Louisiana Tech ready to take on UAB
RUSTON, La. – After spending the majority of September on the road, Louisiana Tech is eager to return to its home turf, as the Bulldogs host Conference USA foe UAB.
Kickoff is set for 6:06 p.m. tonight at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston.
“UAB is a very talented team and it will be a great challenge for us as a football program this week,” head coach Skip Holtz said. “We have had two very emotional games the last two weeks with LSU and North Texas, but to have the caliber of team coming in right now and two teams that are in first place as early as it is in the conference, it is nice to have the opportunity to play at home.
“We had to play three of the last four on the road, so I know our players are really excited to come back home. We are very appreciative of how supportive our travel has been with the support we have received on the road,
but we are really looking forward to coming back to a home environment with a great stadium and a great atmosphere here in what is turning out to be a huge conference game in the West Division.”
Holtz and the Bulldogs ended the opening month of the season with an overall record of 3-1 and a 1-0 mark in Conference USA following last week’s road win over North Texas. In that game, Louisiana Tech’s Amik Robertson came through for the Bulldogs with a blocked field goal in the final minutes to clinch a 29-27 win over North Texas last weekend in Denton.
UAB enters the weekend with an identical 3-1 overall record and a 1-0 mark in league play after the Blazers downed Charlotte 28-7 last weekend in Birmingham. This is just the second road game of the campaign for UAB after the Blazers suffered their only loss of the season on Sept. 8 at Coastal Carolina 47-24.
The matchup between the Bulldogs and Blazers on Saturday will mark the seventh meeting all time between the two programs with Louisiana Tech leading the series 5-1.
UAB has never won in Ruston with Louisiana Tech holding a 2-0 advantage at Joe Aillet Stadium.
Last season, the Bulldogs traveled to Birmingham and suffered a tough 23-22 loss at Legion Field after UAB blocked a potential game-winning field goal as time expired.
NOTES
The Bulldogs enter Saturday with a three-game Conference USA winning streak after Louisiana Tech went on the road last week and defeated West Division favorite North Texas.
Louisiana Tech’s three-game conference streak dates back to the final two regular season games last season when the Bulldogs defeated UTEP and UTSA to become bowl eligible.
The three-game C-USA winning streak is the third-longest among league schools with UAB leading the way with a five-game winning streak, followed by Southern Miss with four straight wins.
SMITH NEARING RECORDS
Quarterback J’Mar Smith is 429 yards shy of cracking the top 10 in Louisiana Tech history for career passing yards in just his second season as the starter, while he is four touchdown passes away from tying for 10th all time in program history for passing touchdowns (currently has 4,535 passing yards and 27 touchdown passes).
FERGUSON RANKS AMONG SACK LEADERS
Jaylon Ferguson is not only inching closer to breaking the Louisiana Tech record for career sacks (needs 4 1/2 sacks to tie), but the senior defensive end is just four sacks shy of tying the Conference USA record with eight games left in the regular season.
The record for career sacks in C-USA is held by Louisville's Dewayne White, who had 37 1/2 sacks from 2000-02.
PERFECT IN RED ZONE
Louisiana Tech is one of only 12 FBS teams in the nation to put up perfect numbers in the red zone through the first five weeks of the season. The Bulldogs enter Saturday's C-USA home game versus UAB a perfect 17-for-17 inside the 20-yard line.
In four games, Louisiana Tech has 11 touchdowns (four rushing, seven passing) and six field goals for a total of 94 points put on the board in the red zone this season.