Louisiana Tech earned a road win over UTEP on Friday night.

The Bulldogs, 2-0 in CUSA play, will now turn its attention towards hosting WKU on Thursday night.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 PM on ESPNU.

Three Things We Learned

1 — The road losing streak is over

Louisiana Tech notched its first road win in 1,030 days with the 24-10 win at UTEP on Friday night.

It wasn't always pretty, but when you've lost 15 in a row on the road I'm not sure it necessarily matters.

Credit to Sonny Cumbie and his staff for helping get the guys over the hump and earn a win in a must-win game.

2 — Too many penalties

The 'Dogs were penalized 13 times for 123 yards in the game on Friday night. Not good.

Tech is the averaging 12.5 penalties per game over the last two weeks. Not good.

At the midway point in 2023, Tech is the 8th most penalized team in the entire country. Not good.

Get it cleaned up.

3 — Shelton impresses

Tyre Shelton returned to the lineup for the Bulldogs and rushed for 104 yards on 16 carries and had 1 TD.

The senior transfer from Miami (OH) now has 318 yards and 3 TDs rushing in three games this season.

Going forward, Shelton's health will be really important for a Bulldog offense that has struggled to score points at different times throughout the season.

Two Questions Going Forward

1 — Who starts at quarterback on Thursday?

Jack Turner made his second straight start at quarterback and was pretty inconsistent throughout the game.

The sophomore finished 9/20 for for 152 yards and 1 TD. Of the 152 yards, 85 came on the second play from scrimmage when he hit Cyrus Allen for a big gainer.

Having Hank Bachmeier back healthy would appear to be a boost for Tech against WKU on Thursday.

Will be interesting to see if he's ready to go after missing the last two games.

2 — How will Tech's pass defense hold up on Thursday night?

Scott Power's defense is only allowing 152 yards per game through the air over the first six games of the season.

That ranks 6th nationally. Pretty darn good.

However, Tech has yet to face a passing attack like Western Kentucky will bring to the table on Thursday.

Austin Reed is averaging 274 yards per game and has 11 TDs to only 2 INTs.

If Tech can't slow down the best offense in CUSA, it might be a long night.

One Prediction for Next Week

We'll see 65+ scored between the two teams on Thursday night.

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