Louisiana Tech has wrapped up fall camp, and we've officially made it to game week. Wow, never thought I'd say that in 2020!
Skip Holtz's club will enter 2020 coming off a 10-win season in 2019, the first for the program since 1984.
Louisiana Tech is scheduled to kick off its season Saturday at Baylor at 11 AM on FOX.
In this installment, we'll take a look at the outlook for the 2020 Louisiana Tech football team.
Three things we've learned
1 -- The fact must be faced that teams around the country will be missing players on a weekly basis due to Covid
Louisiana Tech was unable to practice in the spring. The Bulldogs were forced to report back to campus in waves this summer and have missed players at different positions throughout the entirety of fall camp. It's 2020; prepare for the unexpected. Regardless of who is available each week this fall, teams must have an all-in mentality. From top to bottom, programs across the country are going to need contributions from their entire rosters this fall.
2 -- The QB race is unsettled
Aaron Allen and Luke Anthony have both been solid throughout camp. Both guys will give the Bulldogs a chance to win each week. Allen, a redshirt sophomore, has seen action in 8 career games, throwing for 493 yards and 4 touchdowns. Anthony, a graduate transfer from Abilene Christian, has thrown for 6,000+ yards and 51 touchdowns during his 3-year career. Neither guy separated themselves from the other through 18 practices, which is why the competition will continue into the season. Both Allen and Anthony will have the opportunity to distribute the ball to a group of skill guys that should be the best in Conference USA.
3 -- The defense may be young in some spots, but they'll be just fine
It's never easy to replace 9 starters off a defense that finished in the Top 30 nationally in points per game a season ago. That's what new defensive coordinator David Blackwell is tasked with in 2020. That said, the unit has more experience than they are being given credit for. Milton Williams, Willie Baker, Tristan Allen, Ezekiel Barnett, Trey Baldwin, Zach Hannibal, Beejay Williamson, and Jaiden Cole all return from 2019 and have played a lot of football. Add in graduate transfers Gerald Wilbon, DJ Brown, and Khalil Ladler and you have the makings of a defense that is filled with talent. The unit will need to gel early with Southern Miss on schedule in week two. Keep an eye on RS FR ILB Maki Carabin, he's going to lead the team in tackles in 2020.
Two questions entering the season
1 -- Will the secondary hold up?
Amik Roberton, L'Jarius Sneed, Michael Sam, and Darryl Lewis aren't trotting onto the field in 2020. The Bulldogs will be replacing all four starters in its secondary this season. Beejay Williamson, Jaiden Cole, and Khalil Ladler have experience at safety. Zach Hannibal has been in a reserve role at cornerback for three years. Outside of those four, who steps up? DJ Brown played a reserve role at Penn State, Brodrick Calhoun has seen limited snaps in his two years on campus and beyond that, the Bulldogs are left with a number of true and redshirt freshmen. Holding up on the back end will be a challenge. How will DC David Blackwell ease those guys into things? Just wait, they'll get a good dose of trial-by-fire at Baylor week one.
2 -- Is there enough depth on this team?
Every coach in America is asking himself this question right now. Can we go three deep? It's going to happen, it's inevitable. At the G5 level, it's always difficult to build depth on the offensive and defensive lines. In a year where depth will be more important than ever, can the Bulldogs get some young guys to step up and provide valuable production at crucial times?
One prediction:
The offense will score a lot of points
Think of Aaron Allen and Luke Anthony as the point guard distributing the ball to a bunch of guys that can really put the ball in the basket. Whether it's Justin Henderson or Israel Tucker at running back, or Adrian Hardy, Isaiah Graham, Griffin Hebert, Smoke Harris, CeeJay Powell, or Jawaun Johnson at receiver, this offensive unit is going to find the end zone a lot. These are the types of skill guys that keep defensive coordinators up at night, and any of those 8 guys can bust one at any given moment any Saturday.
