Saturday night the Bulldogs return to the gridiron after falling to Clemson on the road last week. Tech fought well in Death Valley, and lived to fight another battle. But with Tigers in the rearview, what can they do to keep their feet hard on the pedal against the Jaguars of South Alabama?

Just watch ol' Bandit Run...

Here's a really advanced stat for ya to start things out. In 2022, Tech is 1-0 in ball games with more than 11 rushing yards. Yeah, that's right. Meanwhile, we're also 0-2 in ball games with less than 300 rushing yards. Where does Tech's running game actually rank in 2022? Is it really one of the worst in the country? Probably not! The Dogs have faced an SEC defense and one of the nation's perennial bests in Mizzou and Clemson. The simple fact of the matter is that you won't win many games with only 11 rushing yards. If we're going to be successful at all, we will need to get a run game going. I'd expect Cumbie to try to get the run game going early with Garner and Crosby, especially if we can hit a few passes downfield early. Normally we talk about using the run game to open up the pass, but this time may need to be the opposite! Whatever the case, South Alabama's run D has looked good through three games (94.7 ypg allowed)... but as a Tech fan, I'm taking those 95 yards to the bank.

Just put that hammer down and give it hell...

USA QB Carter Bradley is having by far the best season of his career so far. In fact, he's the reason that the Jaguars are averaging two more TDs per game than they did last season! A big part of that success has been the fact that he's barely gotten pressured at all - just 11 of his 102 pass attempts have been under pressure according to PFF. Opponents have blitzed 35 times, but the pressure just isn't affecting the former Toledo Rocket. Offensive Coordinator Kenny Edenfield has helped keep his QB clean and accurate by calling a lot of short passes: 71% of all USA pass attempts this season have come within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage... and why would they do anything different when Bradley is completing 83% of those looks! So the key here is to get Bradley OUT of his comfort zone. How do we do that? Well, I'd recommend a two-pronged approach. 1) Put that hammer down. Bring some pressure from different angles, confuse Bradley pre-snap with some different looks, and hit him with some blitz packages they're not expecting. 2) Give it hell. Trust that our DUDES Willie Roberts and Myles Brooks will make the receivers' lives HELL and stop a lot of that short passing game in its tracks. Our secondary has shown through three games that they're not going to get beat deep. I'd hope to see some press coverage to FORCE Bradley into holding the ball for longer, which will hopefully allow some pressure to get in his face. A double shot of uncomfortability! (that's a word, right?)

A long way to go and a short time to get there...

Early in the season, it's becoming clear that... turnovers are bad and help your opponent win. So far, Tech opponents have scored 15 touchdowns. SIX of those have come on Tech turnovers. Of those 6, 3 scoring drives took only 1 play, and only 1 drive had to go more than 32 yards to reach paydirt. All that adds up to Tech opponents' average starting point on the field being their own 36, which is 119th in the nation. Field position matters! Generally, when opponents start at their own 25, they have a 34.6% chance of ending that drive in points. When they start between the 36 and 40, that rises to 45.5%! Currently the Dogs start at their own 28 yard line. When you give up even just those 8 yards in field position, that adds up over time. To win in Mobile, we'll have to win the field position battle by limiting turnovers, remembering how to punt, and getting some great plays out of our own return men.

We're gonna do what they say can't be done!

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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, play the gtpdd Contest and CUSA Fantasy, and listen to the gtpdd Podcast!