Featured photo by Josh McDaniel
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, teams looking to get back on track, face off Tuesday night at Joe Aillet Stadium.
Kickoff is 6:30 (CBS Sports Network).
Both teams had three-game winning streaks snapped in their last outings.
Louisiana Tech (4-2, 2-1 Conference USA) lost to Kennesaw State 35-7 on Oct. 9. Western Kentucky (5-2, 3-1) fell to Florida International 25-6 last Tuesday.
“Both teams are coming off disappointing losses,” Louisiana Tech Head Coach Sonny Cumbie said at his weekly press conference. “Both teams are better than what they played last time out.
Cumbie said the Bulldogs have focused on continuing to stay sharp in the areas they’ve done well for six games and trying to find answers in areas they’ve had shortcomings.
“I think both teams will be really, really hungry,” he said. “I think the message is our guys are ready to play again. The look and determination in our guys’ eyes in the three to four practices that we’ve had has been really good and I think we’re determined to play our best football.”
Cumbie said quarterbacks Blake Baker and Trey Kukuk are both “day-to-day.” Baker was injured early against Kennesaw State and Kukuk played one series before giving way to Evan Bullock.
The Bulldogs defense will be going against an offense led by quarterback Maverick McIvor, who transferred to WKU after a stellar three seasons at FCS school Abilene Christian.
McIvor has completed 171-of-254 yards for 1,863 yards and 12 touchdowns with five interceptions. He was 20-0f-31 for just 159 yards with three interceptions against FIU.
Cumbie said credited FIU’s defense and said McIvor just had an off night.
“McIvor is extremely accurate, has tremendous arm talent, gets the ball out of his hand really quick,” Cumbie said. “He has great command of the offense and has really played at a very, very high level last two years, three years going back to Abilene Christian following him like I have being from West Texas.”
The game matches Louisiana Tech’s defense, ranked No. 1 in the conference, against CUSA’s No. 2 offense.
The Hilltoppers are averaging 416.19 yards per game (294.9 passing, 122.3 rushing).
“From an offensive standpoint they have a lot of weapons,” Cumbie said. “Their offensive line is big.”
Louisiana Tech is allowing 355.2 yards Per game.
WKU ranks 10th in total defense, allowing 403.1 yards.
Louisiana Tech is averaging 164.5 yards passing 146.5 rushing. The Bulldogs rank 11th out of 12 teams in CUSA in total offense.
“We’ve got to be more explosive on offense,” Cumbie said. “We’ve got to take care of the football better on offense.”