By Kane McGuire, Louisiana Tech Associate Director Strategic Communications
RUSTON — The Louisiana Tech football team will kick off its 2024 season Saturday evening inside Joe Aillet Stadium as the Bulldogs will host in-state foe Nicholls.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Aug. 31
Time: 7 p.m. (CT)
Location: Ruston, La. (Joe Aillet Stadium)
TV:ESPN+
Live Stats:LATechSports.com/Stats
Radio: LA Tech Sports Network | LA Tech Athletics App
Tickets: LATechSports.com/Tickets
SERIES HISTORY
Series: LA Tech Leads 4-0
In Ruston: 4-0
In Thibodaux: 0-0
Neutral: 0-0
ABOUT LA TECH (0-0)
Third-year head coach Sonny Cumbie will look to become the first Bulldog coach to lead Tech football to back-to-back season-opening wins since the 2017, and 2018 seasons after picking up a win over Florida International in last year’s opener. LA Tech has gone 3-9 each of Cumbie’s first two seasons, including four losses by one possession in 2023. The Bulldogs aim to return to a bowl game for the first time since 2020 after seven straight trips from 2014-20.
The Bulldogs will take the field with 50 newcomers against Nicholls, including 30 transfers. LA Tech returns nine starters from last year’s team with four on the offensive side of the ball and five on defense. The newcomer breakdown includes 26 players on offense, 22 players on defense, and two specialists.
Third-year Bulldog Jack Turner was officially named the starting quarterback by head coach Sonny Cumbie at CUSA Media Day. Turner is coming off a season where he appeared in eight games including four starts. The Texas native has passed for 1,193 yards and six scores during his time in Ruston, including 1,017 yards last season.
This will mark the fifth straight season that the Bulldogs will have a different quarterback start game one. It will also mark the first time since 2020 that a returning Bulldog will start the season opener.
Linebacker Kolbe Fields makes his much-anticipated debut in 2024 after sitting out the 2023 season due to the existing transfer rules at the time.
Fields, a projected starter for the Bulldogs, spent the 2022 season at LSU where he appeared in 11 games while making four tackles. In 2021, Fields played in four games while at South Carolina.
ABOUT NICHOLLS (0-0)
Nicholls is ranked No. 23 in the Stats Perform FCS Preseason top 25., and is the preseason favorite to win the Southland Conference. The Colonels are coming off their third SLC title in the last six years and fourth playoff appearance under head coach Tim Rebowe. The 2023 season marked the program’s first undefeated season in conference play going 7-0.
The Colonels had a league-high 15 Preseason All-Southland selections, headlined by returnees Southland Player of the Year Jaylon Spears, who tallied 1,300 all-purpose yards and nine touchdowns last season. Last season’s Southland Freshman of the Year Rasheed Lovelace is back for year two after collecting 27 tackles with 2.5 for loss in his first season.
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