Louisiana Tech (3-1, 2-0) didn’t do it in the prettiest of fashions, but the Bulldogs found a way to defeat UTEP Saturday night.

The Bulldogs will now prepare for a showdown with Marshall (3-0, 1-0) Saturday night inside Joe Aillet Stadium.

Let’s take a look back at the UTEP game, plus the week ahead.

Three things we learned this week

1 – The goal was accomplished

Winning isn’t easy. Bottom line. Each week when the pads are put on, there is a winner and a loser. While it wasn’t pretty, Tech did its job. The Bulldog offense was limited to only 21 points and 210 yards of total offense. Concerning? Yes. However, the defense was a positive as David Blackwell’s unit limited the Miners to only 10 points and 266 total yards of its own. After the first three weeks of the season, seeing the defense improve was a welcomed sight.

2 – The offensive line play is a concern

Donavaughn Campbell and Antawn Lewis did not play in the game and anytime a team is missing its two starting offensive tackles there is going to be some potential for struggles. Saying the offensive line struggled would be putting it nicely. A bigger concern is the play of the offensive line throughout most of the last two weeks. Against BYU and UTEP, Tech’s offensive line has allowed 32 QB pressures, 7 sacks, and the Bulldogs have only rushed for 2.3 yards per attempt.

3 – The WRs will make the Tech offense go

We’ve talked a number of times early on in 2020 about all the talent and depth that this Tech team has at receiver. Against UTEP, when the Bulldogs were successful offensively, it was due to the receivers making big plays in the passing game. In the three TD drives, Tech had pass plays of 26 yards to Adrian Hardy, 23 yards to Cee Jay Powell, and 20 yards to Hardy. Three big plays made at the receiver position on three separate drives. Protecting the QB and allowing the receivers to make big plays in the passing game is of extreme importance to this Tech offense going forward.

Two questions going forward

1 – How will the Bulldogs perform against a quality Marshall team?

Marshall will come to Ruston Saturday night having outscored its opponents 114-21 in the early going of 2020. Grant Wells is doing a tremendous job of leading the Marshall offense in his first season as the starting QB. The Thundering Herd are extremely balanced, averaging 200+ yards on the ground and through the air. Defensively, Marshall is surrendering only 186 total yards per game.

2 – It’s show time, are the young contributors on the Bulldog defense ready to perform against the upper echelon teams in conference play?

Cedric Woods and Tyler Grubbs have garnered numerous headlines in the early portions of the season for their play as true freshmen. Woods is the top cornerback on the roster, while Grubbs is averaging over 10 tackles per game. Outside of those two, DE Deshon Hall, DT Keivie Rose, DE Mykol Clark, ILB Maki Carabin, and a host of others are playing key roles as young players on a young Bulldog defense. The unit performed admirably against UTEP, are they ready for Marshall, UTSA, and UAB in consecutive weeks? If they are, this Bulldog team will find itself in contention for a conference championship come November.

One prediction going forward

The Bulldogs will get the offensive side of the football figured out this week. Listen, I get it, last week was not a great performance. However, with Campbell and Lewis expected to return, the Bulldogs will play better against Marshall. The weapons are there, we’ve seen it! It’s simple, give Luke Anthony and Aaron Allen time to throw, and Tech will score points.

Louisiana Tech (3-1, 2-0) and Marshall (3-0, 1-0) are set for a 5 PM kickoff Saturday night inside Joe Aillet Stadium. The game will be aired on CBS Sports Network.

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