ESPN's spring WAC recap

[Dawg04]

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 2005 Schedule 9/10 at Florida
9/17 at Kansas
10/1 New Mexico State
10/8 Hawaii
10/15 at Nevada
10/22 North Texas
10/29 San Jose State
11/5 at Utah State
11/12 at Idaho
11/26 Boise State
12/2 at Fresno State

2004 overall record:
6-6
Conference record:
5-3

Returning starters
Offense: 5, Defense: 4, Kicker/punter: 2

2004 statistical leaders (* returners)
Rushing: Ryan Moats (1,774 yds)
Passing: Matt Kubik* (1,818 yds)
Receiving: Tramissian Davis (527 yds)
Tackles: Byron Santiago* (82)
Sacks: Jemelle Cage (7.5)
Interceptions: Corey Brazil (3)

Spring Answers: Moats was one of those special talents Tech seems to pipe out every once in awhile. He will no doubt be missed. With that said, the LT coaches swear the team is in good shape at running back. Mark Dillard ran for more than 100 yards in just about every one of Tech's scrimmages, including 170 in the finale. Against the immovable Auburn defense last season, Fredd Franklin rushed for 75 yards on just 13 carries. And while one never knows what to make of high school stats, incoming freshman Patrick Johnson rushed for more than 3,000 yards and found the end zone a stunning 58 times his senior season. ... At a position that took a bit of a hit, Johnathan Holland looks like he could be ready to step into a go-to role. The track athlete has blazing quickness. ... Turns out this walk-on was a keeper. A former member of the scout team, Tramon Williams earned a starting cornerback spot last fall and is now one of the best defensive backs in the league. He's a true cover corner with excellent technique. You don't see that much anymore.

Fall Questions: When starting QB Donald Allen went down a month into the season, Kubik stepped in and was decent. With that pair, though, the passing game was just too inconsistent. With Moats gone, that has to change. The two battled it out this spring and absolutely nothing was decided. With coach Jack Bicknell's jumping on the bandwagon and sprinkling some Utah spread-option into the offense, the quarterback battle in August becomes even more important. ... Both offensive tackles spots were vacated and the one on the right side is especially troublesome. The projected starter, sophomore Ryan Considine, has performed spot duty in two career games. ... The Bulldogs look fine at linebacker, but there's numerous question marks both in front of and behind that group. The entire defensive line and three of the four secondary spots need replacements. The corner position opposite Williams is almost barren. Unless a lot of answers come streaming in during fall drills, this defense is in danger of being steamrolled more often than not. Check out who it gets to play first.

[veerbone]

Not exactly a sparkling review....and not exactly accurate...whoever said Holland was a walk-on?

[soccer_dawg9]

Not exactly a sparkling review....and not exactly accurate...whoever said Holland was a walk-on?

The person was referring to Tramon Williams who was a walk-on. There was a mistake on the 2004 stat leader for interceptions. Tramon Williams, who has a very good chance at playing at the next level, led the team with four interceptions. He will be very fun to watch this year because he has worked hard to become the player he is today. He still has some room for improvement, but his potential is very high.

[Gooddawg]

I am surprised at how accurate that article was. Very good insight, I wonder where they got the info. I don't remember ESPN making their rounds to Tech during their week long Spring Football segments.

[veerbone]

My mistake...should have read that a little slower...

[KSDAWG]

I am glad we got a little pub.

[Rooster]

I am surprised at how accurate that article was. Very good insight, I wonder where they got the info. I don't remember ESPN making their rounds to Tech during their week long Spring Football segments.

I was thinking the same thing.

[hookdown]

Looking at the entire article, I saw 5 games we should win (SJSU, NMSU,USU,UH,UI), one toss-up (Nevada) and two that on paper, we would lose (FSU, BSU). Boise and Fresno are supposed to be better than last year. Going 1-2 out of conference would put us at 6-5 at worst. Pretty iffy for a bowl game. We really need to beat Nevada, North Texas, and Kansas to ensure a bowl spot. An 8-3 season should be our minimum goal for this year. Have to think that would probably get us a bowl bid. Anything better gets a bowl bid and a job offer for JB.

[96bulldog]

After reading through all of the spring reviews, there is no reason we can't be third best team in the league. The Nevada game seems to be key on the road early in the season. I think Hawaii will field a good team, but hopefully they won't be playing at full capacity when we get them in early October.

I hate to talk in terms of "should lose" games. That's negative talking from the beginning, and it doesn't do any good. So it looks like Florida, Boise, and Fresno are the games that we will have to play at our best to have a shot at winning. Kansas and North Texas are definitely winnable, along with all of our other conference games.

I am excited about this schedule. There are no "impossibly difficult" stretches like we had last year, and when we go in to play Boise and Fresno at the end of the season we may very well be in the position to secure a conference championship with two wins.

[96bulldog]

I am excited about this schedule. There are no "impossibly difficult" stretches like we had last year, and when we go in to play Boise and Fresno at the end of the season we may very well be in the position to secure a conference championship with two wins.

But as a follow up to my own positive thinking, we are talking about JBIII and all the ups and downs we have had with him . . . so we could also be looking at the potential of two big losses at the end of another season that starts with some promise (like we had when we beat Michigan State in 2003) only to have the season completely unravel by the end (like losing 32-97 combined to Tulsa and Rice to end the 2003 season).

Whatever the case may be, about seven months from now we'll know!