Man, it’s good to be back.

It may be 102 degrees out with no signs of Fall anywhere in sight… but the Bulldogs will ring in the 2023 football season at 8:00 PM Saturday night in the Joe. And you can bet my sweaty behind will be there to see it!

With a lot of uncertainty about what lies ahead, and a big ol’ dash of optimism, let’s take a look at how the Bulldogs can come out 1-0!

Be Ready

There’s a lot on the line when cleat meets pigskin at 8:00 tomorrow night. Both teams have struggled through the offseason slog with one goal in mind: go 1-0 on August 26th. Each rep in the weight room, every drop of sweat that’s poured out in the Louisiana heat, every angry coach yelling in your ear… it’s all been for this. Who will be ready to put the planning, the repetition, and the strategy into action when the lights come on?

My hope is that it’s your Louisiana Tech Bulldogs - that Cumbie & Crew have the Dogs ready to bark AND bite. But you really don’t know who’s ready until the bell rings and you’re in the fight.

Don’t Let Grayson James beat you

Last year, Tech lost to a floundering FIU team that… really kind of sucked. They weren’t particularly good at anything offensively, and only slightly better than bad in most defensive categories.

But let’s look at our game in particular: Tech gave up 321 yards and 3 TDs through the air to Grayson James - a QB who averaged the 9th lowest Passing Efficiency among QBs that averaged at least 15 attempts per game in FBS. Grayson James was so inconsistent that he literally played in 11 of FIU’s games and only threw TD passes in FOUR of those games. Making matters worse? When James threw a TD - FIU was 4-0. When he didn’t… they were 0-7.

The bottom line for me is that this year, Tech’s defense needs to step up to the plate. There’s no Lexington Joseph at RB to worry about (although Tech did a masterful job stopping the run in this game last year). They need to make sure that Grayson James… who isn’t very good… isn’t very good in the Joe.

Hurricane Hank

Good Quarterback play makes such a big difference. Don’t get it twisted - Hank Bachmeier transferring into Tech was the absolute best thing to happen this offseason. He brings a wealth of experience, including 20 wins as a starting QB at Boise, poise, and leadership to the most important position in the sport.

What I am most excited about for this game is to see Sonny Cumbie’s offense - being run by a QB that Sonny Cumbie handpicked and handed the reins to for the season. None of this “two quarterback” system crap we ran out of camp last year. This ain’t a true freshman getting thrown to the wolves in the middle of the season. Let’s see the offense absolutely humming from day one and go for a RIDE.

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Evan also writes for go tech pls dont die - check them out at gtpdd.dog and on Twitter at @gotechplsdntdie