Game Day: Tech Set for UTSA
Louisiana Tech and UTSA will kick things off tonight at 6:30 PM on ESPNU. The ‘Dogs, 5-6 (3-4) are looking for their sixth win of the season in order to become bowl eligible. The Roadrunners, 6-4 (3-4) became bowl eligible last week beating Marshall 9-7. Tech defeated UTSA in Ruston last year 63-35.
Tech is coming off a 42-21 victory over UTEP that saw the Bulldogs rush for 343 yards. Boston Scott and Jaqwis Dancy led the way running for 134 and 135 yards respectively.
Tech will face a daunting task tonight against the best defense in Conference USA. UTSA is giving up only 16.7 points per game. When speaking about the Frank Wilson and his UTSA defense, Bulldog Head Coach Skip Holtz said, “I think it all starts when you look at them defensively. When you play strong defense like they do, they are ranked in the top 10 in the nation in about four different categories. They are not just playing good defensive football in our conference, but they are playing it at a national level. There are seven categories where they are ranked first or second in our league. They are playing really strong football.” Moving the ball for four quarters is going to be difficult, much of which will fall on sophomore quarterback J’Mar Smith. Smith had four total touchdowns in the win over UTEP and will look to continue his strong play tonight.
Offensively UTSA enters Joe Aillet Stadium with a balanced attack led by quarterback Dalton Sturm. The RoadRunner offense does not put up eye-popping numbers from a scoring standpoint (25.6 points per game) but are extremely experienced with nine seniors in their starting eleven. As mentioned above, Sturm does it all for UTSA both with his arm and legs and has accounted for 17 touchdowns on the year. While complimenting the steady signal caller, Holtz said, “It all starts with their senior quarterback, Dalton Sturm, who I think is playing really good football right now. He has rushed for over 500 yards this year. There is a lot of balance on this offense. They have a really balanced team and are doing some good things on offense.” Slowing down Sturm and the experienced Roadrunner offense will go a long way in Tech closing out the regular season on a positive note.
With clear skies and temperatures expected to be in the 50’s, it will be a beautiful night for football. Louisiana Tech is looking to extend their bowl streak to four, while defeating UTSA for the fourth consecutive season.
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