Following the win over FIU, Louisiana Tech will travel to Dallas for an early matchup versus SMU.
Game Time | Saturday @ 11 PM
TV/Radio | ESPNU/KXKZ 107.5 FM
Louisiana Tech HC | Sonny Cumbie (4-9 overall record in 2nd season)
Louisiana Tech OC | Jake Brown & Scott Parr (22.0 points per game in 2nd season)
Louisiana Tech DC | Scott Power (17.0 points allowed per game in 2nd season)
Southern Methodist HC | Rhett Lashlee (7-6 record entering 2nd season)
Southern Methodist OC | Casey Woods (37.2 points per game in 2022, entering 2nd season)
Southern Methodist DC | Scott Symons (33.8 points allowed per game in 2022, entering 2nd season)
Bulldogs Projected Starters
*Offense
QB | RS Senior #19 Hank Bachmeier (6’1 221)
RB | RS Junior #22 Charvis Thornton (5’10 202) OR RS Junior #4 Tyre Shelton (5’11 190)
WR | RS Junior #16 Tru Edwards (6’3 200)
WR | RS Senior #6 Smoke Harris (5’7 183)
WR | Sophomore #1 Cyrus Allen (6’0 177)
TE | Junior #17 Nate Jones (6’3 220)
LT | Junior #68 Dakota White (6’4 305)
LG | Junior #79 Bert Hale (6’5 331)
C | Graduate Student #62 Abe Delphin (6’1 310)
RG | Junior #75 Jerren Gilbert (6’3 295)
RT | RS Sophomore #65 Carson Bruno (6’4 312)
*Defense
DE | RS Junior #88 Mykol Clark (6’4 260)
DT | Senior #5 Deshon Hall Jr. (6’3 264)
DT | Senior #93 Rason Williams (6’4 280)
DE | RS Sophomore #20 J’Dan Burnett (6’1 246)
LB | RS Senior #9 Hugh Davis (6’0 227) OR RS Senior #3 Jeslord Boateng (6’2 228)
LB | RS Senior #6 Brevin Randle (6’0 232)
CB | RS Junior #11 Cedric Woods (5’11 184)
CB | Senior #1 Willie Roberts (5’11 190)
SS | RS Senior #0 Myles Heard (5’11 201)
FS | RS Senior #2 Cecil Singleton Jr. (6’2 210)
NK | Freshman #13 Michael Richard (5’11 180)
*Special Teams
K | RS Junior #35 Jacob Barnes (5’9 183)
P | RS Senior #31 Blake Ochsendorf (6’6 220)
KR | RS Senior #6 Smoke Harris (5’7 183)
PR | RS Senior Smoke Harris (5’7 183)
Mustangs Projected Starters
*Offense
QB | RS Sophomore #2 Preston Stone (6’1 219)
RB | Senior #4 Jaylan Knighton (5’10 185) --<Miami (FL)
RB | RS Sophomore #11 LJ Johnson Jr. (5’10 211) --<Texas A&M
WR | Senior #1 Jordan Kerley (6’2 196)
WR | RS Senior #12 Jake Bailey (5’1 188)
WR | RS Junior #5 Moochie Dixon (6’0 189)
TE | Sophomore #82 RJ Maryland (6’4 233)
LT | Senior #52 Marcus Bryant (6’8 318)
LG | RS Junior #71 Logan Parr (6’4 314) --< Texas
C | RS Junior #56 Branson Hickman (6’3 294(
RG | RS Senior #51 Justin Osborne (6’5 314)
RT | Graduate Senior #50 Hyrin White (6’7 332) --<Missouri
*Defense
DE | Senior #5 Elijah Roberts (6’4 278) --<Miami (FL)
NT | RS Senior #6 Jordan Miller (6’3 307) --<Miami (FL)
DT | Senior #40 Elijah Chatman (6’0 278)
BAN | Senior #9 Nelson Paul (6’2 237)
WB | Junior #34 Ahmad Walker (5’11 228) --<Liberty OR RS Junior #8 JaQwondis Burns (6’2 229)
LB | RS Junior #24 Kobe Wilson --<Temple OR Freshman #54 Alex Kilgore (6’1 229)
CB | RS Senior #3 Charles Woods (5’11 191) --<West Virginia
CB | Senior #12 Chris Megginson (6’0 192) --<Liberty
SS | Senior #0 Bryan Massey (5’11 188)
FS | Senior #2 Jonathan McGill (5’10 186) --<Stanford
NK | Senior #1 Brandon Crossley (6’0 186)
*Special Teams
K | Sophomore #41 Collin Rogers (6’4 206)
P | RS Senior #92 Ryan Bujcevski (6’0 177)
KR | Senior #0 Bryan Massey (5’11 188)
PR | Junior #13 Roderick Daniels Jr. (5’9 182)
Scouting the Bulldogs
The Bulldogs are coming off a 22-17 comeback win over FIU in Week 0. Trailing 17-3, the Tech defense owned the Panthers for the remainder of the game, and the offense was finally able to finish their drives. Bachmeier settled in after throwing a poor interception in the 1st quarter, mostly leaning on Smoke Harris to carry the load offensively. Without Crosby and Shelton in the lineup again this week and Thornton being questionable to play, the committee of Fields, Willis, and Moody needs to step up tremendously. I expect Cyrus Allen to be leaned on more often this week and for the passing attack to be more vertically designed overall. It will be interesting to see if the Mustangs put a safety over the top of Allen like the Panthers did to defuse the deep ball. On the offensive line, there were a few missed assignments, but overall, the Bulldogs will need a similar performance from the unit to experience consistent success offensively.
Just like the majority of Tech fans, I was extremely worried about the overall state of the defense after the Panthers scored very quickly on a 67-yard rushing touchdown. FIU scored once again to make it a 14-0 game, and the fears of the atrocious defense from 2022 repeating itself seemed like more of a reality. Instead, the opposite occurred, and the defense buckled down and dominated the Panthers’ offense. When the offense failed to convert, the defense repeatedly kept the offense in the game. The performance was so stellar that FIU finished with a staggering 4 passing yards. While holding SMU to that low of a number is borderline impossible, the defense’s energy and resilience are a must against the Mustang’s offense. With Griffin-Taylor out after getting knocked out of the game early last week, the Bulldogs are relying on freshman Michael Richard to fill his role at nickel. If the defense can play as well as or better than they did a week ago, Tech should be in a prime position to win this game.
Tech’s special teams were a mixed bag in the first week of the season. While the punting was much improved, Barnes missed two very makeable field goals and nearly cost the Bulldogs the game. Smoke Harris was unable to make too large of an impact on the punt return or kick return teams, but Tech’s coverage on kickoffs and punts was superb. If the game on Saturday is tight, Barnes is going to have to make all of his kicks below 50 to give the Bulldogs a chance.
Mustangs Scouting Report
As of today, SMU accepted an invitation to join the ACC alongside Cal and Stanford in 2024, making SMU the newest program to transition from the Group of 5 to the Power 5. All this means for tomorrow’s matchup is more eyes will be on the game, and Louisiana Tech has the opportunity to knock off a future Power 5 team on the road. Starting at quarterback for the Mustangs is the highest rating player at the position that has ever signed with SMU in 4-star Preston Stone. With the departure of star quarterback Tanner Mordecai who darted for Wisconsin, as well as wide receiver Rashee Rice who was drafted by the Chiefs, Stone is expected to produce excellent numbers in the usually high-flying offense. Jordan Kerley is expected to emerge as the true number-one receiver this year, surrounded by Moochie Dixon and Jake Bailey, as well as rising sophomore R.J. Maryland at tight end. Highlighting the offensive line are left tackle Marcus Bryant and Missouri transfer Hyrin White, who towers over defenses at 6’8 and 6’9 respectively. Despite returning their leading rusher in Lavine, Miami transfer Jaylan Knighton and Texas A&M transfer L.J. Johnson are likely to receive the most carries throughout the season.
SMU’s defense in 2022 severely limited the team from how far they wanted to go. The unit allowed 33.8 points per game, ranking 119th of the 131 FBS teams from last season. This subpar play defensively resulted in the Mustangs getting embarrassed multiple times on national television against conference opponents in a 41-19 loss to UCF and a 59-24 loss to Tulane. The defense also allowed 63 points in a crazy 77-63 win over Houston. To improve this unit, the Mustangs added an array of transfers including two defensive linemen from Miami (FL) in Elijah Roberts and Jordan Miller. Both of the Mustang’s projected started linebackers are also from the portal in Temple transfer Kobe Wilson and Liberty transfer Ahmad Walker. Lastly, three pieces of the starting secondary are from the portal including both starting corners in West Virginia transfer Charles Woods, Liberty transfer Chris Megginson, and former Stanford captain at strong safety Jonathan McGill. One of the key elements of Saturday’s game is seeing how long it takes for all of these new players to acclimate to playing with one another.
On special teams, Collin Rogers will expand on his role from the previous season by not only kicking field goals and extra points but also becoming the kickoff specialist. Rogers was 56 of 56 on extra points in 2022 and knocked down 16 of 20 field goals, remaining perfect under 49 yards. Ryan Bujcevski returns as the punter in 2023, Roderick Daniels is expected to return the majority of punts, and Bryan Massey is expected to see the most reps at kick returner.
Matchups to Watch
1) Cyrus Allen vs Charles Woods
2) Carson Bruno vs Elijah Roberts
3) Jerren Gilbert vs Jordan Miller
4) Willie Roberts vs Jordan Kerley
5) Brevin Randle vs RJ Maryland
Prediction
I’m very aware of the point spread of the game, and I’m aware of all of the elements as to why it is what it is. However, I think this game will be much closer than the -20.5 line indicates. SMU is a talented team and their head coach has a great offensive mind. The Mustangs also brought an abundance of players that Lashlee had connections with from Miami. While I think that the transfers will eventually contribute significantly to their defense, I do not think they will be extremely good in the first week of the season. SMU’s defense has been an Achilles heel for years and is a huge reason why the Mustangs have never even made it to the AAC Championship Game. The Bulldogs had the opportunity to iron out many of their wrinkles in Week 0 and implement many of their starters into the role that they are going to play this season. I trust an experienced quarterback like Bachmeier in this situation on the road, especially when accounting for SMU’s reputation of not having the most intense atmosphere. I think this game will go down to the wire, but ultimately, I trust the Bulldogs’ experience on offense and their scheme on defense more than the young potential for SMU’s offense and the Mustang’s first game with their abundance of transfers.
Final Score: Bulldogs 28 Mustangs 27.
ESPN FPI
Louisiana Tech #121
SMU #49
University Comparison
Louisiana Tech | Location: Ruston, Louisiana | Conference: CUSA | Enrollment:11,037
SMU | Location: Dallas, Texas | Conference: AAC | Enrollment: 12,053
Stadium History
Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Opened in 2000
Capacity of 32,000
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