Featured photo by Josh McDaniel
Two teams on a roll will face off when the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs take on the Kennesaw State Owls Thursday night in a Conference USA game in Kennesaw, Ga.
Kickoff is 6 o’clock (ESPNU).
Louisiana Tech (4-1, 2-0) and Kennesaw State (3-2, 1-0) have both won three in a row. All three of the Owls’ wins have been at home. The only other teams in Conference USA without a conference loss are Western Kentucky and Jacksonville State.
The Bulldogs and Owls both are coming off a bye week and haven’t played since Sept. 27. Tech defeated UTEP 30-11 on the road. Kennesaw State defeated Middle Tennessee State 24-16.
The Owls have a mostly new team after going 2-10 last season, including a 33-0 loss to the Bulldogs.
“Coach Jerry Mack has done a great job with that program,” Louisiana Tech Head Coach Sonny Cumbie said at his press conference Monday. “They have 44 transfers.”
One player that did return is Gabriel Benyard. He is listed as a wide receiver but his versatility is what concerns Cumbie.
“He’s arguably their best football player, does a great job in the punt return game,” Cumbie said. “They give him the ball whether they toss it to him, they throw it to him. So we have to have an awareness of where he’s at at all times.”
Benyard has 22 catches for 363 yards and three touchdowns. He has also averaged 14 yards on six punt returns.
Cumbie has also been impressed with what he’s seen of quarterback Amari Odom on video.
“He’s very elusive,” he said. “I think he throws the deep ball with great accuracy. He’s very poised. He makes a lot of plays with his feet.”
Odom has completed 58-of-81 passes for 754 yards and four touchdowns. He’s also rushed for 195 yards on 39 carries.
Coleman Bennett, a Rice transfer, leads the Owls on the ground with 303 yards on 59 carries.
“Their backs are all very similar in terms of they’re big physical guys,” Cumbie said. “Their vertical run game, they do a good job of running through tackles so for us, tackling well, playing great defense in space is going to be a premium.”
Kennesaw State ranks sixth in the conference in total offense at 355.6 yards per game
The Owls defense is led by linebacker Baron Hopson, who ranks second in the conference in tackles with 46.
“They fly to the football,” Cumbie said. “They’re very physical.”
The Owls are allowing an average of 402.6 yards per game which ranks ninth in the conference.
Louisiana Tech will be without linebacker Kolbe Fields, the CUSA preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Fields was injured after making an interception against UTEP.
Cumbie said Fields has been in the training room but will provide leadership on the sideline. He also expects Fields’ defensive teammates to answer the challenge.
“When faced with challenges these guys rise up and I expect it will be several guys that will be able to do that,” he said.
Tech is tied for No. 1 in the nation in turnovers gained with 13, including a nation-leading 11 interceptions.
The Bulldogs rank first in the conference and 13th in the nation in scoring defense. They are allowing an average of 13.6 points per game.
Tech ranks second in the conference in total defense, allowing 346.2 yards per game.
Blake Baker will make his third straight start of the season at quarterback. He has completed 44-of-71 passes for 603 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.
Clay Thevenin and Omiri Wiggins lead the Bulldogs in rushing with 230 and 158 respectively.
Tech Is averaging 312.2 yards total offense which ranks 10th in the conference.
“We’ve got to play better on offense,” Cumbie said. “We’ve got to finish games better on defense and special teams so we can live in to what we feel like we can be as a football team.”