Texas A&M Aggies Vs.Lousiana Tech: Game Preview

The Aggies face the Lousiana Tech Bulldogs of the Western Athletic Conference. Louisiana Tech defeated Grambling State University 20-6 on Saturday, giving new head coach Sonny Dykes a win in his head coaching debut. Lousiana Tech is traditionally a mid-tier football program in the WAC, usually good for a bowl season every other year or so. Dykes replaced Derek Dooley, who took the head coaching position at Tennessee.

Let's see what we have in Lousiana Tech:

Offense

Sonny Dykes brought in Tony Franklin to install his version of the Air Raid, the series-based spread offense Texas Tech used under Mike Leach, and Dana Holgerson is now installing at Oklahoma State. Franklin came to Louisiana Tech after a one-year stay at Middle Tennessee in 2009, which followed his turbulent half-season at Auburn in 2008. Despite a slow offensive start (Tech was kept out of the end zone in the second half against Grambling, managing only a field goal), Dykes and Franklin remain confident that their offense will improve with experience.

Senior Ross Jenkins was the starting quarterback last Saturday, finishing 15-19 for 109 yards, but sophomore Colby Cameron replaced him in the second half, going 8-12 for 95 yards. Neither quarterback had a passing TD, and Dykes has mentioned the possibility of third-string QB Steven Ensminger seeing some playing time on Saturday. The Air Raid is an offense that depends on consistent execution of the base plays of the series, so whoever is able to continually execute and move the ball will probably get the most playing time. I expect us to see all three quarterbacks on Saturday.

Junior F-back Lennon Creer is the Bulldogs starting running back; he had 17 carries for 69 yards against Grambling, his first playng time since transferring from Tennessee following the 2008 season. At 6'1, 215 lbs, Greer is a load to bring down. He should be a nice challenge for our defense. Senior Mike Compton had the Bulldogs only two TDs on Saturday, scoring on a 1 yard run and a 2 yard run.

Lousiana Tech's starting wide receivers are Jacarri Jackson at X, Richie Casey at H, Taulib Ikharo at Y, and Ahmad Paige at Z. Jackson led the group with 4 receptions for 27 yards on Saturday. Paige had 3 for 18, Ikharo had 2 for 31, and Casey had 2 receptions for 5 yards. With a total production of 196 receiving yards for the game, it is obvious Dykes and Franklin want to get this group working.

LT Rob McGill, a two-time all-WAC player and three-year starter, leads the offensive line. McGill, RG Jared Miles, and RT Cudahy Harmon are all returning starters on the offensive line. Under Derek Dooley, Tech had a balanced offense that averaged 184 ypg rushing and 188 ypg passing. Three returning starters on the offensive line explains why Dykes and Franklin would lean on the running game more (38 rushes vs. 31 passes against Grambling) while they wait for the passing game to gel. Tech averaged 3.7 ypc in the game, and the offensive line gave up 2 sacks, so their performance ranges between average and barely acceptable. 

Given that they are still figuring out who their starting QB is, and the lack of production from the wide receivers, it looks like the strength of the Bulldog offense right now is their running game. However, I expect them to attempt to get back to basics on offense, and stress the fundamentals of the Air Raid while playing us. I expect to see a lot of Mesh and Shallow Cross series as they try to go back to their bread-and-butter plays of their offense, and focus on execution. It will be up to our interior DL and our OLBs to get pressure on their QBs and take them out of their rhythm. Grambling seemed to be able to keep the under control by playing loose on them, playing off their receivers in zone coverage and making the tackle after they caught the ball, limiting yardage. I expect us to mix coverages and use zone blitzes to bring pressure, as we use an aggressive attack against their defense.

Defense

The Bulldog defense only gave up 102 yards rushing and 158 yards passing for 260 yards of total offense allowed to go along with 6 points; that is a very respectable defensive performance in the first game. Tech runs a 4-2-5 defense, so it should be a new challenge for our offense to attack this scheme. Tech's defensive line coach is Dan Eggen, who was A&M's defensive line coach under Dennis Franchione. If his unit's performance at A&M is any indication, we can expect his defensive line to underachieve, and for us to be able to run on them inside.

The Bulldogs were led by junior MLB Adrien Cole, a returning All-WAC player who had 5.5 tackles against Grambling. Both Cole and SLB Jay Dudley are active players in the linebacking corps. The big playmaker against Grambling was  junior strongside DE Matt Broha, who had 4 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble. Against a 4-2-5 defense, you want to see if they are solid up the middle. Tackles Mason Hitt (4 tackles, 1.5 TFL) and Ramone Randle (1.5 tackles) seemed to have done a solid job keeping the Grambling OL off their linebackers and letting them make plays. The Nickel player in the Tech defense, the fifth defensive back, is senior Tank Calais, who had a quiet 1.5 tackles for the game. Cornerback Olajuwon Paige finished second on the team with 4 tackles against Grambling, while fellow CB Josh Victorian had two tackles and an interception. SS Chad Boyd (3 tackles, 1 INT)  and FS C.J. Broades (3 tackles) are also active members of the secondary. The strength of this defense looks to be their front six, where an aggressive scheme allows their LBs to make plays. Tech's defensive line and LB corps should make for a nice challenge for our young offensive line. I expect us to run the ball often against them, and challenge their secondary deep. Given that they are running a 4-2-5, I expect us to be productive running the ball, and think they're going to try to guard the flats to stop our short passing game to Swope, which we used so effectively against SFA. We need to use our TEs in the seams, and hit our outside receivers in the deep routes to force their defense to play us straight up. Grambling ran the ball well against Lousiana Tech, and we have a better running game than Grambling, so I expect us to prosper on the ground.

Tech's defensive coordinator Tommy Spangler is well thought of in the coaching community, so it'll be interesting to see what he cooks up for our offense.

Special Teams

Ryan Allen is Lousiana Tech's punter. He averaged 33.2 yds on 4 punts. Kicker Matt Nelson was 2-3 against Grambling, good from 39 and 45 yards, missing one from 27 yds wide left. The Bulldogs special teams are coached by Mark Tommerdahl, who some of you will also remember from his time at A&M as our TE coach and special teams coordinator under Dennis Franchione. It would be nice if our special teams could make some plays against his special team units (I remember too many breakdowns from his time at A&M), but given how we performed against SFA, I'd just settle for us not making any mistakes that will hurt us.

Conclusion

Louisiana Tech is a solid opponent for our second game of the season, but we should be able to move the ball on them on the ground and through the air. If our offensive line can control their interior DL and neutralize their LBs, we will romp in this game. I like the challenge this offense should present to our defense, because we haven't played an Air Raid offense yet, and this is good preparation for our conference opener against Oklahoma State in three weeks. I expect to see all of Lousiana Tech's quarterbacks play as they try to figure out who their leader on offense is. As long as we shut down their running game and force them to be one-dimensional on offense, so we can bring pressure on their passing game, we should win this one going away.