By Malcolm Butler
Louisiana Tech has found ways to win football games over the past three weeks, and now the Bulldogs are looking to make it four straight.
Tech (4-2, 2-0) will host Old Dominion (2-5, 1-3) today at 4 p.m. at Joe Aillet Stadium in the Bulldogs’ annual Homecoming contest. The game will be televised on ESPN+ with Malcolm Butler (PxP), Luke McCown (Analyst), and Katy McCown (Sideline) providing a call of the action.
After posting consecutive wins over Army, UL-Lafayette and ULM, the Bulldogs enter today’s contest with plenty of momentum and an opportunity to remain unbeaten in their inaugural season in the Sun Belt Conference. A victory would give Tech its first 3-0 start in conference play since 2019 and extend its home winning streak to six games.
But head coach Sonny Cumbie isn’t putting any stock in Old Dominion’s record. The Monarchs have a road win over App State, a team that just beat Sun Belt favorite James Madison Thursday night.
Following last Saturday’s 24-0 victory over ULM, Cumbie acknowledged that his team may have fallen victim to overlooking the winless Warhawks, especially during a sluggish first half offensively. He doesn’t want a repeat performance against the Monarchs.
“I believe our team is mature enough to understand each week is a new beast and is a new challenge,” said Cumbie. “Football is a really hard, fickle game, and you’ve got to be at your best Monday through Friday.”
Tech struggled offensively during the first half against ULM before offensive coordinator Nathan Young made some halftime adjustments that helped the Bulldogs establish their running game.
“Nathan has a really good balance of confidence in what we’re doing and belief in himself, but also the humility to be like, ‘Hey, this ain’t working. We’ve got to do something different,'” Cumbie said.
Running back Andrew Burnett has continued to improve while taking on a larger role in the Bulldogs’ offense, and quarterback Blake Baker has demonstrated an ability to make plays in critical situations. Cumbie said Baker’s development has been particularly noticeable during the past few weeks.
“I think just the confidence and the belief that they have in him, and then in each other,” Cumbie said. “There’s a high level of belief in one another, and it certainly starts with the quarterback.”
While Tech’s offense struggled early against ULM, the Bulldogs’ defense dominated from start to finish, recording the program’s first road conference shutout since a 21-0 victory over San Jose State in 2008. The Bulldogs will look for another strong defensive performance against an Old Dominion offense that has struggled to find consistency this season.
Today marks the third meeting between Tech and Old Dominion and the first in Ruston. The Monarchs won both previous meetings when the programs were members of Conference USA.
The Bulldogs have also struggled to start quickly offensively, failing to score in the opening quarter in each of their past two games. For Tech, the challenge Saturday will be putting together a complete performance against a Monarchs team looking to spoil Homecoming.
