2017 was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Louisiana Tech with such a young roster coming back. After losing players like Xavier Woods, Trent Taylor, and Carlos Henderson to the NFL; the Bulldogs also had to replace starting quarterback Ryan Higgins.

J’Mar Smith came in with a lot of hype after his performance as a freshman against Arkansas. He had solid numbers: 2974 passing yards with 16 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. The Bulldogs were average on third down (40.7%) at 59th in the country, and also in the middle of the pack (85.2% good for 59th nationally) in the red zone.

Those numbers help tell the tale of a 7-6 season and a young team gained valuable experience. The defense made huge strides last season and returns a loaded roster in 2018. The Bulldogs were 54th in scoring defense (25.4 points per game allowed) and 60th in total defense, giving up 385.5 yards per game.

Skip Holtz certainly has high expectations for his team and is not backing away from championship talk. "We talked about four one point losses last season and all of a sudden you're an 11-2 football team," explained the Bulldog's head coach. "That's the hurdle we're trying to get to. Winning a conference championship - hosting a conference championship - that's the goal. That's the goal that we have each and every year, and I'm anxious to see if we can take the team and the pieces that we have put together through recruiting and mold this into a conference championship team. That's certainly what we need to do"

With additions at linebacker (Junior College transfers Connor Taylor, Brandon Floyd, and Trey Baldwin) and tons of depth coming back up front and in the secondary, Defensive Coordinator Blake Baker’s crew should put up big numbers this season.

Jaylon Ferguson and Amik Robertson are the headliners on defense, but they have a ton of help. Seniors Jordan Bradford, Keonatya Garner, and Immanuel Turner all return on the defensive line as well as Willie Baker and KaDerrion Mason. Tech has some serious size up front. In the secondary, ball hawks like Darryl Lewis, Michael Sam, Jordan Baldwin, Jaiden Cole, L’Jarius Sneed, and Ephraim Kitchen all join Amik in what will be a very stingy unit.

A strong defense will take some of the pressure off of the offense; and there is major pressure on the offense to put up numbers. J’Mar Smith will have more responsibility on his shoulders as a veteran quarterback, and will be trusted to make more big plays. We should see that 17 passing touchdown number go way up and it won’t hurt if we see more than 5 interceptions. That means the offense is taking more chances.

Wide receivers Adrian Hardy and Rhashid Bonnette had solid seasons and if they can stay healthy will give Smith more targets to go with All-Conference wideout Teddy Veal. We should also see breakout seasons from Javonte Woodard, Alfred Smith, Zach Cousar, and George Scott.

There are plenty of weapons for Smith to throw to and he has a veteran offensive line, led by NFL prospect O’Shea Dugas. The big unknown in the offense is at running back. Jarred Craft and Boston Scott aren’t there to rely on anymore. Jaqwis Dancy is the man now and is ready to show he can be a feature back. Dancy had 39 carries for 262 yards and two TD’s last season. Kam McKnight had 3 rushing TD’s in mostly a red zone role last year and looks to get more carries this season. Sophomore Isreal Tucker and Junior College transfer Justin Henderson will also figure into the equation.

Holtz has built his program from the ground up and now has the deepest roster since his arrival in Ruston. "I think we have very little drop off from our ones to our twos right now," said Holtz, "That's one of the things that excites me, because it creates an awful lot of competition amongst the players themselves. Every day they know they're going to have to go out there on that football field and compete. If you have a bad day, somebody could take your job. It's an incredible motivator..."

"It's going to be a very interesting camp at a lot of positions, because I think this is the deepest team that we've had since I've been here," Holtz added.

The pressure to score for the offense will be in the second half. The Bulldogs lost 17-16 against South Carolina and they lost in double overtime to Southern Miss. There were also one point losses to UAB and North Texas.

Louisiana Tech has won four straight bowl games under Skip Holtz and they have played for two conference championships. The elusive conference championship still eludes them and the best way to get there is to beat UAB, UNT, and USM and get a chance to host the championship game.

In the Southern Miss loss, Tech was outscored 24-10 after halftime. They were outscored 14-6 by UAB after halftime. Having a veteran quarterback and offensive line as well as Teddy Veal on the field will help. Having a loaded defense will help. The Bulldogs have to find a way to close out these games.

Last year was a rebuilding year and it was successful. Tech won the last two games on the schedule against UTSA and UTEP and completely ran over SMU in the Frisco Bowl. Smith threw for 3 TD’s and over 200 yards. Hardy, Cousar, Bonnette, and Scott all caught passes. On defense, all the young guys got in and made plays. Collin Scott, Zach Hannibal, James Jackson, Trey Spencer, and Aaron Roberson will look to springboard that opportunity into more playing time in 2018.

"It's taken us a while to build the culture here for five years, but I think every year it gets better and better," said Holtz about his program. "I really like the leadership we have on this team and the depth that we have on this football team."

The offense will rest on the shoulders of the quarterback. There was no experience behind Smith last year and it appeared Holtz and Offensive Coordinator Todd Fitch were careful with him. They didn’t want to have to throw in freshman Elijah Walker or junior college transfer Westin Elliot, after both had just arrived on campus.

Now with a year under their belt, Tech’s backup quarterbacks have more time in the system. Smith has a year of leading the offense and all signs point to him having a big year. To win that championship, they will need Smith to push the envelope a little more and get the ball out to those playmakers. We should also see more running from Smith, which will open up the offense even more. Smith ran 120 times last season and that number may actually increase. He also had knee surgery after the Frisco Bowl and they knee seemed to bother him as the season wore on.

“I felt good,” Smith told the Meridian Star. “I’m moving well, and everyone is back and healthy. We’re just trying to build this offense and make the team better.”

All signs point to this team being a lot better. How far they go remains to be seen, but the sky is the limit.