The AP Poll No. 2 Boise State team was off through yet another weekend of the No. 1 team falling to the underdog. This week, No. 11 Missouri put a dent in Oklahoma’s short-lived driver’s seat to the national title game in January.
While this was all happening, the Broncos (6-0, 2-0 Western Athletic Conference) were planning for a different type of Louisiana Tech (3-4, 2-1 WAC) football team than they’ve seen in the past.
“They were in the shotgun and some spread stuff last year but it’s much different,” head coach Chris Petersen said. “This is all spread. A lot of big spits. No-huddle, going fast. They were going no-huddle in the past but they weren’t going really, really fast. It’s quite a bit different.”
Bulldog offense
The former hit-you-in-the-mouth type of football LT has traditionally played has been put to the wayside by new head coach Sonny Dykes who has switched up his focus to lightning quick offense who put together 97 offensive plays in their victory against the Idaho Vandals.
“We’re still figuring him out,” Petersen said of Dykes. “Know his reputation, know the lineage he comes from. You can see the job, that he’s making an impact in a hurry in his first year. There’s no doubt that he’s going to do some great things in that Louisiana Tech program.”
The Bulldogs’ senior quarterback Ross Jenkins has played efficient football, completing 70.5 percent of his passes with only two interceptions. He has six touchdowns this season with time spread to the Bulldog back-ups who account for three more touchdowns through the air.
Junior running back Lennon Creer rushed for 299 yards and four touchdowns — his only touchdowns this season — through the past two games, and has carried a heavy load for the running back corps.
Jenkins has two receivers who have been equally tough in junior Taulib Ikharo and sophomore Richie Casey. Ikharo has 31 receptions for 309 yards and Casey has 28 receptions for 308 yards. Despite finding success with Jenkins spreading the ball out, the two receivers have only caught three touchdowns this season.
Bulldog defense
Despite Derek Dooley’s departure for greener pastures at Tennessee, the Bulldogs held on to one of their key coaches in defensive coordinator Tommy Spangler. The consistency and similarity to prior Louisiana Tech defenses, according to Petersen, is a welcome sight for a team who appears to have finally hit its stride on offense.
“They’re a solid defense,” senior wide receiver Austin Pettis said. “They’ve got a lot of athletes, a lot of speed out there. It’s definitely going to be a better defense than we’ve seen in the past couple weeks so we’ll have to make sure we buckle down and take care of business on offense.”
Louisiana Tech is third in the Western Athletic Conference in rushing defense, allowing 152 yards per game to opponents on the ground. The Bulldog pass defense has been dismantled at times, allowing 296.71 yards per game to their opponents.
La Tech’s defense is led by junior linebacker Adrien Cole and junior defensive end Matt Broha. Cole leads the team with 54 tackles, three tackles for loss and one sack. Broha has been a force on the defensive line with nine tackles for loss, six sacks and two forced fumbles.
Bulldog special teams
Though the Bulldogs’ ever present return threat Phillip Livas is still a clear and present danger to any opponent, a new face has emerged as a kickoff return threat.
Sophomore Lyle Fitte has averaged 28.4 yards per return this season on kickoff returns for the Bulldogs. Livas has averaged 21.1 yards per return on kickoffs, but has struggled to break free bringing back punts. He has averaged 4.4 yards per punt return. The Bulldogs have only been punted to nine times this season, drastically marginalizing Livas’ ability to break free on punt returns.
Moore approaching, passes records
BSU junior quarterback Kellen Moore is currently besting his NCAA touchdown to interception ratio record of 13-to-1 with 16 touchdowns and one interception. He passed Bart Hendricks’ former school record set in 2000 of 650 passes completed, now standing at 663 and counting with six remaining games and a potential bowl game to accompany Moore’s senior season, should he choose to stay one more year with the Broncos.
Moore is two touchdown passes away from tying Ryan Dinwiddie’s record of 82 touchdown passes completed. He is fourth in career passing yards for BSU with 8,589 passing yards. The current record is held by Dinwiddie with 9,819 yards.
The Broncos and Bulldogs meet Tuesday at Bronco Stadium. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. on ESPN 2.