Louisiana Tech showed some toughness this weekend at Western Kentucky in a 12-7 upset victory.

The Bulldogs will travel to Fayetteville for a matchup with Arkansas this weekend.

Three Things We Learned

1 — DEFENSE

Haven't we been praising the defense all season long? Jeremiah Johnson's unit did it again on Saturday.

WKU scored its fewest points at home against a non-P4 team since 2010.

Johnson's unit limited one of the most prolific offensive units to only 215 total yards on Saturday afternoon.

Dynamite performance.

2 — Time of Possession

Louisiana Tech wasn't particularly impressive offensively if you just scout the box score.

The Bulldogs failed to score an offensive touchdown and had only 275 yards of total offense, but that doesn't paint the entire picture.

With Nathan Young calling the plays, Tech rushed the ball 49 times for 209 yards against the Hilltoppers.

More importantly, Tech's offense possessed the ball for 39 minutes and 38 seconds on Saturday. WKU had only 8 offensive possessions in the entire game.

3 — Amani Givens steps up at RB

It's no secret that Louisiana Tech has struggled to rush the football throughout the 2024 season.

With all the struggles in the run game more players have gotten opportunities to prove themselves worthy of playing time both on the offensive line and at running back.

Amani Givens is a junior college transfer that has been the benefactor of the Bulldogs going deeper down the depth chart looking production, and he delivered on Saturday.

Givens rushed the ball 17 times for 103 yards and became the first Bulldog running back to eclipse the 100-yard mark in 2024.

Givens gained 58 of his 103 yards after contact.

Two Questions Going Forward

1 — Can Tech get to a bowl game in 2024?

With the win over WKU, fans are obviously wondering if Tech can upset Arkansas this weekend and set itself up for a bowl game following a win over Kennesaw State in the regular season finale?

One game at a time, but it certainly doesn't seem as crazy as it did a few weeks ago.

2 — Can the Tech offense score a touchdown on the road this weekend at Arkansas?

Louisiana Tech hasn't scored a touchdown on the road since Evan Bullock hit Tru Edwards for a 15-yard score with 4:54 remaining in regulation at New Mexico State on October 16th.

Field goals beat WKU, but it's tough to see field goals being enough to knock off the Hogs on Saturday.

One Prediction for Next Week

Tech covers the spread of 23.5 because why wouldn't they? They haven't played a game decided by more than 10 points all year.

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