LA Tech Hosts UTSA with Bowl Hopes on the Line
UTSA secured bowl eligibility last week with a 9-7 win over Marshall. The 6-4 Roadrunners come to Ruston Saturday to take on Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs, 5-6, are one win away from bowl eligibility themselves.
Both LA Tech and UTSA were preseason favorites to win the western division of Conference USA, but both teams lost close games to UNT, USM, and UAB. Red zone problems have plagued both teams: UTSA is 5th and LA Tech is 6th nationally in field goals made per game.
UTSA once again relied on it's stingy defense and kicker Jared Sackett to defeat Marshall on Saturday. UTSA hit two field goals in the first half and held Marshall scoreless for almost the entire game. When Marshall did score late in the fourth quarter to go up 7-6, they left UTSA just enough time to kick one more field goal to win the game.
LA Tech was able to get into the end zone against winless UTEP. J'Mar Smith rushed for two scores and threw for two more and Jaqwis Dancy also ran for a touchdown against the Miners.
The Bulldogs have struggled to score touchdowns recently. The cause can be attributed to a number of things ranging from coaching aggressiveness, quarterback hesitance, offensive line play, or receivers getting open. Holtz mentioned the struggles in the red zone in last week's press conference. "...you had four trips into the red zone where you kicked field goals where those had opportunities to be touchdowns. The red zone struggles...," Holtz listed as one of the negatives of the FAU game. "We have to look at what we can do as an offense in the red zone to give our players a better chance to have success," he added.
A lot of the season can be pointed back to the South Carolina game. The Bulldogs built a lead, only to see South Carolina come storming back. The comeback started on an interception in the red zone. Did that hurt the team's confidence to finish out games? Did J'Mar Smith get trigger shy in the red zone? Is he being coached to not make risky passes in the end zone and that makes him reluctant to throw it at all? In the FAU game, the Owls certainly brought pressure and took away the run game in the red zone. They put all the pressure on Smith and the passing attack.
The UTEP game was a much needed "get right" game for both the offense and the team as a whole. The UTSA game is huge for bowl eligibility and the extra practice time that comes with it. This young team has shown so much promise and has a few kinks to work out to build on for next year.
The Independence Bowl is a strong possibility for the Bulldogs if they can get this 6th win. So it's not a battle for the west like it was billed to be just three months ago, but this game is still huge for many other reasons. Bragging rights, bowl games, positive momentum heading into the offseason, and of course recruiting - with the new early signing day approaching.
Massey has Tech favored by 3 and Vegas has it as a 1 point edge for the Bulldogs. It's basically a toss-up game with Tech getting a slight advantage for being at home. Tech has lost four out of their last five games in Joe Aillet Stadium, including their last three. Protect the house, win one for the seniors, get bowl eligible; whatever it takes. Just win baby!