Three Keys to Victory: Liberty
Louisiana Tech returns to action tomorrow afternoon with their backs against the wall. Having lost four of their last five, what can the Bulldogs do to get back in the win column?
Be Inventive in the Run Game
With Evan Bullock and Blake Baker now out for the season, it’s Trey Kukuk’s offense to run. In relatively limited action this season Kukuk has attempted 53 passes and has attempted 44 runs. Whatever the reason for that is, it seems that the Junior from Saddleback College is more comfortable running the football than most quarterbacks!
To be successful this week, Tech will need to take advantage of Liberty’s key defensive weakness: stopping the run. Liberty’s defense allows 162 yards per game on the ground, which is 91st in FBS. When they play on the road, they’re good for an extra 25 yards rushing, which would rank them 118th!
In a game where we might expect to struggle a little through the air (Liberty currently has the #1 pass defense in CUSA, to make matters worse!), we’re going to try to establish the run. The problem is that Liberty will see this coming a mile away and try to stack the box to stop us.
We’ll have to get creative (here’s looking at you, Wild Burnette formation!) to find ways to keep the sticks moving and score points. I would love to see Clay Thevenin carrying the ball consistently throughout the game. 12 carries just ain’t gonna cut it from the feature back.
Turnover Battle
If this game goes about how both fanbases expect, points are going to be hard to come by. Tech’s defense is stingy, but they’ll give up yards. Liberty’s defense won’t give up a lot of pass yards, so the Bulldog offense will have to rely on the run.
The key in this game will be maintaining possession of the ball and stealing possessions from your opponent. Luckily, Liberty doesn’t play the cleanest brand of football, ranking 97th in turnover margin in FBS. Tech, on the other hand, is tied for 28th.
We’re going to need the defense to confuse Liberty QB Ethan Vasko, who’s thrown 9 TDs to 8 INTs this season and will make mistakes if forced.
If the Bulldog D is able to score in tomorrow’s game, Tech will win in convincing fashion. If not, at least make it interesting by giving the offense some short fields to work with!
Special Teams. Please.
I don’t really know what to say about this one. The last few weeks have been nothing short of disastrous in the third phase of the game. There’s the onside kick at Delaware. There’s missing 5 of your last 9 field goal attempts. There are costly penalties that flip field position and kill drives before they even get started…
In a game that won’t exactly be a shootout, you need your special teams to show up in a big way. That means flipping the field with punts, making your field goal attempts and PATs, and even (GASP) recovering an onside kick or two. This is hard-hitting analysis, I know!
If the Bulldogs continue to perform like they have these last few weeks on Special Teams, there won’t be much more for me to say. This unit will have to perform better to get the W.
Evan is a contributor at go tech pls dont die, a weekly podcast, Twitter, and blog that covers Louisiana Tech sports in a not-so-serious way.
