Last year's Louisiana Tech football team, on the way to a 5-6 record as an independent, put three players in the NFL for '93. A fourth went to an NFL training camp. Even though '93 would be a rebuilding year, Big West Conference coaches thought enough of the Bulldogs to vote them second in the preseason poll behind Utah State.
Until last week, it was still a good bet. Both schools had one league loss. But La. Tech suffered its second league loss, falling to lowly UNLV to ruin an 18-game home winning streak.Saturday at noon at Romney Stadium, Louisiana Tech (2-2, 2-6) provides USU (3-1, 4-5) with its last home game as the Aggies attempt to stay in the race for the Big West title and their now-slim hope of going to the Las Vegas Bowl.
Last week's loss by the Bulldogs, who also lost talented freshman quarterback Jason Martin to a hyperextended elbow, takes the luster from this late-season game between previous BWC favorites.
Louisiana Tech coach Joe Raymond Peace says Martin (80-159-1,043 yards) is out, but Ag coach Charlie Weatherbie doesn't seem convinced. After watching film of the LTU-UNLV game, Weatherbie thought Martin was removed because of his 12th interception of the year rather than injury.
Peace says senior Aaron Ferguson will replace Martin, and Louisiana Tech won't change its offense to suit him. Ferguson, says Weatherbie, "Isn't as mobile, but he can still throw."
The Bulldogs aren't so much about offense as they are about defense. They score just 12.1 points and average 289 total-offense yards a game. The defense ranks fourth-best in the Big West in yards allowed and fifth-best in points allowed, even though LTU's nonconference schedule started at Tennessee, at South Carolina and at Alabama.
"The front end of our schedule," says Peace, "was a little too much for this team of youth. We've made some progress on both sides of the ball. Our record is not something we're real proud of, but we're working hard to get some respect back."