Three Keys to Victory | Southeastern
The Bulldogs are finally heading home to the Joe after a long offseason and a devastating come-from-ahead loss on the road in Starkville. And although Mike Leach's air raid offense didn't make the trip to Ruston, it may as well have. Southeastern Louisiana's passing attack is one of the best in the nation - at any level. How can our Dogs start out this three game home stand on the right note?
Take what the defense gives you
Yeah, yeah... I just talked about the offense in the header, so why am I starting out with the defense? Well, because the first key to this game will be for Tech's offense to get things going against a defense that is not good (and that's putting things nicely). Last season, the Lions ranked fourth-to-last at the FCS level, allowing 521.4 yards per game. Only UIW, Cal Poly, and 2020 Tech opponent Houston Baptist allowed more yards per game in the 2021 season. Let's talk about that HBU game for a second... Sure, the Tech defense gave up 406 passing yards and 38 points... But it didn't matter because the Huskies gave up 360 passing yards, 182 rushing yards, and 66 points. This is a similar matchup. Southeastern's offense is great, but the defense is awful. It's a pretty much 1:1 comparison with 2020 HBU. This should be a great opportunity for the retooled Bulldog offense to find some rhythm and consistency through the air AND on the ground.
Force Turnovers
Last season, SELA was about middle of the pack with 9 turnovers in 7 games. The Lions went 4-3. In the three games they lost, they were -1 in turnover differential. When they won, they were +6. Last week, we saw the ol' red and blue dominate with 4 forced turnovers, including some pretty great plays to take the ball away from the StarkDogs. Baylen Buchanan's sideline knee-tap to recover a fumble was so great that Skip Holtz didn't even know why they were reviewing the play! if the Dogs can continue that success, we may be looking at the next in a long line of turnover-hungry Bulldogs defenses... as well as a 1 in the W column.
One Dimension
Any time you play a potent offense, one of the keys to the game is always going to be to make sure you know what to expect. With Southeastern, us fans can expect a heavy dose of passing (392 yards per game in 2021 Spring). But surprisingly enough, the Lions also like to try to run the ball. They attempted 44 passes per game last season, but also ran it 34 times on average. The philosophy seems to be to run it just enough to keep the defense honest, though, as those 34 carries per game average out to just 3.4 yards per carry. One of the ways Tech can win is to give no quarter up front in the run game and force the Lions to pass. I know that's how they like to operate anyway, but if we know they're not running on second or third downs, I'm very excited by what this defensive front can do to Big Ol' Cole Kelley in the pass rush. Bell Bros, anyone?
Closing note: this will be my first game back in the Joe since 2015, and I am PUMPED. Let's go DOGS!
--
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 Pick'Em, and listen to the gtpdd Podcast!