Louisiana Tech's 2024 football season came to a close with a 27-6 defeat against #22 Army in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl on Saturday night.
Sonny Cumbie's team finished its campaign at 5-8.
On the hardwood, the Dunkin' Dogs are set to began Conference USA play at UTEP on Thursday night.
Three Things We Learned
1 — The 2024 season is in the books on the gridiron
For a fourth consecutive season Louisiana Tech found itself finish under .500 at 5-8 on the gridiron.
While an appearance in the Independence Bowl was a nice reward for the seniors that have poured a lot into the game of football over the years, the result was far from ideal in a 27-6 defeat.
What's in store for the off-season? That's a great question.
Sonny Cumbie has already tabbed Tony Franklin to be the new Offensive Coordinaor/QB Coach in 2025.
Jeremiah Johnson remains in place as the Defensive Coordinator after the Bulldogs finished 26th nationally in scoring defense.
Personnel wise the Bulldogs have a lot of holes to fill either due to graduation or due to the transfer portal.
Offensively, the Bulldogs will have to replace Tru Edwards, Jimmy Holiday, Abdul Fatai-Ibrahim, Daniel Keys, Bert Hale, Zarian McGill, and Jerren Gilbert.
Defensively, Tech will be tasked with reloading after losing Mykol Clark, Jessie Evans, Jayden Gray, J'Dan Burnett, Obinna Okeke, David Blay, Kells Bush, Zach Zimos, CJ Harris, Demarcus Griffin-Taylor, Roderick Roberson, and Isaiah McElvane.
As is the case in college football these days having 50-60 new players each season is the new normal, but after going 14-37 over its last 51 football games Bulldog fans are desperate to see a winner in 2025.
2 — Dunkin' Dogs finish non-conference play at 11-2
Talvin Hester's club will be feeling good about itself when it opens league play on Thursday night at UTEP.
What makes the 11-2 start even more impressive is the fact that Will Jeffress, Devin Ree, Jordan Crawford, Sean Elkinton, and Landren Blocker have all missed time due to injury at various points during non-conference play.
The Bulldogs hold impressive non-conference wins over UT-Arlington, UMass, Southern Illinois, Richmond, Eastern Kentucky, and Grand Canyon.
Talvin Hester's club has already won six games away from the Thomas Assembly Center.
Statistically, Daniel Batcho and Sean Newman Jr. have been phenomenal throughout the first 13 games.
Batcho is averaging 20 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks in 27.3 minutes per game. The 20 points per game ranks 18th nationally.
Sean Newman has emerged as one of the better point guards in the country while averaging 9.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 9.8 assists per game. The 9.8 assists per game ranks 2nd nationally.
3 — Dunkin' Dogs rebounding woes
While Talvin Hester's club is off to an impressive 11-2 start, we'd be naive to believe that this team hasn't had some struggles throughout non-conference play.
When Will Jeffress went down with a season-ending injury against UMass on November 13th we weren't quite just how where the loss would impact the Bulldogs the most.
We quickly figured out that it would be on the defensive end of the floor when it comes to rebounding.
The 'Dogs currently rank 277th nationally in opponents offensive rebounding %.
Cleaning up the defensive boards will be a huge key throughout Conference USA play.
Two Questions Going Forward
1 — Can Sean Newman Jr. keep up this absurd assist pace?
Sean Newman Jr. has 128 assists in Louisiana Tech's first 13 games this season.
The Los Angeles, CA native is on pace for 304 assists this season which would shatter Speedy Smith's program record of 278 set during the 2013-2014 season.
The Bulldogs are at their best in 2024-2025 with Newman Jr. running the show and will need him to continue playing at a high level distributing the basketball throughout league play.
2 — What is the ceiling for the Dunkin' Dogs on the offensive end of the floor?
Offensively, this Tech team is easily Talvin Hester's most talented club that he's had during his first three years in Ruston.
The Bulldogs rank 77th in point per game, 11th in field goal percentage, and 71st in three-point field percentage.
Phenomenal.
However, Tech has also ranks 251st in turnovers. Turnovers have been an issue at times, particularly in losses at Memphis and at home to Southern in early December.
Clean up the turnover issues and this team could be really scary come March.
One Prediction for Next Week
Dunkin' Dogs sweep the road trip to UTEP and New Mexico State for a second straight year.
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