Tomorrow night, it's a battle of the best CUSA has to offer as the Marshall Thundering Herd head to Ruston to take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Marshall comes to Ruston 3-0 this season, but the Herd have never won at Joe Aillet Stadium. What does Tech need to do to make the all time record 2-0 at home?
1) Adjust the offensive line's approach
Honestly I could call this post "One key to victory." If Tech's offensive line plays like it did last week, we won't win another game against FBS-level talent this season... No, I'm not including ULM in that. Last Friday, Tech's two starting offensive tackles started developing symptoms similar to COVID-19, so they were out for the UTEP game. Luckily, at least one of those players (Donavaughn Campbell) actually had a common cold, so he will be ready for action this Saturday. But regardless of who's able to go this week, Skip, Joe Sloan, and Robert McFarland have had an entire week of practice with the knowledge that some starters will be out. Last week, guys were thrust into action when they weren't ready. With the week of prep time, I expect Skip to give the guys up front some help, whether it's lining up an extra guy on the line of scrimmage, scheming quick developing plays, or having running backs chip block. Any way you slice it, we've got to play better up front or we're going to lose.
2) X Marks the Spot
Marshall has quite a few offensive playmakers to look out for. There's Brenden Knox, reigning CUSA MVP and Preseason Player of the Year... yeah, he'd be a good player to highlight here. But instead, I'm going to talk about a different player: Xavier Gaines. After all, last season I focused on Knox, and while he had a decent outing it was Obi Obialo who killed the Dogs in Huntington. Xavier Gaines is a matchup nightmare for Tech: He's a 6'3", 220 lb Tight End that presents a lot of problems for opponents through the air. But that's not all he does: Gaines was recruited as a dual-threat QB, so he can throw and run the ball, too. In the game last season he ran the ball three times for 18 yards. Tech has to be ready for the literal "X" Factor on the field tomorrow.
3) Take Care of Business
To win football games, you've got to protect the ball. So far this year, Tech has been... alright... in that department. We currently sit at +1 in turnover differential. The problem is that there are some BALLHAWKS on the Marshall sidelines. Last week against WKU, Virginia Tech transfer LB Tavante Beckett recovered THREE fumbles, including one for a touchdown. Marshall forces a lot more turnovers than they give up (they're currently at +5 through just three games), so Tech has got to take care of the ball to have a chance to win.
Win this one for Fred Dean, Dogs!
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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.
