by Malcolm Butler
These Bulldogs are big underdogs.
Just ask the Las Vegas odds makers.
Louisiana Tech enters tonight’s contest in Baton Rouge as more than five touchdown underdogs as the Bulldogs face the No. 3 ranked LSU Tigers. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Tiger Stadium.
Tech (1-0) is coming off a 24-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana last weekend while LSU (1-0) picked up an impressive road victory over Clemson, 17-10.
However, according to the betting line, the “experts” don’t expect the contest to be a contest.
“The only way I would know (the line) is you just brought it up,” said Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie when asked about it during his Tuesday press conference. “Maybe our kids see that sort of thing, but I try to live in a bubble. I’m focused (on today’s) practice and how can we improve our football team.”
Cumbie did acknowledge the obvious: the Bulldogs will need to play their best football in order to have a chance.
“In these games the margin of error is very small, and you have to maximize your opportunities,” said Cumbie. “We are excited about the challenge this week. Obviously, LSU is a great football team. Defensively, they are big and fast. They really don’t have any weaknesses from a personnel standpoint. They flew around the football against Clemson.
“Offensively, they are very explosive from the skill positions. Garrett Nussmeier is probably the best quarterback in the country. When you watch him play, he is a coach on the field … It will be a great challenge but I know our kids will be excited.”
Tech heads into the contest with a “nothing to lose” mentality. While LSU head coach Brian Kelly is trying to keep his team focused on the game at hand, instead of looking ahead to next week’s SEC opener against Florida.
“I think the maturity of a football team is you have a nameless and faceless opponent,” said Kelly. “In other words, you prepare the same way no matter what. That’s the hard part of this. Can we go out there as if this was Clemson or Florida or Alabama.”
Tech fans will see some familiar faces on the LSU sideline with a number of former Bulldog players and coaches now wearing purple and gold.
“We have Tim Rattay who is in the (Louisiana Tech Athletics) Hall of Fame on our staff,” said Kelly. “Joe Sloan coached there. Blake Baker. There is a lot of crossover here. A lot of respect for Sonny and the program that he runs.”
Kelly believes playing in-state schools is the right decision.
“We see Sonny in recruiting,” said Kelly. “He is at our camps. From that perspective, I think there is great allegiance to the in-state schools. But on Saturday, we want to whip them, and they want to do the same. But I like tipping our cap and saying, ‘If we are going to play a non-power 4 (opponent), let’s do it with a school in the state of Louisiana.'”
This marks the fifth time in the last 25 years that the two programs have met. LSU’s national championship teams of 2003 and 2007 recorded lopsided wins over Tech while the most recent two meetings (2009, 2018) have come down to the fourth quarters.
