Louisiana Tech Athletic Communications
RUSTON — Louisiana Tech officially opened its 2023 Fall Camp on Thursday morning on the practice fields east of Joe Aillet Stadium, kicking off the 120th edition of Bulldog Football.
Heading into the second fall camp in the Sonny Cumbie era, the Bulldog coaching staff was pleased with the effort and intensity on display during the first practice as they look to build upon what was implemented during spring practices.
“For our first practice in fall camp I thought our guys really picked up where we left off last spring,” Cumbie said. “A lot of new faces on defense and offense with the addition of transfer players and high school guys. There was a bit of learning in terms of where the drills go and where everyone moves from period to period. Coach (Dave) Scholz and his staff did a great job from a conditioning standpoint this summer. Our players were very prepared for all the volume of work we were doing from the change of direction to running.”
One of the major focuses on day one of practice was special teams. Defensively and offensively, the Bulldogs are further along than a normal day one due to the amount of work that they were able to accomplish over the summer.
“The ultimate focus is on special teams,” Cumbie added. “We went right into punt and right into kickoff return. We feel strongly about our specialists on punt and our return game. We have to do better in those areas from a special team’s standpoint. The biggest thing is to get through fall camp healthy and to have guys get their legs under them.”
Quarterback Hank Bachmeier stressed the importance of day one offensively and what he has been focusing on as he heads into fall camp with the Bulldogs.
“The biggest thing offensively on day one is to do our jobs, getting my signals communicated to our offensive line and knowing my progressions,” Bachmeier said. “Also making sure the pre-snap operation is good. Post-snap I am in that position as a quarterback where I have to build relationships with guys and I feel like I have done a good job of that and they have done a great job of that as well.”
Louisiana Tech opens the 2023 fall camp with a revamped linebacker room with the additions of five transfers and three freshmen alongside Hugh Davis who led Tech with 76 total tackles in 2022.
“Our linebacker room is really versatile,” Davis said. “Everybody has their own skill set but if you put us all out there together we all blend well. We are working hard and have had a lot of fun while going through friendly competition.”
One of the most significant differences heading into fall camp compared to year’s past is the Bulldogs will open the season a week earlier than usual and facing a conference opponent in week zero when they host FIU at 8 p.m. on Aug. 26th inside Joe Aillet Stadium. The Aug. 26 opener ties the earliest start in school history. The one previous time Tech opened on Aug. 26 was in 2000 when they opened the season with a 63-10 win over Mississippi Valley State. The last time the Bulldogs opened against a conference opponent was a 38-21 triumph over Nevada in 2004 when LA Tech was a member of the WAC.
“For our players they are excited because they know our first conference game is right around the corner,” Cumbie added. “We still have the same amount of practices that we would if we opened the season week one, we just move everything up. A week zero game gathers the players attention much sooner, especially how things happened for us last year at FIU.”
Many Bulldog players agreed that a week zero game brings some extra excitement to the locker room as Tech enters fall camp.
“Everyone is more excited about the week zero matchup,” kicker Jacob Barnes said. “We have been training all offseason for the game so I think having the game earlier benefits everyone. Starting fall camp, a week earlier helps us out a little bit but everyone will be excited and ready to go against FIU.”
“A week zero game provides a sense of urgency in practices with everything starting earlier,” Davis stated. “We understand that Aug. 26 is right there so we have to put some pep in our step.”
Tech will hit the practice field again on Saturday while they continue to prep for their week zero Conference USA showdown with FIU on Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. inside Joe Alliet Stadium.
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