 minutes ago, texifornia said:

Davante Davis

Crazy that the Horns once again have a  penalty that keeps a player out of a half in the Season Opener....

2018....... Anthony Wheeler missed 1st half vs Maryland due to targeting penalty in Academy Sports Bowl Game

2018........ Gary Johnson missed 2nd half vs Maryland due to targeting penalty early 2nd qtr

2019........ Anthony Cook will miss 1st half vs LaTech due to Sugar Bowl targeting penalty

Edited by LTtxfan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...
15 hours ago, gmr548 said:

How many three-score games, win or loss, has Texas played under Herman? 20 is a big spread.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 

Three score+ games under Herman both wins or losses. Bold is 3 or more touchdowns. 

2017:

San Jose State (2-11) 56-0 W

at Baylor (1-11) 38-7 W

at TCU (11-3) 7-24 L

vs. Missouri (6-7) 33-16 W

2018:

USC (5-7) 37-14 W

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
7 hours ago, Elmer_Fudd said:

The QB for them threw for 330 yards against LSU last year and the #1 WR for them had 10 catches for 180 yards and 2 TD's ( Hardy ).  Green or Jamison is going to get an early test before Cook plays 2nd half.

They, uh, played other games and stuff. Their QB also put up 98 yards, 107 yards and 156 yards respectively against Miss St, UAB and UTEP. He also had a 57% completion percentage and 15-10 TD/INT ratio. 

One game snap shots don’t give the full picture. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/12/2019 at 10:00 AM, jdhorn92 said:

The Tulsa game was on the verge of blowout central, but a couple big mistakes made that game a lot closer.  Iirc we're up 14-0 getting ready to make it 21-0 and something happened like a pick or false start backed us up followed by sack, some BS that kind of changed the MO, things we didn't do later in season.  Veteran QB and playmakers on O , i feel good about this one.

No, what happened was Texas led 21-0 at halftime (though the game should have been much closer -- the Tulsa kicker missed THREE field goals in the first half).  Sam fumbled in the third quarter, but the defense held on 4th and goal, which gave us the ball back but inside our own 10.  The offense did zilch, so Buj had to punt from the endzone and he shanked it.  That gave Tulsa a short field.  The defense initially held, but then gave up a long run on 4th down, which set up Tulsa's first TD.  That punt shank and the 4th down play were both big. 

After that, Tulsa had momentum.  They stopped us on our next offensive series, got the ball back, and hit a long pass (Josh Thompson got all turned around in single coverage) which set up a short TD run that cut the lead to 21-14.  The offense responded with a nice drive to make it 28-14, but the defense decided to stop playing and gave up a TD drive in something like 4 or 5 plays.  Tulsa hit a long TD pass after Boyce got absolutely torched.  (The thought of him and a relatively inexperienced Jalen Green starting at corner should cause all Texas fans to have some concerns.)  Fortunately, the offense was able to run out the clock after that.     

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Carl Spackler said:

No, what happened was Texas led 21-0 at halftime (though the game should have been much closer -- the Tulsa kicker missed THREE field goals in the first half).  Sam fumbled in the third quarter, but the defense held on 4th and goal, which gave us the ball back but inside our own 10.  The offense did zilch, so Buj had to punt from the endzone and he shanked it.  That gave Tulsa a short field.  The defense initially held, but then gave up a long run on 4th down, which set up Tulsa's first TD.  That punt shank and the 4th down play were both big. 

After that, Tulsa had momentum.  They stopped us on our next offensive series, got the ball back, and hit a long pass (Josh Thompson got all turned around in single coverage) which set up a short TD run that cut the lead to 21-14.  The offense responded with a nice drive to make it 28-14, but the defense decided to stop playing and gave up a TD drive in something like 4 or 5 plays.  Tulsa hit a long TD pass after Boyce got absolutely torched.  (The thought of him and a relatively inexperienced Jalen Green starting at corner should cause all Texas fans to have some concerns.)  Fortunately, the offense was able to run out the clock after that.     

Was it a W or a L? Fuck all that analysis.  It was a W.  For ever and ever on the Texas sports website.  It was a fucking win!

Edited by lemonandaturd
  • Fuck You 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, lemonandaturd said:

Was it a W or a L? Fuck all that analysis.  It was a W.  For ever and ever on the Texas sports website.  It was a fucking win!

Well, no shit.  I was simply addressing the notion that the game was on the verge of being a blowout (not really true), as well as the point that Texas made a lot of mistakes in that game that they cleaned up for the most part as the season progressed (true).    

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From a local paper: https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sports/college/louisiana-tech/2019/07/08/countdown-2019-5-key-players-louisiana-tech/1674591001/

Countdown to 2019: 5 key players for Louisiana Tech
 

Quote

The calendar just flipped to July, officially putting us two months away from kickoff of the 2019 college football season.

After an inconsistent 2018 where it won seven regular season games, Louisiana Tech tied the Big Ten's Wisconsin for the nation longest active bowl game win streak with a 31-14 victory over Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl.

Last week, The News-Star kicked off its “Countdown to 2019” series with looking at the five most important games for the Bulldogs this upcoming season.

Next, let’s examine players that need to have a big year to help Louisiana Tech achieve its goal to get back to the C-USA title game:

5. Adrian Hardy, redshirt junior wide receiver

Hardy had the breakout performance of last season for the Bulldogs. With the offense’s leading receiving in 2017 returning in Teddy Veal, the first-time starter and former Oklahoma receiver stole the show out wide with eye-popping acrobatic catches and displayed his strong hands while racking up 1,145 receiving yards and six touchdowns on a blistering 75 catches in 13 games.

It appears Tech quarterback J’Mar Smith has found his go-to target. Now the test becomes, what will Hardy do with the increased attention from opposing defenses and can he keep up the pace that he set in 2018? For the Bulldog offense to continue to improve, getting another big year from Hardy will go a long way.

4. Amik Robertson, junior cornerback

Limiting one half of the field and/or shutting down the other team’s top receiver opens up a lot of schematics for a defense. New Louisiana Tech defensive coordinator Bob Diaco has a weapon in Robertson that can allow for plenty of disguise in coverage and packages. Last season, Robertson finished with 61 tackles along with team-highs in interceptions (four) and pass breakups (12).

The star corner, after garnering Freshman All-American honors in 2017, affects the game whether the ball is thrown in his direction or not. Most opposing quarterbacks do not test the All-Conference USA performer very often and when they do, Robertson more times than not makes the play. Diaco and his defense need a big season out of Robertson as Tech’s pass rush will take a hit with the departure of Jaylon Ferguson.

3. J’Mar Smith, redshirt senior quarterback

Will this finally be the year for Smith? Louisiana Tech fans have been waiting for the play from this quarterback to reach the level the now redshirt senior signal caller pieced together in his first career start as a freshman, nearly guiding Tech to pull off the upset on the road at Arkansas.

Smith now has two full seasons starting under his belt, a first for the position under head coach Skip Holtz during his tenure in Ruston, and the expectation of his performance only elevates as he should understand the ins-and-outs of Holtz’s offense. In 2018, he threw for 3,160 yards and 15 touchdowns, but only completed 57 percent of his passes and had 10 interceptions. For the Bulldogs to make a run for a conference championship, Smith must be improved and more consistent at quarterback.

2. Gewhite Stallworth/Devante Lovett, redshirt senior offensive tackles

Llne play wasn’t exactly the brightest spot on offense last year for Louisiana Tech. Defenses piled up 33 sacks while the rushing number were substantially down from the previous few campaigns and there were multiple instances where Holtz called out the big guys up front during the season.

Now the offensive line, who gets back the interior with Kody Russey at center, Ethan Reed at left guard and Drew Kirkpatrick at right guard, must deal with the departure of its best lineman in O’Shea Dugas, who played left tackle in 2018. Senior Devante Lovett appears set to take over that position coming out of spring. On the other end, senior Gewhite Stallworth looks to be in line to start at right tackle. Stallworth has started games each of the last two years and offensive line coach Robert McFarland expects that experience to paid dividends for the big, 6-foot-8, 322-pound lineman. Blocking in the run and pass game needs to drastically improve for Tech to be successful in 2019.

1. Running backs

Coming out of 2018, what Louisiana Tech needs most is a consistent and viable rushing attack. Offenses require balance and rising redshirt senior Jaqwis Dancy along with redshirt juniors Israel Tucker and Justin Henderson possess the talent to be a formidable stable. This season, it’s all about putting it together as a consistent ground game boosts the entire offense.

The run game ended 2018 with 1,997 yards and 22 touchdowns, the yard total the lowest for Bulldogs running backs during Holtz’s tenure at Tech. Dancy led the group last season with 667 yards but missed a couple of games due to a knee injury. Health will again be a major factor to watch this season as the offense can’t afford to lose its top two options in Dancy and Tucker for multiple games like a year ago. The corps of backs are all now a year older and more experienced and the offensive coaching staff plans to lean on them for a much better 2019 campaign.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe it's a long shot asking here, but will there be any sorta surly tailgate or meetup? I would love to meet up with some other fans. I'm a 2018 engineering alum, was an OOS kid so no family around to go to games with, and most my friends were either nerds who don't watch football or have moved outta ATX already (plus ive been stuck in louisiana the last 12 months - finally TX bound again in 3 weeks). Have tried the Exes tailgates before but they are pretty rough if you show up solo.... Just looking for some fellow fans to hang out with on saturdays, and happy to bring plenty of beer 🍺🍺

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please, for the love of God, just let this be a good ole' fashioned 52-10 victory with Sam wearing a headset the entire second half. I can't take a third straight year of going from incredibly excited for the start of football season to clinically depressed all within the span of about 2 hours. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

When will C-USA’s most consistent program win the conference? - Bill C's 2019 130-team preview | Mar 5, 2019

Louisiana Tech 2019 Season Preview, Part I - Roster

Louisiana Tech 2019 Season Preview, Part II - Schedule (not too much in this one)

LA Tech's first scrimmage: Who stood out, depth check, position battles ongoing 

Spoiler

LA Tech's first scrimmage: Who stood out, depth check, position battles ongoing

RUSTON – Who ultimately makes the 70-man travel roster for Louisiana Tech?

As a whole, that question still hasn’t been completely answered, but after the team’s first team scrimmage of fall camp Saturday morning on the practice field, head coach Skip Holtz and his staff are closer in that determination than where they were coming into the day.

Mainly about personnel and seeing which players could potentially add depth at certain spots as well as hotly contested position battles for starting jobs fell under the microscope as Tech scrimmaged for nearly an hour-and-a-half, working mostly with the twos and threes using a watered down playbook and calls.

“We get a good six, nine, 10 plays of live work in the red zone and goal line with our ones. I thought it was a productive day on both sides, we made some plays on defense and we made some plays on offense,” Holtz said. “The key to days like this is to watch the film, correct the mistakes and get better.
Louisiana Tech redshirt junior running back Israel Tucker (22) runs the ball during the team's first practice of fall camp Friday, Aug. 2, 2019.

Louisiana Tech redshirt junior running back Israel Tucker (22) runs the ball during the team's first practice of fall camp Friday, Aug. 2, 2019. (Photo: Cory Diaz)

“This scrimmage was personnel more than anything to see where we are and who that 70 on the bus is going to be.”

Holtz said he was anxious to see the competition at both offensive tackle positions, how the depth currently stacks up at linebacker behind senior starters Collin Scott and Connor Taylor as well as the safeties behind seniors L’Jarius Sneed, James Jackson and Darryl Lewis.

And what better way to gauge those players than by designing play calls to see how they react.

“It wasn’t to evaluate where we were as an offense or defense. I’m looking at who’s in and who I want to pull him, see him run and how he’s going to do,” Holtz said. “I want to see this receiver.

“You're calling plays more to get the ball and (defensive coordinator Bob Diaco) was calling defense more to see certain guys in pressure situations. Where you isolate a guy and see how he’s going to stand up to the challenge.”

In the first fall scrimmage, running Diaco’s 3-4 system, senior linebacker Scott said he was impressed with the unit’s communication.

“Even the ones, twos, threes, from the top to the bottom of the depth chart, we were getting in good communication,” Scott, who recorded a sack, said. “When the offense checked, we were checking so that’s what builds confidence to be able to communicate with the person left and right to you, building trust on the field. That’s the most important thing in learning this defense is you got to be able to trust the person next to you.”

Backup free safety Bee Jay Williams started out the practice with an athletic, one-handed interception of backup quarterback Westin Elliott, the first of two turnovers caused by the defense on the day. Freshman safety Khiry Morrison jarred the ball loose from redshirt freshman running back Elijah Hines near the end of the scrimmage that was recovered by freshman linebacker Maki Carabin.

Redshirt junior defensive end Willie Baker and redshirt freshman Steven Shaw each had a sack.

The Bulldogs scored three touchdowns during the scrimmage, all three rushing scores, the first from Hines before redshirt junior tailback Israel Tucker tallied two during red zone situations.

A position senior three-year starting quarterback J’Mar Smith had his eye on Saturday was the receivers and the group pieced together a solid performance. Redshirt freshman Davon “Smoke” Harris hauled in several passes, while well-known names like Adrian Hardy, Isaiah Graham and Cee Jay Powell made the most of their limited opportunities.

“Everybody wanted to see the receiver and running back depth. I think they did great today,” Smith said. “In the goal-line situations and the open field, just making plays and executing at a high level.”

“The receiving corps is one of the best I’ve been around,” said Graham. “You can go from A to Z and it’s a great receiving corps. I’m excited for the season. The chemistry has been lovely, outside of football we're together, inside football we’re together. It’s a real brotherhood.”

Louisiana Tech’s coaching staff will watch and breakdown the film following Saturday’s scrimmage and begin to inch closer to nailing down a more concrete three-deep depth chart.

“It’s kind of hard to evaluate where we are on either side of the ball, we’re making sure we continue to get better,” Holtz said.
Running backs shine

With the twos and threes receiving the bulk of the work, guys like Hines and redshirt freshman Deandre Marcus took advantage in Holtz’s eyes.

Outside of Williamson’s interception, Hines provided the other highlight of the day for Tech on his 30-yard touchdown scamper where he got bottled up at the line of scrimmage before breaking free and bouncing out to the right side, sprinting untouched to the end zone.

“Elijah Hines had a great day. He did some really good things with the ball under his arm. Unfortunately, he had the fumble at the end of the scrimmage, but I thought that he’s a freshman, he doesn’t always know what he’s doing right now, but you can see the talent is there,” Holtz said. “When he puts the ball under his arm and runs, he’s a slippery son of a gun to tackle. He runs physical, he broke an awful lot of tackles today.

“I thought a couple of the running backs ran really hard today, broke some tackles, made a difference. I thought some running backs showed up, did some really good thing.”
Heated tackle battles

Tech’s first scrimmage was all about allowing players locked in highly contested position battles to try and get a leg up on their competition. Two positions that will continue to be evaluated after the scrimmage will be both tackles spot on the offensive line.

At right tackle, senior Gewhite Stallworth and JUCO transfer Antawn Lewis both got snaps with the ones. And at left tackle, former LSU signee Willie Allen and redshirt freshman Biron Rossell continue to fight for that coveted starting role.

“They’re competing their tail off right now. I think grading this scrimmage will go a long way, starting to see whether we’re going to continue to roll them until somebody takes it,” Holtz said. “That’s what a scrimmage like this is all about -- letting them determine that on the field and not letting us in the meeting room talking about it. Let them come out here, show how they’re going to play and that one of them is ready to play at a championship level.”

LA Tech football forming depth chart, what stood out during final fall scrimmage

Spoiler

LA Tech football forming depth chart, what stood out during final fall scrimmage

RUSTON — Louisiana Tech’s ones got their first substantial live work of fall camp during the team’s final scrimmage of fall camp Saturday morning at Joe Aillet Stadium.

“It was needed,” Bulldogs head coach Skip Holtz said at Tech’s annual Fan Fest event Saturday afternoon at the Thomas Assembly Center.

The team ran roughly 115 plays during the near two-hour practice that featured a lot of first-team offense going against the first-team defense as well as the backups on both sides of the ball lining up against their first-string counterparts and some twos versus twos.
Louisiana Tech conducted its second and final fall camp scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019 at Joe Aillet Stadium.

Louisiana Tech conducted its second and final fall camp scrimmage Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019 at Joe Aillet Stadium. (Photo: Tom Morris/LATechSportsPix.com)

“This scrimmage was about where we are right now, how close we are to game ready. It was much more like a game. It’s not as clean as you want it to be at this time, but there was a lot to cheer from on both sides of the ball,” Holtz said. “I thought it was hard-hitting, physical up front.”

Led by the linebackers and defensive backfield, the Bulldog defense displayed its ability to tackle in space, while Holtz said at this point in camp, there’s still a lot left to be desired in production from the running back position.

Redshirt senior tailback Jaqwis Dancy missed the final scrimmage recovering from a stomach bug, and his absence from the offensive backfield was felt.

“Israel Tucker ran hard; he didn’t have a great number of carries. I thought Justin Henderson had a couple of nice runs where got pads going north and south, hit it up vertical. Both in the open field, we’re not as productive as we need to be,” Holtz said. “With Jaqwis not at practice today, one of our home run threats we’ve had with his athleticism and speed in space. I thought (redshirt freshman running back) Deandre (Marcus) stepped up and did some good things.

“We’ve said it’s going to be more by committee. I think this scrimmage will go a long way in helping us to formulate what that order is going to be. We’ve got to continue to stress our tailbacks; we need more production of that position. We just can’t get what’s blocked for; we got to make things happen.”

Tucker, who’s been at the front of the position group all fall camp, said he and Dancy have been working with the younger backs this fall camp, and their experience is a vital part of that room.

“Me and Jaqwis, we’ve been here a while, so we know the right things we have to do technique-wise, fundamental-wise,” Tucker said. “We try to guide these young guys. Anything they do wrong, we’re there to try to teach them up, get them right and try to bring everybody along.”

Perhaps that need for making a play was telegraphed the most during goal line work once where the defense held the second-team offense out of the end zone in three downs.

“Red zone and third down, that’s a critical thing for our defense,” redshirt junior outside linebacker Willie Baker said. “We take that to heart. Everybody’s fired up when it comes down to third down and red zone.”

Holtz said from Saturday’s scrimmage, he and coaching staff will work to solidify the two-deep depth chart, where positions like three competition along the offensive line will begin to take shape this week before Louisiana Tech enters game prep for its season opener at Texas on Aug. 31.

“You could say (redshirt senior) Ethan Red and (redshirt junior) Kody Russey solidified at the right guard and center position. There’s a lot of battle going on at the left guard with Joshua Mote and Drew Kirkpatrick with a redshirt sophomore and senior. (Redshirt freshman) Biron Rossell and (redshirt junior) Willie Allen, there’s a heck of a battle at left tackle. We’re rolling them and how they’re playing, this scrimmage is going to go a long way,” Holtz said. “At right tackle, Gewhite Stallworth is doing some good things but I’ve been really impressed with 'Tank,' Antawn Lewis, the way he’s playing right now.

“There are three position that are still rolling and up for grabs. We’ve got to make some decisions this week, the communication lines between the guards and center, talking and trusting each other, listening to the quarterbacks' calls are going to go a long way.”
What Louisiana Tech said post scrimmage

Willie Baker, redshirt junior outside linebacker, on the last time he’s dropped back in coverage

“Honestly, probably my sophomore year in high school. I did it for one game. We’ve had a little bit of covering the flats last year, but not so much. You didn’t see a big guy do it. This year, it’s going to be a lot of changing going on.”

J’Mar Smith, redshirt senior quarterback on what separates this season’s offense from prior two groups

“We’re hungry. Every day we come out here to compete. Understand what we have to do to stay ahead of the chains, keep the ball moving. Try to minimize the things we do to hurt ourselves and maximize our opportunities to make the offense better. The offense is better, the defense is better, the whole team is better, we just have to keep pushing forward and get ready for the first game.

Head coach Skip Holtz on offensive line depth

“We’ve got about nine guys that are good enough to play for us up front, which is a far cry from what we’ve had in the past.”

Holtz on Dancy’s status

“Jaqwis has been out with a stomach bug, we expect him back. He missed this week, it’s been difficult and hard. I would’ve loved to see him take these live reps today, get hit and bounce around to see what he’s going to bring the offense when he’s healthy.”

Louisiana Tech returns to the practice field Monday morning.

 

Edited by sith_horn
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...