Sonny Cumbie earned his first win as the head coach at Louisiana Tech when the Bulldogs knocked off SFA 52-17 on Saturday.

Tech piled up 515 yards of total offense and forced 3 turnovers on defense in the decisive victory.

Let's take a look back, plus some things ahead for the 'Dogs this week.

Three Things We Learned

1 -- Parker McNeil made his first career start at quarterback

BleedTechBlue.com reported Saturday afternoon that the RS SR quarterback from Austin, Texas would start against SFA and that was indeed the case.

McNeil finished 11/23 for 197 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT in the 52-17 victory.

Was it a perfect performance? No. Was there promise shown? Absolutely.

It's pretty clear at this point that Louisiana Tech's passing game will rely on a vertical passing game with McNeil at the helm.

2 -- The defense takes a big step forward

Sonny Cumbie mentioned numerous times throughout the week that the Tech defense played solid for 9 possessions at Missouri last week.

This week the unit put together a full 4 quarters of football.

SFA scored one touchdown in the first quarter when they started at the Tech one-yard line, and the second touchdown came in the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand.

Scott Power's unit limited three SFA quarterbacks to 11/31 passing for only 161 yards and 3 turnovers in the contest.

Redshirt freshman defensive end J'Dan Burnett finished with 3 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 FF, 2 FR and 1 defensive touchdown.

The Bulldogs are going to be a handful on defense come conference play.

3 -- The punting was improved in a major way

Dan Sharp deserves a lot of credit, bottom line.

The Bulldogs special teams coordinator had Austin McCready locked in as the starting punter against SFA on Saturday night.

After averaging only 35 yards per punt against Mizzou, the Kenner, LA native bounced back to average 44 yards per boot against the Lumberjacks.

Kudos to the entire punting unit.

Two Questions Going Forward

1 -- Is Marquis Crosby the starting running back going forward?

Marquis Crosby rushed for 196 yards and 2 touchdown on just 16 carries against the Lumberjacks on Saturday night.

With Greg Garner out due to injury, the Hattiesburg, MS made the most of his opportunity.

If I'm Sonny Cumbie, it would be very tough to pull Crosby out of the starting lineup.

2 -- Can the Bulldogs continue to take steps forward on the road at Clemson this week?

It was pretty easy to tell how much more comfortable and relaxed the Bulldogs were inside Joe Aillet Stadium on Saturday night.

Sonny Cumbie and Co. did a fantastic job of having the team ready to play from the opening kickoff.

If the 'Dogs can continue to take steps forward week-to-week, is it possible that the club could be in contention for a C-USA Championship in mid-November?

One Prediction for Next Week

Parker McNeil will make his second consecutive start at Clemson on Saturday night.

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