Louisiana Tech (1-3) enjoyed a Saturday off and will jump back into Conference USA play against Middle Tennessee on Thursday night.

Let's take a look at some of our takeaways during the bye week.

Three Things We Learned

1 — Sonny Cumbie will give up Play Calling Duties

We reported to our subscribers on Monday evening that Sonny Cumbie was handing off the offensive play calling duties to offensive coordinator Nathan Young.

Cumbie made that announcement official on Inside Tech Football on Thursday night.

With the Bulldogs ranking 119th nationally averaging 18.8 points per game, this move will hopefully provide a spark for the Tech offense.

Tech is on pace for its fewest points per game on average in 18 years.

2 — An early look at Middle Tennessee

The Blue Raiders will come to Ruston with a tough start to their 2024 campaign under first-year head coach Derek Mason.

Middle Tennessee is 1-4 with losses to Ole Miss, Western Kentucky, Duke, and Memphis. Those four programs are a combined 17-5 through the first six weeks of the college football season.

The Blue Raiders lone win came against Tennessee Tech in their season opener on August 31st.

Nicholas Vattiato will come to Ruston as the top passer in Conference USA with 1,285 yards passing, 5 TDs and 4 INTs.

Defensively, John Howse IV does a little bit of everything from his safety spot with 30 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 sack, and 2 INTs.

3 — College Football has entered into Chaos Mode

With only one top 25 versus top 25 matchup on the docket this past Saturday, many expected a quiet weekend in college football.

Many were wrong.

We saw five of the top 11 teams in the top 25 fall. Four of those schools lost to unranked opponents, highlighted by Vanderbilt knocking off #1 Alabama 40-35 in Nashville.

In G5 news, ULM stunned James Madison 21-19 to move to 4-1 overall. With James Madison's defeat, Army, Navy, and Liberty are the only remaining undefeated G5 schools.

Two Questions Going Forward

1 — What will Nathan Young's impact be on the Tech offense?

Nathan Young takes over the play calling duties for Louisiana Tech this Thursday night against Middle Tennessee.

Young was the offensive coordinator at Abilene Christian from 2013-2016 before being promoted to offensive coordinator at Tech for the 2024 season.

Tech is averaging only 79.5 yards per game on the ground. Getting the rushing game going will go a long ways in the offense taking a step forward and helping out a quarterback position that has struggled throughout the season.

2 — Who starts at quarterback?

We assume Evan Bullock after he finished 26/37 (70%) for 218 yards in Tech's loss against FIU.

But with a change at play caller, maybe the Bulldogs go back to Jack Turner? We'll see.

Regardless, Tech has to get more production from a position that is only completing 57% of its throws to go along with 4 TDs & 5 INTs in 2024.

One Prediction for Next Week

Jessie Evans collects two sacks against the Blue Raiders.

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