Three Keys to Victory: NMSU
Louisiana Tech returns home to the Joe after a great defense showing against LSU last week. What can the Bulldogs do to start Conference USA play on the right foot?
1) Defensive Domination
If Tech plans to win ballgames this season, they’re going to need to continue the defense mastery they’ve displayed in the first two games. In those games, the Bulldog D has held an FCS opponent and the #3 team in the nation to a combined 23 points. That’s pretty damn impressive.
This week, they’ll face an opponent that hasn’t shown a lot of promise offensively. New Mexico State has been largely one-dimensional, relying entirely on transfer QB Logan Fife and JR wideout Donovan Faupel to move the ball. Their rushing attack ranks 131st in the nation (of 134 FBS teams), and has hardly been a consideration in wins against FCS Bryant and Tulsa.
Meanwhile, Logan Fife has been decent through two weeks in Aggie red and black, but will that be good enough against a Tech defense that has looked excellent thus far? As Caleb Wardell pointed out earlier in the week – look for Tech to pressure Fife (his completion percentages plummet when pressured).
The linebackers should have a feast day between stuffing the run and getting called upon to blitz. Look for Mekhi Mason to add to his national lead in TFLs this week!
2) Figure it out on offense!
Against the vaunted LSU defense last week, Tech wasn’t able to muster much in terms of actually yardage… or points.
To my eye, though, it looked like Tony Franklin had a plan to help Trey Kukuk out with the blistering pass rush – get the ball out early via quick reads, and hope your playmakers can make something happen. Unfortunately for Tech – LSU’s defense was just too fast, and there was very little room to maneuver after the catch.
Is NMSU’s defense as good as LSU’s? Right now their numbers suggest that they are pretty good – 65th in total defense, 53rd in run defense, 79th in pass…
But they’ve played Bryant and Tulsa!
I think Tech should stick with the game plan we saw against the Tigers early to see if it will work against a CUSA opponent. If it doesn’t… we have bigger problems on hand.
3) Control what you can control
I thought the Bulldogs played a pretty clean game in week one against SLU. Even though there weren’t any offensive fireworks, they played well on defense and special teams, and really kept the penalties to a minimum.
Last week against LSU, that went out the window. There were pre-snap penalties, (dubious) defensive pass interferences, and mental errors that cost the team. In the end, Tech almost had as many penalty yards as they did offensive yards!
To be successful this season, Louisiana Tech will need to play good, clean football. We simply do not have the offensive firepower to overcome a mental error that keeps the defense on the field for an extra three minutes. We can’t overcome several shanked punts that flip field position on their head. And we won’t win many games with over 100 yards of penalties. We just won’t.
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.
