Louisiana Tech found a way to knock off FIU 22-17 on Saturday night.

What's next? Take steps forward from week one to week two with SMU on horizon.

Three Things We Learned

1 -- Bachmeier impresses in 1st start at QB

Hank Bachmeier made his 30th career start at quarterback on Saturday and won his 21st game with a late touchdown drive to give the Bulldogs a win.

Bachmeier finished 34/44 (77%) for 333 yards, 1 TD & 1 INT.

It was a rocky first quarter that saw the signal caller finish 2/6 with an INT, but the Murrieta, CA was quickly able to settle in from that point on and lead his team to a win.

On the final scoring drive Bachmeier hit Cyrus Allen on a 4th & 5 with 1:59 remaining to keep the game-winning drive alive.

The veteran leadership that the Bulldogs badly needed was on full display throughout the evening.

2 -- Tip of the Cap to Scott Power

Tech's defense wasn't anything to write home about in 2022. Scott Power would tell you that, but that didn't prevent the Bulldogs defensive coordinator catching flack about his unit throughout the off-season.

Then the 'Dogs gave up a 67-yard TD run on the 3rd play of the game Saturday night.

However, Power and his defense never flinched and responded in a huge way.

After allowed 109 yards in the first quarter, the Tech defense would allow 73 yards over the remaining three quarters and limit the FIU offense to only 3 points.

In fact, going back to the 4:06 mark in the 2nd quarter Tech's defense forced a punt on seven straight possessions before Cecil Singleton's interception to seal it late.

Solid start defensively.

3 -- Shoutout to Blake Oschendorf

How often do we give a shoutout to the punter in this portion of the article? Not often.

However, Blake Oschendorf made his first collegiate start on Saturday night and performed well.

The Eastern Michigan transfer averaged 44.3 yards on 3 punts against the Panthers.

Let's keep it going.

Two Questions Going Forward

1 -- What do things look like at running back at SMU?

Marquis Crosby and Tyre Shelton were unavailable for the FIU game due to injury.

Charvis Thornton went down with an injury and did not return after 8 carries for 51 yards on Saturday night.

Keldric Moody (former walk-on), Keith Willis Jr (true freshman), and Jacob Fields (true freshman) were thrust into action for the remainder of the game.

The trio combined for 26 touches for 126 yards and a TD on the evening.

Solid performance for such an inexperienced group.

Will Tech get a guy or two back against the Mustangs on Saturday? Would be big for Sonny Cumbie, Hank Bachmeier, and co. if they did.

2 -- How much will having a game under its belt assist the Bulldogs when the travel to SMU this weekend?

Tech seemingly knocked off the cobwebs on Saturday night in its defeat of FIU.

They say the biggest growth for a football team happens from week one to week two of a season.

Tech is in that portion of its season while SMU has yet to take the field.

The Mustangs are early 20.5-points favorites, which seems like a ton of points. Does Tech's advantage of having played already this season play a key role on Saturday?

We'll find out.

One Prediction for This Week

Tech will put up 450+ yards on offense and 30+ points.

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