2011 Louisiana Tech Football Predictions

Written by Steve Janus

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs struggled to get things going in 2010 and wound up finishing with a 5-7 record. On the positive side most of their wins came in conference play, as they finished the year fifth in the WAC at 4-4. 2010 was the first season under head coach Sonny Dykes, and the hope is he will have this team playing at a much higher level in 2011. Dykes will welcome back 13 starters from last year, but must find a new starting quarterback. Here is a closer look at what the Bulldogs will send to the field on both sides of the ball, plus my prediction on where they will finish in the WAC.

Offense:

Find a replacement for 2010 starting quarterback Ross Jenkins has to be the top priority heading into this season. Jenkins wasn’t great, but he completed 62.8% of his passes for 1,760 yards and 12 touchdowns. The leading candidate to take over for Jenkins is junior Colby Cameron, but he had a disappointing 1 touchdown to five interceptions in limited action last year. If Cameron can’t cut it, look for redshirt freshman Taylor Burch or junior college transfer Brock Waters to emerge as the starter.

If the Bulldogs can find someone to step in and play at a high level at quarterback, this offense should really take off in 2011. Louisiana Tech returns senior wide Taulib Ikharo, who had 50 catches for 530 yards and four touchdowns, and junior Richie Casey, who had 42 catches for 432 yards and three scores. Also back is senior Ahmad Paige, who played in just seven games because of an injury.

Louisiana Tech should have one of the top running games in the WAC this season with the return of senior Lennon Creer, who rushed for 1,181 yards and 10 touchdowns in just six starts last season. Creer has the potential to be the leading rusher in the WAC this season, and should only make things easier on the new starting quarterback.

While the Bulldogs only return junior center Stephen Warner and junior left guard Kevin Saia on the offensive line, this unit should be in pretty good shape in 2011. Junior Jordan Mills has started nine games at tackle in his first two years, and should hold down the open right tackle spot. Louisiana State added junior college transfers Larry Banks,and Oscar Johnson. Banks is expected to come in and start at left tackle, while Johnson looks to take over at right guard.

Defense:

Louisiana Tech returns senior Matt Broha and sophomore IK Enemkpali at defensive end, and these two should really put a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Broha led the team with 9 sacks last year, while Enemkpali had 2.5 sacks as a freshman. There is some concern with both defensive tackle spots up for grabs, but they seem to like what they have in junior college transfer Jon’al White and sophomore Shakeil Lucas.

At linebacker the Bulldogs return two talented players in senior middle linebacker Adrien Cole and senior weak-side linebacker Jay Dudley. Both finished in the top 3 in tackles and combined for 3 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. Dusty Rust started stepped in and started 5 games last year, and is the front-runner to take over on the strong-side.

With three starters back in the secondary, the Bulldogs are hoping to make some major improvements against the pass. In 2010 they were torched for 290 yards a game, which simply won’t cut it if they want to make a run at the division title. Juniors Jamel Johnson and Chad Boyd return at the two safety spots, while senior Ryan Williams is back at one of the corner slots. If this unit struggles like it did a year ago, the Bulldogs are going to have a hard time improving on the 30.7 ppg they allowed in 2010.

2011 Prediction: 4th WAC – I think the Bulldogs will struggle to put together a winning season, unless someone emerges at the quarterback spot. . Louisiana State has just three conference home games, and a very difficult non-conference schedule. I still think they can go 4-4 in conference play, but overall I can’t see them winning more than six games in 2011.

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