Mid-Season Grades
Louisiana Tech has reached the midway point of the 2017 football season. The results have been mixed thus far, and we want to give our thoughts on each position group.
Offense:
Quarterback: J’Mar Smith has perhaps shown the most growth from week one to week six on the entire Bulldog team. Smith turned the ball over five times in his first two games. In the last four weeks he has turned it over only two times. While he is only completing 58% of his throws, J’Mar has led Tech on go ahead/game winning drives in each of the last four weeks. He has shown the ability to slow the game down and lead his team in crucial situations. B+
Running Back: Jarred Craft and Boston Scott continue to be consistent as they have been their whole careers. Averaging 4.9 yards per carry, the ‘factory’ outside of Teddy Veal, is the two best playmakers Tech has. The duo has combined for only 20 catches through six games. In order for the offense to have more success, they will need to see the ball more in the passing game. Reserve running back, Jaqwis Dancy, has shown a nice burst in his limited playing time. A
Wide Receiver: Receiver was supposed to be a strength of the Tech team heading into the season. To this point, outside of Teddy Veal and Rhashid Bonnette, the unit has failed to put it all together. Veal has 36 catches, and Bonnette has shown a big play ability averaging 25 yards per catch, but outside of these two, J’Mar has struggled to find any kind of consistent threats. Add in the fact that the receivers have struggled to block on the quick passes outside to the running backs, and Tech has been left looking for alternatives. In the second half of the season, Tech will need to get Bonnette healthy and find a third and fourth option. If Tech can do that, this unit will be able to fully showcase their talent. C-
Offensive Line: The offensive line has been a mixed bag to this point in the season. They really struggled in pass protection early on but have shown marked improvement recently. Michael Rodriguez has established himself at right tackle, and the unit has given up only 11 sacks in six games. Running the football has been a slightly different story. Tech is averaging 4.2 yards per carry as a team, but they have struggled to find much success inside the tackles. In the second half of the season, Tech must run the ball between the tackles with Jarred Craft. Getting Josh Outlaw back against Southern Miss to go along with O’Shea Dugas, Kody Russey, Ethan Reed, and Rodriguez will give Tech their best unit up front. This unit will need to do a better job of dominating the line of scrimmage so that Tech can run the ball downhill and open up the middle of the field for Teddy Veal. C
Defense:
Defensive Line: In my opinion, this unit has been the most disappointing group, but from a total defense standpoint the entire defense has been much improved. The defensive line has collected 12 sacks in six games, led by Jaylon Ferguson with four. The 12 sacks aren’t overly impressive, but Tech has faced a plethora of teams that have been run oriented offensives. Stopping the run is where Tech has had some issues. Tech has given up 170 yards per game on the ground and 11 rushing touchdowns. With all the talent Tech has up front with Jaylon Ferguson, Keonatye Garner, Jordan Bradford, Kaderrion Mason, Deldrick Canty, and numerous others, this has to improve. If Tech can improve this number, they will be a dominant defense. C-
Linebackers: One of the big question marks heading into 2017 was who would start at linebacker and how well would they play. Brandon Durman and Collin Scott have been solid inside at middle linebacker. Russell Farris leads the team at linebacker, and Dae’Von Washington has two interceptions as a reserve. The unit needs to improve their tackling but have been much better against the pass this season. B-
Defensive Backs: The entire Bulldog secondary was remade after a rough 2016 season that saw them give up 275 yards per game. This year, with the addition of true freshmen Amik Robertson at corner and the solid play of Aaron Roberson and L’Jarius Sneed, the unit has been night and day different. Secdrick Cooper has been perhaps the most important player in the secondary, as Tech has really struggled without him, and Daryl Lewis at the other safety spot has impressed. DaMarion King is much more comfortable in the nickel spot than he was a year ago and provides good support in the run game. The secondary is giving up only 222 yards passing per game and has forced opposing quarterbacks into a 7:6 touchdown to interception ratio. B+
Special Teams:
Kicking: Jonathan Barnes is a very good kicker. He has missed four field goals and three extra points on the year. For his standards, he would say that he has to be better. He did have a game winning kick against Western Kentucky and a go-ahead field goal against South Carolina. He has shown a strong leg in the kickoff department with 14 touchbacks through six games. With Tech playing so many close games this year he will need to be flawless down the stretch. B
Punting: The Tech punting between Davin Dyer and Brady Farlow has been average at best. The two averaged under 40 yards per punt but have forced opponents into 15 fair catches in 30 punts. With only three 50+ yard punts in 30 opportunities, the flipping of field position ability needs to improve. Dyer has the bigger leg of the two but has to provide more consistency. C-
Return Units: Teddy Veal is averaging 11 yards per punt return, including a 66 yard punt return touchdown against Northwestern State. He only has eight returns in 28 opponent punts. Opposing teams have done a nice job in forcing him into fair catches. On kickoff returns, the fact that Jaqwis Dancy missed a couple of games has shown to be problematic. The long return on the year is only 35 yards. With Dancy now healthy, we’ll see if he can make a few big plays going forward. B
Overall:
Originally, I had picked Tech to go 11-1 and win a conference championship in the preseason. The conference championship is still attainable, but where I was wrong, is the explosiveness of the Tech offense. The offense has improved from game to game but has not been able to put up 40-50 every week like Tech fans have become accustomed to. Tech is only converting 46% of their red zone trips into touchdowns. This number will need to improve as head coach Skip Holtz has stated many times. The defense from ‘a points per game’ perspective has been solid. The outlier is obviously Mississippi State. Outside of that game, Tech is giving up only 20 points per game, which is a number that Bulldog fans are very pleased with. Tech is a young team, and I think the bye week has come at the right time. The second half of the season will be interesting, but the offense will be improved. To this point in the 2017 season I give Tech a B-.