Tonight the Bulldogs make their first ever trip out to Provo, Utah to face the Cougars of BYU. After starting 2-0, what can Skip and the Dogs do to keep the train running at altitude?
1) Adapt
BYU has destroyed both of their opponents so far this season. They opened up by giving Navy a good ol fashioned beatdown so bad I won't even talk about it too much here in this article. Then, they whooped up on Troy. Let's talk about that game a little. As Ben noted in his scouting report on BYU QB Zach Wilson, Troy tried to blitz the QB over, and over, and over again. Hey, it doesn't matter that they were completely unsuccessful in stopping the passing attack...Wilson threw for 392 yards... No! Don't tell Troy how to live their lives! Don't tell them to try dropping 8 into coverage and seeing what happens! My first key to this game is for David Blackwell to be willing to swallow his pride and adapt the game plan as we see what we've got on Friday night. If Wilson is torching us, stop bringing extra pressure and try to mix up the coverages. If the running game is gashing us, bring some extra help into the box. You know, basic football stuff (don't tell Troy).
2) Depth
It's been a while since Tech has played a game at this kind of altitude. Provo is located around 4400 feet above sea level, which is... let's just say it's higher than Ruston by quite a bit. Up that high the air gets thinner, and football players lose steam quicker. With most players (hopefully) back from quarantine, it's time to figure out what kind of depth and rotation we can get in key positions like offensive and defensive line, running back, and the defensive backfield. If Tech can create a good rotation of guys in and out of the game, we may be able to hold on for dear life and be in a position to win tonight.
3) Throw long(er) passes
Again, I'm choosing to put more stock in Troy's performance against BYU than I am Navy's. Troy's offensive game plan appears pretty similar to USM's: Throw short passes and hope for the best. In their season opener against MTSU (a 47-14 blowout win), Troy averaged just 6.7 yards per pass attempt. Against BYU that same stat fell to 4.5 yards per attempt. That tells me that Troy loves the short passes, and BYU just ate them alive when they tried it. Meanwhile, through two games Luke Anthony is throwing 9.1 yards per attempt, and is 6/10 on throws 20 or more yards down field. If we want a chance to win, we will have to pick up some chunk plays, both in terms of looks down field, and passes in the 10-20 yard range.
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Evan is also a contributor to gtpdd.dog, a lighthearted Louisiana Tech blog. Be sure to check out @gotechplsdntdie on Twitter.
