College Football Week 8 continues on Saturday night and we will see the Idaho Vandals travel to Louisiana to take on the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 PM (Eastern) start time and it will be televised live on ESPN Gameplan. Currently the odds for the game have Louisiana Tech favored by 30.5 points, while the total sits at 72.5. Currently 83% of the Public is on Louisiana Tech, while 62% is on the Over. Find out what side the Public is taking on all the games by clicking HERE.
Free Analysis: The Vandals have struggled in terms of their level of success so far in 2012. The team dipped to 1-1 in conference play last weekend with a 38-7 loss at Texas State, one of the newest additions to the WAC. The lone win for Idaho was a 26-18 triumph over New Mexico State at home earlier this month which means the team is still searching for its first road victory since defeating San Jose State, 32-29, on Nov. 5, 2011. Up against the Bobcats in San Marcos, Idaho's offense struggled in a big way as Dominique Blackman converted 15-of-28 passes for 161 yards and was intercepted once. Running back James Baker accounted for the lone touchdown for the visitors on a three-yard run in the second quarter, after which Texas State scored 24 straight points to put the game out of reach. Offensively, Blackman has been slow to warm up with his new team and while he has had a total of three games with at least 300 yards passing, he has followed each of those up with games in which he has thrown for less than 175 yards each time, twice failing to throw a single TD. With a rushing attack that accounts for only 86.0 ypg (115th), it should come as little surprise that this team is delivering just 14.3 ppg which is ahead of only two other teams tracked by the NCAA at the FBS level that are not reclassifying or provisional this season. Since delivering three sacks against three straight opponents, the Vandals have recorded only two quarterback takedowns in the last three games total and because of that the squad's average of only 1.57 sacks per game overall ranks them 87th in the country at the moment. Unable to slow down opponents with an regularity, the Vandals are now 112th in the nation in points allowed (38.0 ppg).
Last Saturday night, the Bulldogs filled in an open date that they originally had on their schedule with a make-up game versus Texas A&M that was initially to be the season opener for both schools but had to be scratched due to potential weather issues. As a result, LaTech and the Aggies met up in Shreveport with both programs being nationally ranked, but only A&M maintained a spot in the Top-25 thanks to a 59-57 triumph. In stark contrast to Idaho's inability to produce points, the Bulldogs are beasts in that department, even when they lose. In one of those instances where a failed PAT comes back to haunt a team, that's exactly what happened to LaTech in the second quarter against a Texas A&M squad that ran out to a 27-0 lead. Not only did the Bulldogs have their PAT blocked, it was returned the length of the field for two points by the Aggies, a three-point swing that proved to be crucial in a two-point final. Colby Cameron brought the hosts back by throwing for 450 yards and five touchdowns, with Quinton Patton tying a school record with 21 receptions, leading to 233 yards and four scores as he was named the WAC Offensive Player of the Week even though his team lost. Make no mistake, with the Bulldogs scoring their highest point total in a single game in more than a decade, the team is now averaging an incredible 53.8 ppg which is tops in the entire nation. Unfortunately, head coach Sonny Dykes seems to be alright with running a quick-strike offense and allowing opponents to score their own share of points, seeing as how the team giving up an unhealthy 39.7 ppg (114th in the country).
Free Pick: I have had the pulse of the La Tech Bulldogs this year and they have been very good to me. This is a team that has an unstoppable offense as they come in averaging 538.7 ypg and a whopping 53.8 ppg. Last week they took on a Texas A&M team that had a decent defense and put up 57 points on them. La Tech has now played and SEC Defense a Big 10 defense and an ACC defense and have averaged 51 ppg in the 3 games. So what will they do vs an Idaho team that has allowed 55.7 ppg in their last 3 road games. In that stretch they allowed 63 points to an LSU offense that is having offensive problems and last week they allowed 38 points to a Texas State team that was averaging just 18.8 ppg vs FBS foes prior to that game. Even more troubling for Idaho may be their offense as they were able to put up just 7 points on a Texas State team that had allowed 35 ppg vs FBS teams prior to that game. Overall the Vandals are 111th in total offense (315.5 ypg) and 121st in scoring 14.3. Even vs a soft defense like the Bulldogs I just don’t see Idaho putting up enough points to keep this one close. La Tech is off their first loss of the year and teams in that situation usually struggle, but not this time. La Tech can still have a special season and will now turn their sights to a WAC title, so I don’t expect them to let down here. This one just has blowout written all over it.
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