It has been 30 years since Louisiana Tech made the announcement that they were moving to Division 1 in football. We take a look back over the years. What were the biggest wins? Who were the best players to wear the red and blue?
Louisiana Tech has long been known for pulling off upsets of P5 teams. Now days, Tech is competing for conference champions and winning bowl games; which seems like a long, long time since the late 90's when the independent Bulldogs got left at home.
We put together three All-Decade teams with help from fan polls on Twitter as well as feedback from several former players. The participation from everyone has been great. It was hard to leave players like Daniel Porter, Luke McCown, and D'Anthony Smith but those positions were absolutely loaded. We couldn't choose at a few positions so we wimped out and picked two guys.
1987-1996
The Spirit of '88, these guys brought Louisiana Tech into the Division 1 era. This era produced Hall of Famer Willie Roaf as well as NFL champions Doug Evans and Grant Williams.
Key Games:
1987: Louisiana Tech 16, Kansas 11
1988: Louisiana Tech 31, Kansas State 28
1990: Louisiana Tech 31, Colorado State 30
1990: Louisiana Tech 31, Maryland 31 Independence Bowl
1992: Louisiana Tech 10, Baylor 9
1992: #7 Alabama 13, Louisiana Tech 0 (Willie Roaf Game)
1996: Louisiana Tech 38, Mississippi State 23
Head Coach: Joe Raymond Peace
QB: Jason Martin
RB: Jason Davis
FLEX: Jason Cooper
WR: Chad Mackey
WR: Bobby Slaughter
WR: Dean Jackson
TE: Josh Bradley
OL: Grant Williams
OL: Willie Roaf
OL: Jerome Anderson
OL: Baron Rollins
OL: Trey Snodgrass
DL: Eric Shaw
DL: Courtney Wallace
DL: Artie Smith
DL: Keith Washington
LB: Glenell Sanders
LB: Myron Baker
LB: El Donte Osborne
CB: Doug Evans
CB: Willie Smith
S: Lance Reed
S: John Noel
K: Matt Stover or Chris Boniol
P: Daryl Altic
KR/PR: Eddie Brown
DS: Ron Ainsworth
Honarable Mention: Mike Wood, Lorenza Baker, Gene Johnson, Michael Richardson, Demise Loyd, Glenn Hunt.
1997-2006
Gary Crowton brought the spread offense to Ruston and the record books were changed forever. Jack Bicknell took over from Crowton and took the Bulldogs back to a bowl game in 2001.
Key Games:
1997: Louisiana Tech 41, CAL 34
1997: Louisiana Tech 26, Alabama 20
1998: #4 Nebraska 56, LA Tech 27 (Troy Edwards NCAA record 405 yards receiving)
1999: Louisiana Tech 29, #18 Alabama 28 (Alabama was SEC champion)
2000: #2 Miami 42, LA Tech 31 (Freshman Luke McCown 72 pass attempts)
2001: Louisiana Tech 19, Tulsa 7 (Give the ball to Joe (Smith) game, Tech clinches WAC championship)
2002: Louisiana Tech 39, Oklahoma State 36
2003: Louisiana Tech 20, Michigan State 19
2004: Louisiana Tech 28, #17 Fresno State 21 (First win over ranked opponent in the Joe)
2005: Louisiana Tech 40, #23 Fresno State 28
Head Coach: Gary Crowton
QB: Tim Rattay
RB: Ryan Moats
Flex: John Simon
WR: James Jordan
WR: Delwyn Diagre
WR: Troy Edwards
TE: Anthony Harrison
OL: Joey Chustz
OL: Damian Lavergne
OL: Aaron Lips
OL: Randy Richard
OL: Rob Koontz
DL: Jemelle Cage
DL: Chris Van Hoy
DL: Quincy Myles
DL: Otis Pitts
LB: Damon Harrington
LB: Quinn Harris
LB: Barry Robertson
CB: Tramon Williams
CB: Jason Olford
S: Bobby Gray
S: Michael John Lenard
K: Josh Scobee
P: Chris Keagle
KR/PR: Patrick Jackson
DS: Matt Graham
Honarable Mention: Luke McCown, Jacob Peeler, Byron Santiago, Adrian Gonzalez, Rob Skapura, Jonathan Holland, DJ Curry, Sean Cangelosi, Curtis Randall, Joe Smith, Bobby Ray Tell, Lester Brown.
2007-2016
Head Coaches Derek Dooley, Sonny Dykes, and Skip Holtz represent the current era of Bulldog football. This era has seen a huge upswing in facility improvements as well as wins on the field.
Key Games:
2007: #20 Hawaii 45, LA Tech 44 (Go for 2 game)
2008: Louisiana Tech 22, Mississippi State 14 (The other Bulldogs come to Ruston)
2008: Louisiana Tech 17, Northern Illinois 10 (Independence Bowl)
2009: #9 LSU 24, LA Tech 16 (Daniel Porter jump pass gives Tech the lead at halftime)
2011: Houston 35, LA Tech 34 (Cougars storm back)
2011: Louisiana Tech 24, Nevada 20 (Tech clinches the WAC on the road)
2012: Louisiana Tech 52, Illinois 24
2012: Louisiana Tech 44, Virginia 38
2012: Texas A&M 59, Louisiana Tech 57 (Johnny Football game)
2012: Utah State 48, Louisiana Tech 41 (OT) (Orange Bowl officials in the Joe)
2014: Marshall 26, LA Tech 23 (Conference USA Championship game)
2014: Louisiana Tech 35, Illinois 18 (Heart of Dallas Bowl)
2015: Kansas State 39, Louisiana Tech 33 (Triple OT)
2015: Louisiana Tech 47, Arkansas State 28 (New Orleans Bowl)
2016: Arkansas 21, Louisiana Tech 20 (J'Mar Smith's first start)
2016: Louisiana Tech 48, #25 Navy 45 (Armed Forces Bowl)
Head Coach: Skip Holtz
QB: Jeff Driskel or Colby Cameron
RB: Kenneth Dixon
FLEX: Hunter Lee
WR: Quinton Patton
WR: Trent Taylor
WR: Carlos Henderson
TE: Dennis Morris
OL: Mitchell Bell
OL: Jordan Mills
OL: Rob McGill
OL: Oscar Johnson
OL: Stephen Warner
DL: IK Enemkpali
DL: Houston Bates
DL: Vernon Butler
DL: Justin Ellis
LB: Adrien Cole
LB: Jay Dudley
LB: Nick Thomason
CB: Adarius Barnes
CB: Weldon Brown
S: Xavier Woods
S: Kentrell Brice or Antonio Baker
K: Matt Nelson
P: Ryan Allen
KR/PR: Phillip Livas
DS: Thomas Graham or Josh Cuthbert
Honarable Mention: Daniel Porter, Tank Calais, Chad Boyd, D'Anthony Smith, Solomon Randle, Matt Broha, Lennon Creer, Terry Carter, Cody Sokol, Lyle Fitte, Ryan Higgins, Kris Cavitt, DJ Banks
