The 2013 Louisiana Tech schedule isn't all that tough. They do have Travel dates to NC State and Kansas, but within Conference USA their toughest road game is vs Rice, while they get Tulane, North Texas, Southern Miss and Tulsa at home. Their full schedule is listed below, but first let's preview the 2013 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.
The last time that Ship Holtz was coaching in Conference USA, he had led the Pirates to back-to-back conference titles. Skip is now back in Conference USA and takes over a Louisiana Tech squad that went 9-3 last year. Skip is replacing Sonny Dykes, who left Ruston after three seasons to become the new head coach at California. It will not be easy for skip to duplicate last years success, as they team returns just 7 starters overall.
The Bulldogs bring back just 3 starters and 12 of 29 letterman to an offense that was the best in the nation last year, putting up 51.5 ppg and 578 ypg. QB Colby Cameron (4147 yards, with 31 TD's and 5 INT's) and both their top WR's are gone. WR Quinton Patton had 104 catches last year, while Miles White had 54 catches on the year. That is allot of offense to replace. Transfer from Texas Tech, Scotty Young, looks like he will be taking over for Colby Cameron. Young would have played in Mike Leach's air- aid attack had he not been fired. The WR corps still has some talen, with DJ Banks (33 catches) and Hunter Lee (31 catches) returning, plus they do return top RB Dixon, who ran for 1194 yards and 27 TD's as a freshman last year. The OL is a huge question mark as 4 starters are gone, but all 5 projected starters are upperclassmen, so they may not drop off all that much. A lot of question marks on the offense, but one thing not in question is the fact that coach Holtz plans on keeping the same spread attack that worked so well last year.
The Bulldogs were the 4th worst team in the nation in scoring defense last year, having allowed 39 ppg, so is it good or bad news that they only return just 4 starters from that group? Skip was known for his defense at East Carlina as they allowed 22 ppg or less in 3 of his last 4 years there, while in his first 2 years at South Florida, they allowed 22.7 and 20 ppg. He know how to coach defense and will turn this unit around. La. Tech did force force 26 turnovers last year, and they were +13 in turnover ratio in 2012. Junior safety Le’Vander Liggins, returns after leading the team with two interceptions and 11 passes broken up, while senior defensive lineman IK Enemkpali is also back after recording six of the team’s 20 sacks. Even with the loss of 7 starters I don't see this defense being nearly as bad as lats year's group.
The offense has potential with the explosive Dixon at running back, but the offensive line and quarterback positions are still question marks. A lot depends on how the newcomers will fare for them this year. La Tech lost a ton of talent from last year and they are taking a step up in competition, but still Skio Holtz is an excellent coach and while a dropoff will occur, I still expect them to be bowl eligible this year. Key Trends: 5-1 ATS last 6 games vs Conference USA... 6-0 ATS first of BB road games... 0-6 ATS last 6 games vs the Big 12.
2013 Louisiana Tech Schedule
8/31 at N.C State
9/7 LAMAR
9/14 TULANE
9/21 at Kansas
9/28 Army
10/5 at UTEP
10/19 NORTH TEXAS
10/26 at Florida International
11/9 SOUTHERN MISS
11/16 at Rice
11/23 TULSA
11/30 at UTSA
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