Louisiana Tech played a solid football game on Saturday night in defeating UTEP 41-31 to open Conference USA play.

Three Things We Learned

1 -- Parker McNeil bounces back

After a 4-interception performance at South Alabama a lot of question marks surrounded the quarterback position at Louisiana Tech.

Rightfully so, but Parker McNeil answered a majority of those questions with a 266-yard, 4 touchdown performance in the win over UTEP.

The Austin, TX native was in command of the offense for the entire evening and played the best game of his career.

2 -- Tech WRs are REAL

UTEP decided it would play man coverage for most of the night against the Bulldogs.

Bad mistake. Real bad mistake.

Tre Harris hauled in 5 passes for 126 yards and 1 TD.

Smoke Harris hauled in 4 passes for 45 yards and 2 TDs.

Griffin Hebert hauled in 6 passes for 76 yards.

When Parker McNeil is clicking at quarterback, this receiving corp shows why its the most talented in Conference USA.

3 -- Island Boys SHOW OUT

Willie Roberts and Myles Brooks each had an interception in Tech's win over UTEP on Saturday night.

Brooks returned his interception 44 yards for a touchdown.

It's easy to see why Scott Power had interest in bringing the duo over from SFA when he took the job at Louisiana Tech.

Roberts and Brooks allow Power to show so many different looks and pressures with the front-7 with their ability to play man coverage on the back end.

Two Questions Going Forward

1 -- What is the status of Tyler Grubbs?

Tyler Grubbs left the win over UTEP in the second quarter with an upper body injury.

The talented linebacker already had 9 tackles and 1.5 TFL in the first 26 offensive snaps for the Miners.

For the season, Grubbs leads Tech with 48 tackles and 4.5 TFL.

If the New Orleans native is to miss a few weeks, who will the Bulldogs turn to at middle linebacker?

We saw Khiry Morrison and Maki Carabin get a majority of the work on Saturday.

2 -- Can Louisiana Tech put together consecutive strong performances?

The Bulldogs are now 1-0 in Conference USA play.

Can the 'Dogs put together two straight strong performances and earn their first road win since 2020 on Saturday afternoon at North Texas?

It won't be easy.

Sonny Cumbie's squad might have started to turn a corner against UTEP with 41 points and 4 turnovers forced on Saturday night.

One Prediction for Next Week

Jump on the bandwagon.

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