Coach Choate Moves Up to Division I-A

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Seven[/b][/u] Here we go Bulldogs, here we go! 5-0, and we're sitting on top of Conference USA with a 3-0 record in conference. We come home this week to play that other team from Houston, the Houston Cougars. Houston comes in with an 0-4 record, and they're giving up about twice as many points as they're scoring. A quick glance at their offense tells us why. Sophomore Tinker Mason is okay, but extremely inexperienced, as his 1 touchdown and 7 picks tells us. Senior Tyoka Howell gives him a good target, but his running game with another true freshman in Jerametrius Plummer leaves him in a tough spot many times in a game. On defense, they have a heck of a linebacker corps, especially outside backer Dee Cotton. On the D-line, sophomore Denero Rote anchors them, and their secondary is young, with little seasoning. [u]First Quarter[/u] Our defense continues to struggle in the early part of the game, as they give up 3 big passing plays to start out, and Houston scores on a 31 yard touchdown strike from Mason. We get one first down, but we get stuffed after a holding penalty and have to punt. It's yet another bad series for our defense, and Houston marches in on us yet again. Maybe their offense wasn't as bad as we thought, or maybe our defense isn't as good. Next drive, it's our turn as Jashon Massey breaks off two plus 10 yard carries before JoJuan Bernet catches a 44 yard touchdown pass off of play action! We give up a good return and a big pass play, but Kory Mauti puts the pressure on Mason and bats it in the air where Laurence Boydston picks it off and takes it back to our 36. We move the ball down the field as the quarter ends. [i]Houston 14, Tech 7[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We tie the ball game up after taking it on down the field as Abdual Armour gets his first touchdown of the year on a 5 yard run. We force a 4 and out, and it's an okay punt, where we take over at our own 38. We go play action yet again, and it pays off with an Ernest Ledbetter 42 yard touchdown to give us our first lead of the game. Another 3 and out for Houston, and another weak punt with a 14 yard Terrance Swartz return sets us up at the Cougar 14. It's another score for us after a couple of plays as Felipe Osika comes on a crossing route for a 29 yard touchdown strike! 3 and out for Houston, and it's our ball at our 20. Another few yards, and Ledbetter frees up again on an out that the defensive back tries to jump, and he takes it home from 56 yards out. 3 and out yet again for Houston, and our defense has finally come out of the locker room. We can't get anything going, so we punt it with a few seconds left on the clock, with which Houston takes a knee. [i]Tech 34, Houston 14[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] Nothing going for us on the opening drive of the second half, so we have to punt it away. Houston moves the ball out some, but we force a punt, and Terrance Swartz brings it up 25 yards to our own 46. We move it into field goal range, but a holding call takes us back, and we try a 55 yard field goal, which Moe Upshaw misses just barely left. It's a bad decision on our part, as Houston takes advantage of the good field position and drive in for the first points of the second half with a touchdown pass from Mason. We take the ensuing kickoff and our offense gets going with a good balance of running from Jashon Massey and Linzy Dockery and passes from Kadela, who converts a 3rd and 11 at the 18 with another touchdown pass to Ernest Ledbetter to end the quarter. [i]Tech 42, Houston 21[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] It's another break for us as we force a fumble on the kickoff, and we pick up the ball at the 12. We can't capitalize much though, as we settle for a field goal. Houston drives into our territory, but we come away with a pick at our own 3 by Lum Johns. We drive 96 yards down the field and eat up a huge chunk of clock before Jashon Massey takes it in from a yard out for the score. Another big pass play takes Houston into our territory, but we get another interception, this time from linebacker Dean Huard at our 20 to seal the game up with less than 2 minutes. Or so we thought, as Linzy Dockery fumbles the ball at the 27. Two plays though, as Mason gets pressured and Plummer tips the ball up, and defensive tackle Donovan Sirmon picks it off and takes it to the 35. That seals it up as we take the win. [i]Tech 52, Houston 21[/i] After two early touchdowns, our defense stepped up and held Houston for most of the game to 3 and outs. Our offense once again needed a kick start to get going, but once we did, it was clicking on all cylinders. 400 plus yards for Stacy Kadela, our first 400 yard passing game in my tenure at Tech. [b]Total Yards 585-374 Passing 413-248 Rushing 172-126 TOP 35:22-24:38[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 23-29, 413 yards, 5 TD [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 32-129, 1 TD L. Dockery 6-29 A. Armour 3-18, 1 TD S. Kadela 2-5 [u]Receiving[/u] E. Ledbetter 2-130, 3 TD J. Bernet 6-109 F. Osika 4-75, 1 TD J. Massey 4-54 L. Dockery 3-43 A. Armour 1-2 M. Shields 1-0

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Eight[/b][/u] We're up to 6-0, and we're ranked 20th in the computer polls, and trying to sneak into the media and coaches polls. Last week helped us some, but a win here today against a game Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles team could really catapult us up there where we feel we deserve to be. And a game Eagles team this will be. Sophomore Freddie Lorenti is hampered by an injury, but he'll be starting today, and he's one of the better passers in Conference USA. He has four good receivers and the older brother of our own Rip Marconi as their tight end, and Eppie Nomelini steps back into his starting role after being injured much of the season. On defense, they've got a few good players, but I don't see anyone who scares me greatly. [u]First Quarter[/u] We start the game off with the ball first for the first time this season. We go three and out, and proceed to give up a bunch of yards after the punt to let USM on the board first with a 30 yard touchdown pass. We take the next drive down the field but stall out and have to settle for a 46 yard Moe Upshaw field goal. We hold on defense this time, but a huge punt gets downed at our own 4, so we'll start from there. A 24 yard run and a 20 yard run by Jashon Massey moves us out to near midfield, but we stall again at the 31 as the quarter expires. [i]USM 7, Tech 3[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] It's good as the quarter begins as Moe Upshaw makes the 49 yard field goal, his career long! A big sack begins the next drive, and now we get the ball back at our 38 after 3 and out by USM. 10 and then 23 by Massey puts us back at the USM 29, and he takes us to the 4 before getting stuffed on a 3rd and one, forcing the field goal again to give us our first lead of the game. We hold 3 and out, and it's our ball again, this time at our own 37. It continues to be the Massey show as he picks up two big runs again and a 20 yard screen pass catch. We have an unneccesary roughness call on us and that makes it 1st and 25, negating another first down, and we can't recover, so Moe Upshaw makes his 4th field goal of the day, this one from 45. USM takes it down the field into our territory before Donovan Sirmon lays a big hit on their fullback and causes a fumble that Montrae Martinez falls on! We go with the old fullback curl, and Abdual Armour cashes it in with his largest ever gain from scrimmage of 59 yards down to the USM 17! We finally get one in the touchdown column 2 plays later as Kadela hits JoJuan Bernet with a 17 yard corner route for the score! USM sits on the ball with a knee and we take a 12 point lead into the half! [i]Tech 19, USM 7[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] USM gets to midfield, but we force the punt. Our ball at the 20 after a touchback, and we proceed to pound it down their throats all the way down the field to the 7 with a good mix of run and pass. 2 runs later by Massey, he dives in from 3 yards out to extend our lead. On the next drive, Saint Benson gets picked by the referee and they pick up 44 yards into our territory. We can't seem to stop them on this roll as they drive it on in for the touchdown. We get a single first down before the clock runs out on the 3rd quarter. [i]Tech 26, USM 14[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] It's another continuous drive as we get into USM territory, but we stall out yet again and Moe Upshaw gets his 5th field goal of the game from 48 yards this time. We force three and out, and we take over at our own 39 this time around. Nothing doing for us this time, and we have to punt after picking up 5 yards. USM drives it into our territory, but we finally hold, and Terrance Swartz almost makes me have a heart attack as he brings a punt out of the end zone. He makes me breathe easier though, as he brings it out to the 37. Next play, it's a 46 yard screen pass to Jashon Massey, and we have the ball at the USM 17 now. It's a broken record though, as we stall yet again, so it's number 6 for Moe Upshaw from 31. USM takes the ball back down the field with little time left though, and Saint Benson makes up for the big gain he gave up early in the game with an interception with no time remaining to seal the game for us! [i]Tech 31, USM 17[/i] We ran into today what we had last year, in the fact that we had to rely on field goal kicking to keep us going. We finally broke through though and got a pair of touchdowns, but USM's defense kept bending but we never could break them completely. On the plus side, Jashon Massey racked up over 300 yards total offense, and has really solidified himself as J.T. Kilroy's successor. [b]Total Yards 500-354 Passing 282-226 Rushing 218-128 TOP 31:08-28-52[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 17-23, 282 yards, 1 TD [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 33-223, 1 TD S. Kadela 1-5 A. Armour 5-2 [u]Receiving[/u] J. Massey 4-86 F. Osika 5-61 A. Armour 1-59 E. Ledbetter 4-49 J. Bernet 3-27, 1 TD

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Nine[/b][/u] 7 and 0 for the season now, 5-0 in Conference USA play! Barring injuries, Stacy Kadela will go over 2000 passing yards on the season, and Jashon Massey will go over 1000 rushing. We head to New Orleans to play the 3-5 Tulane Green Wave, who we're favored to beat by 18 points. On offense, junior Ryan "R-Kal" Starr is their quarterback, but he's not particularly impressive. Their running game is lead by Boobie Thielman, who reallly should be getting more yards than he has thus far, averaging less than 100 yards a game. Lyle Serwanga and Flip Pisarkiewicz are the main receivers, and their offensive line is solid and deep. Defensively, their line and their corners are their strengths, but they have some weaknesses at linebacker and safety, so we may pressure them with three receiver sets and come across the middle more than usual [u]First Quarter[/u] We start with the ball at our own 20 after a touchback on the opening kickoff. Not an auspicious start to the game as we go 3 and out, and have a terrible punt by Ickey Angulo that lets Tulane start at our 43. Luckily, we hold and get the ball back again at the 20. We drive down to the Tulane 20, but can't convert on 3rd and 2, so we settle for a 37 yard Moe Upshaw field goal. We force 3 and out again, and now we take over at our own 40. We drive it down to a 3rd and goal at the 8 before Kadela hooks up with Felipe Osika for the touchdown! A big runback puts Tulane in our territory and they run a few plays before the end of the quarter. [i]Tech 10, Tulane 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We get a big 3rd down sack that looked like it would take them out of field goal range, but they nail a 51 yarder to get on the board. Kickoff out of bounds though, and we start again at our 40. We drive it down thanks to 3 10+ yard runs by Jashon Massey, and he takes it in on 3rd and goal from the 4 for the touchdown! Massey is already over 100 yards for the game! Thielman finally breaks a big one on the 2nd play of the drive for 40 yards, and I knew it was only a matter of time. We can't hold them out of the endzone this time as they score from 2 yards out on a quick out. Tulane starts stacking the box against Massey, so we go to the air now. We drive it into Tulane territory, but they again stiffen up and force the field goal on us. We hold them to their side of the field as time expires on the first half. [i]Tech 20, Tulane 10[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] Instead of it being a first quarter drive, Tulane capitalizes on yet another big return, and they pull to within 3 with a 35 yard touchwon pass from Starr. We get to 4th and goal at the 1 and go for it, but Massey gets stacked up inside and we turn the ball over. We hold as they move the ball out towards the 30 and take back over at our own 24. We can't get a first down ourselves, so we have to punt it back. Tulane finally makes their first mistake of the game as Starr gets greedy, and Kenoy Alderman makes him pay with an interception at their 40! 23 yards for Massey on 1st down puts us in the red zone as the quarter ends. [i]Tech 20, Tulane 17[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We get to inside the 1 again and this time after a stuff on 3rd down, I take the points to put us up by 6. A 52 yard strike by Starr brings more life into this Tulane crowd, and if they score 7 here, it will be their first lead of the game. Thielman does it to us, and they take a 24-23 lead with 10 minutes left in the game. It's our turn now though, as we drive it into Tulane territory before Kadela hooks up with JoJuan Bernet for 42 yards to give us the lead back! We finally force a Tulane punt again, and now we get the ball back at our own 20 after the touchback. We go 3 and out though, and Tulane starts at their 27. They get to midfield methodically, but Kenoy Alderman picks off a bubble screen and takes it back to our 45 with 2 minutes left! Jashon Massey pounds the ball down their throats, and we pick up 2 first downs, just enough to finish running off the clock! [i]Tech 30, Tulane 24[/i] It was dirty, it was ugly, and quite frankly, we should have gotten beat. Luckily, Kenoy Alderman picks off two passes in key situations to preserve our win. Way too many carries for Jashon Massey in 43 today, but he kept telling me that he wasn't tired. I suppose that with a bye week, that'll give him time enough to heal on up. Our offense was nicely efficient, but we need to put more points on the board when we get the opportunity. Nice thing though, is that with this win, we wrap up the West in Conference USA! [b]Total Yards 501-318 Passing 246-212 Rushing 255-106 TOP 37:02-22:58[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 22-26, 246 yards, 2 TD [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 44-242, 1 TD A. Armour 6-16 S. Kadela 4-2 L. Dockery 1-2 [u]Receiving[/u] J. Bernet 6-108, 1 TD F. Osika 6-60, 1 TD J. Massey 5-45 E. Ledbetter 4-28 A. Armour 1-5

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week 9 Top 10 Coaches Poll[/u][/b] 1. USC 2. Miami 3. Auburn 4. Oregon State 5. Iowa 6. Texas 7. Wisconsin 8. Minnesota 9. Maryland 10. Oregon [b][u]Week 9 Top 10 Media Poll[/u][/b] 1. USC 2. Auburn 3. Miami 4. Oklahoma 5. Georgia 6. Wisconsin 7. Texas 8. Oregon State 9. Minnesota 10. Purdue [i]23. Louisiana Tech[/i] Yes, that's right folks, the Bulldogs have cracked the Top 25 in the media poll! This is the first time we've been ranked in the regular season since 2006!

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Eleven[/b][/u] After a week off and some pretty surprising upsets in week 10, our Louisiana Tech Bulldogs have moved up to 18th in the media polls and into the top 25 in the coaches poll at 24th! This week, our old WAC nemesis Tulsa comes to Ruston at 2-7 on the year, and we're a 26 point favorite. If I've learned anything this season, I've learned that these big point spreads only serve as bulletin board material for the opposition and they always come in on fire. Junior Colston Dobler is their starter, although true freshman Aveion Bird is actually their leading passer. Richmond Sualua is back as their number one back, and he's pretty solid. True freshman Sebastian Kennison and frosh Jackie Brookins are the main aerial targets. Their biggest problem is that their offensive line just isn't that good. On defense, their outlook is a bit better, with DE Israel Cowsette leading their team with 6 sacks on the yar, and their secondary, while young, is extremely talented and athletic. [u]First Quarter[/u] Tulsa moves the ball fairly well on the opening drive, but we force a punt just after they move into our territory. We take the ball for the first time, and we drive all the way to the Tulsa 3 before stalling out and being forced to kick the field goal. My defense sucks it up again, as they give up 3 huge plays as Tulsa takes a 7-3 lead on us just as the quarter expires. [i]Tulsa 7, Tech 3[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] Next play is an out route to Felipe Osika, but the defensive back goes for the pick, and Osika takes it out of his hands and burns down the sidelines for a 71 yard gain to the Tulsa 13! 2 plays later, Jashon Massey takes it in from 5 yards out for the touchdown and the lead! We hold Tulsa after they pick up a couple of first downs up near midfield and take over at the 20 after a touchback on the punt. Martin Shields catches a pass near midfield after a first down, but he gets nailed and coughs the ball up to Tulsa. They take advantage of it as they get another pair of big plays before going in for the touchdown. We can't get moving and have to punt, and Tulsa moves the ball back up field before Donovan Sirmon comes up huge with a sack and a fumble recovery that he takes back to the Tulsa 26! We can't get too much though, as we kick a field goal before time expires in the half. [i]Tulsa 14, Tech 13[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We take the opening kickoff methodically down the field with a mix of run and pass before Stacy Kadela hooks up with Ernest Ledbetter for a 5 yard touchdown strike to give us the lead back! We finally hold Tulsa around their 20 and we get good field position at our 36. We go 3 and out though, and Ickey Angulo pins them at the 3. We force 3 and out for the first time in the game and get the ball back at our 42. The good field position is fine for us as we move right down the field before converting 3rd and goal at the 5 by a touchdown pass to Martin Shields! [i]Tech 27, Tulsa 14[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] 3 and out again for Tulsa, and we take over this time at our 32. We get into Tulsa territory before we get struck, and Kadela gets picked off at the 24. Another big play puts Tulsa in our territory, but we stiffen up and force the punt down to our 15. 3 and out for us though, and Tulsa takes the good field position and turns it into points again as they score yet another touchdown on the shortened field. We try to cut out some more clock, but Jashon Massey fumbles at our 24. AAARRRGGGGHH! But our defense comes through as Mosi Cloud snatches the ball away from the wide out over the middle and returns it back to our 41! We drive it down into Tulsa territory before Moe Upshaw kicks the field goal from 38 yards out to ice the game. A Hail Mary pass is knocked away and we preserve the victory. [i]Tech 30, Tulsa 21[/i] I can't believe how poorly our defense played on the day. They gave up big plays all game and couldn't hardly stop Tulsa from converting 3rd and long. Luckily, Mosi Cloud comes up big at the end with the pick to seal the win for us. Kadela and Massey had good games today, but we have got to hold up these teams that shouldn't be this close to us if we want a better bowl game. Only one more conference game, and then we have our cupcake, Temple, then our big game against a currently 6-4 Texas Tech. [b]Total Yards 450-336 Passing 268-242 Rushing 182-94 TOP 32:25-27:35[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 22-29, 268, 2 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 37-169, 1 TD A. Armour 5-23 L. Dockery 1-9 S. Kadela 1-(-6) [u]Receiving[/u] F. Osika 2-76 E. Ledbetter 7-76, 1 TD J. Massey 7-57 J. Bernet 4-47 M. Shields 2-12, 1 TD

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Twelve[/b][/u] After last week's close call against Tulsa, I expected us to stay the same in the polls or perhaps slip a bit, but instead we move up to 14th and 18th respectively. The University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers aren't what they were last year when we played them both in the regular season and in the conference championship game, but at 3-7, they're a wounded animal backed into a corner. We're favored by 15 points. Senior Kaulana Groce is their starting quarterback, and when he's been healthy, they've done well; when he's not been in the lineup, not so much. Senior Jamil Merriweather is their leading rusher with almost 900 yards on the year, but only 1 touchdown, and senior JaJuan Ellis and frosh Marco Denard are the top receivers. Their offensive line is talented and experienced. On defense, they're really banged up, but still solid, so I expect to score a few points, but my defense needs to hold steady and not give up the big plays like they did at Tulsa last week. [u]First Quarter[/u] We hold UAB to 3 and out on their first possesion, and we take over at our 21. Runs of 21 and 18 by Jashon Massey easily walk us into Blazer territory, and then he catches a nice pass and takes it another 21 yards inside the red zone. We get it down to the 1 before Massey takes it in on a toss sweep for the touchdown! One good first down for UAB before we hold them to force the punt, and we take over at our 20. We get held to 3 and out, and punt it back. Another first down for UAB, but nothing more as we take over at our 18 this time around. We drive it down the field to the 20 as the quarter expires. [i]Tech 7, UAB 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We can't pick up another first down, so we call on Moe Upshaw from 30, and it gets partially deflected and goes wide left. 3 and out now for UAB, so our defense is holding well. We can't get any better than the 37, so we attempt the long field goal, and it misses left again. 3 and out again, so we take over now at our 23. We get inside the redzone and stall out, and THREE FREAKING FALSE STARTS drives us back where Moe Upshaw misses from 49 yards out, but we get our own back as they hold trying to block the kick! Another 3 plays and we have to kick again, and this time Moe Upshaw hits from 37. 3 and out yet again for UAB, so we take over at our own 24 with a bit less than 2 minutes in the half. We march it down with some good passing by Kadela before JoJuan Bernet streaks across on a slant to score the touchdown from 14 yards out! We left some time on the clock and have to kick off, and we recover a fumble after Tremain Sawyer causes it! With 3 seconds left on the clock, Moe Upshaw nails one from 42 to extend our lead. [i]Tech 20, UAB 0[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] The opening kickoff is no different from our last drive since it's a hard fought drive down the field before Abdual Armour picks up the touchdown run from 6 yards out! We hold UAB at their 46 and force the punt after 2 first downs and we take over at the 20 after a touchback. We march right down the field with a good mix of run and pass before Kadela fires a bullet to Martin Shields the tight end for a 7 yard touchdown! Marco Denard catches a pass on the next play, but Lum Johns hits him after he turns upfield and causes a fumble that Montrae Martinez recovers! Our ball at their 33, but we turn it right back over after a 5 yard loss and a false start before Kadela gets tipped at the line and picked off at the 37. They move down into our territory before Donovan Sirmon nails backup running back Kimble Sanders and Kory Mauti picks up the fumble. Nothing more doing for us though as we have to punt it after 3 and out. 3 and out though for UAB, and they punt to end the quarter. [i]Tech 34, UAB 0[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We take the ball near midfield and walk it right down before JoJuan Bernet frees up for his second touchdown of the game from 19 yards out! 3 and out for UAB after a great kickoff return, and we take over at our 20. We can't push it pass midfield after all runs and have to punt, down to the UAB 22. A big 27 yard pass puts UAB at midfield, but we stiffen up again and force the punt after an 11 yard sack, so we take over at our own 30 after the punt. With only 5 minutes left, we pull our starters on offense, so our 2nd team comes out. They move the ball to the UAB 35, but they stall out and we don't convert a 4th and short. We hold after a 4th and long and take back over to run the clock out. [i]Tech 41, UAB 0[/i] We complete another year in Conference USA undefeated, and we have two more nonconference games left to go before we wrap up the season. Today was total domination by our defense as they earn their first shutout since I came to Tech over a year ago, and our offense rolled out the kind of points I've been expecting from them against this caliber of team all season long. We've got next week off before the Temple Owls come to Ruston and we head out to play Texas Tech on the last week of the regular season. [b]Total Yards 592-154 Passing 367-107 Rushing 225-47 TOP 41:50-18:15[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 26-35, 345 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT A. Hebron 1-3, 22 yards [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 39-176, 1 TD A. Armour 10-55, 1 TD C. Dial 4-9 S. Kadela 2-(-1) [u]Receiving[/u] E. Ledbetter 6-122 J. Massey 6-83 T. Swartz 7-74 J. Bernet 4-58, 2 TD M. Shields 2-21, 1 TD

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week 12 Top 10 Coaches Poll[/u][/b] 1. USC 2. Auburn 3. Miami 4. Texas 5. Oregon State 6. Minnesota 7. Oregon 8. Oklahoma 9. Wisconsin 10. Maryland [i]14. Louisiana Tech[/i] [b][u]Week 12 Top 10 Media Poll[/u][/b] 1. USC 2. Auburn 3. Oklahoma 4. Miami 5. Oregon State 6. Texas 7. Minnesota 8. Purdue 9. Georgia 10. Wisconsin [i]12. Louisiana Tech[/i] We're inching up towards that elusive top 10 and we're now number 11 in the championship series standings! If we could slip up a couple of more slots there, we could be the first ever BCS buster! Right now, we're one of 4 remaining undefeated teams: #1 USC, #2 Auburn, and #17, our old archrival from the WAC, Boise State.

[kennywanchizoate]

[b]Louisiana Tech's 2011 Finalists for National Awards[/b] Coach Kenneth Choate and the Louisiana Tech Athletic Department are proud to announce that several Bulldogs have been nominated for National Awards. [b]QB Stacy Kadela[/b] has been nominated for both the Heisman Trophy and the Davey O'Brien Award. [b]RB Jashon Massey[/b] has been nominated for both the Heisman Trophy and the Doak Walker Award. [b]WR JoJuan Bernet[/b] has been nominated for the Fred Biletnikoff Award. [b]OT Joe Heller[/b] has been nominated for the Vince Lombardi Award. [b]DE Donovan Sirmon[/b] has been nominated for the Outland Trophy. [b]K Moe Upshaw[/b] has been nominated for the Lou Groza Award The Louisiana Tech University staff, faculty and alumni are all proud of their accomplishments and of the Bulldog football team.

[kennywanchizoate]

[b][u]Week Fourteen[/b][/u] Well, well, well. It was another off week that allowed us to get rested up for the home stretch, and this week we jump to #9 in the media poll and #11 in the coaches poll, along with being ranked #7 in the BCS! We host the Temple Owls this week, a team with the 2nd worst offense and the worst defense in the nation. We're favored by 20 this week. At quarterback, sophomore Marquis Hostetler leads them onto the field, with senior Visco Stinchcomb and sophomore Wilbert Soliday as his main targets. Junior Stony Dressel is their main back, but is only averaging 55 yards a game, mainly because of a swiss cheese offensive line. On defense, they only start one senior, which could account for the horrid play. Could get interesting on the scoreboard today. [u]First Quarter[/u] Our ball to begin the game, and terror strikes immediately as Stacy Kadela goes down on the 5th play of the drive. He twists his ankle on a late hit that doesn't get called, and he hobbles with help back to the locker room as Aaron Hebron heads out onto the field. Thanks to that, we get held to a field goal after marching down the field. Temple moves the ball well on a couple of runs and a couple of well timed passes, but we force the punt and take over at our 20 after a touchback on the punt. Another nice drive, but we stall again, this time as Moe Upshaw misses from the same distance he just hit from. Luckily, Hostetler goes deep and we pick it off in our own territory. We take a few plays up towards midfield as the quarter runs out. [i]Tech 3, Temple 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] A 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty makes it a 3rd and 25, which we can't convert, so we punt it away. We hold again, and they go for a fake punt, which gets knocked away, so we take over at our 44. We make good on this one as Jashon Massey picks us up and carries us down the field with a couple of passes from Hebron before a 3rd and goal pass to Terrance Swartz goes in from 3 yards out! A couple of first downs for Temple puts them near midfield, but we hold again and take over at our 14 after the punt. Not much for us this time as we're forced to punt after one first down. It's a short field after a poor punt by Ickey Angulo and Temple takes advantage of it by a 30 yard pass play. We stiffen up though, and force the field goal. Jake McGraw takes the ensuing kickoff back 88 yards before he runs out of wind and is pulled down at the Temple 14 with 1:32 left in the half! Nothing doing for us though on the drive as we have to kick the field goal. Temple decides to run the clock out on the half and take a 10 point deficit into the half. [i]Tech 13, Temple 3[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] 3 and out for Temple to start the half, and we take over at our 23. After a nice 8 yard run on first down, Ernest Ledbetter streaks up the sideline and Hebron hits him in stride for a 46 yard gain! We can't completely capitalize though, as a penalty negates a 3rd down pass for a score and we have to settle for three again. We hold Temple again up near midfield and get the ball back at our 15. We drive it down the field yet again before Hebron connects with Terrance Swartz again, this time from 11 yards out for the touchdown. We hold Temple to a 3 and out again, and it's a 56 yard punt that Terrance Swartz takes at our 31. He bobs and weaves as our blocking sets up perfectly as he takes it 69 yards for his 3rd touchdown of the day! We hold Temple again for a 3 and out so we take over at our 7 after another big punt to begin the 4th quarter. [i]Tech 30, Temple 3[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] The long field makes for a long drive as we eat up almost 6 minutes of clock before we get 3rd and 7 at the Temple 9, and Hebron snakes it across the middle of the field to Abdual Armour for the touchdown! We hold for another 3 and out, so we take over at our own 18 this time around. We drive it down to the Temple 18 where we stall out, and Moe Upshaw has his field goal blocked! Boy, it hasn't been a good day for Moe today. As our backup defenders head out to the field, they give up 3 big plays en route to allowing Temple's first touchdown of the game. Not nice for us, since they go for the onside kick and recover near midfield. We hold them off though, and take over in Temple territory with only a minute left. We pick up two first downs to overcome the time outs and seal the victory! [i]Tech 37, Temple 9[/i] With Stacy Kadela going down in that game, we could have issues. Luckily, it was only the kind of injury that would keep him out of the rest of the game, so he'll be ready for our game next week against Texas Tech. Our defense dominated all game again, and the touchdown was given up by our second team defense. Aaron Hebron did prove to be a more than adequate backup as the game progressed; he seemed to get into the flow of the game and did very well. We complete another year in Conference USA undefeated, and we have two more nonconference games left to go before we wrap up the season. Today was total domination by our defense as they earn their first shutout since I came to Tech over a year ago, and our offense rolled out the kind of points I've been expecting from them against this caliber of team all season long. We've got next week off before the Temple Owls come to Ruston and we head out to play Texas Tech on the last week of the regular season. [b]Total Yards 567-240 Passing 252-177 Rushing 315-63 TOP 36:50-23:13[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] A. Hebron 22-29, 224 yards, 3 TD E. Crecion 1-1, 17 S. Kadela 1-3, 11 yards [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 39-226 A. Armour 9-66 L. Dockery 3-13 A. Hebron 1-6 S. Kadela 1-5 [u]Receiving[/u] E. Ledbetter 3-71 J. Bernet 7-60 T. Swartz 6-57, 2 TD J. Massey 3-22 A. Armour 2-22, 1 TD F. Osika 1-17 M. Shields 2-3

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[b][u]Week Fifteen[/b][/u] It's our final game of the regular season, and when the polls came out on Monday, I was shocked to find us moved all the way up to number 2 in both polls and solidly in the number 2 spot in the BCS standings after an Auburn loss! If we win here today and at the Conference USA championship game, we very well could wrap up our first chance at a national championship since we won the Division II title in the 1970s! We're favored by 12 by the oddsmakers in Las vegas. It won't be easy as we're facing a 7-4 Texas Tech team that has had 2 weeks off. Senior Jim Tarver gets his starting job back and leads them onto the field with sophomore Kevin Brandon and freshman Antonio Redman as his go to receivers. Sophomore Grady Dearth has over 1200 yards rushing and won't be easy to stop running behind a solid, veteran line. On defense, DE Ndami Saimes leads them with 7 sacks, and SS Hopalong Breaux is the defensive quarterback from the strong safety position. [u]First Quarter[/u] We start out with the ball to begin the game, and we head down the field into Texas Tech territory, but Jashon Massey fumbles, and they pick it up. 3 and out for Texas Tech, and we move into position and Moe Upshaw hits a field goal for us from 37 yards out. Texas Tech moves into our territory after a good kickoff return, but we hold them and they tie the game with a 45 yard field goal. We move into Texas Tech territory again, but we stall out and Ickey Angulo pins them at their 4. 3 and out, and they punt to us to start the 2nd quarter. [i]Louisiana Tech 3, Texas Tech 3[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We start just on our side of midfield, but we go stagnant as Jashon Massey gets stacked up on a 4th and inches at the 43. We hold them though just after they get into our territory, and we take over at our 23. 3 and out for us, and a poor punt by Angulo this time puts them at their own 46. We hold though, and take over at our 14 after the punt. We can't keep it moving though, and we punt back and they take over at their 41 after a good return. We stop them on 4th and inches at our 38 with a minute left, and we move into field goal range, as Moe Upshaw connects from 49 as time runs out on the first half. [i]Louisiana Tech 6, Texas Tech 3[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] 3 and out to start the half for Texas Tech, and a huge punt gets downed at our 6. We can't get a first down, and a decent punt still sets them up at their own 49. 2 plays later, a swing pass to Dearth breaks loose and he goes 43 yards to score the first touchdown of the game. We move into Texas Tech territory, but we stall out yet again and Ickey Angulo punts it into the end zone. The Red Raiders knock our defense flat as they drive down the field and Dearth puts it in from a yard out to open up a 17-6 lead on us. Next play, Kadela hits Ernest Ledbetter, but a huge hit knocks it free and they pick it up at our 43. Luckily, we hold and they pooch punt it to our 12. Again, nothing for us as we punt to end the quarter. [i]Texas Tech 17, Louisiana Tech 6[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] We're not out of this game by a long shot, and I tell my defense to toe it up out there. Laurence Boydston, who has been quiet most of the year, takes this to heart as he picks off a pass that got batted by Kory Mauti, and the big defensive tackle rumbles 62 yards down the field for the touchdown! Kadela hooks up with Felipe Osika for the 2 point conversion, and we're down by only 3 now! Another good drive for Texas Tech though, and we're looking like we're going to break before Victor Cerqua nails the fullback and makes him cough it up, and Clayton Paige takes it back to the Texas Tech 42! Next play, Felipe Osika frees up on a deep post and catches the ball from Kadela for the touchdown to give us the lead by 4! Texas Tech moves the ball into our territory, but we hold them on a 3rd and long, forcing the punt to our 14. We pound it out to the Texas Tech 44, where I go for it on 4th down with 4:35 left, but Kadela's pass to Massey goes incomplete. Texas Tech gets to our 32, but an offensive pass interference takes them back for a 2nd and 25. Two incomplete passes, and we pick up a single first down to earn a hard fought victory [i]Louisiana Tech 21, Texas Tech 17[/i] Certainly not our best game, but we did just enough to secure the win. Our passing game was stagnant all game, but we knew it would be a battle since they had a good pass defense. We made the plays when it counted again, though, and finish another regular season undefeated! We go to face an 8-4 Marshall next week in the Conference USA title game, and then hopefully to play for a national title! [b]Total Yards 305-321 Passing 180-208 Rushing 125-113 TOP 27:32-32:28[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 12-26, 180 yards, 1 TD [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 29-127 A. Armour 3-12 E. Ledbetter 1-7 S. Kadela 5-1 [u]Receiving[/u] E. Ledbetter 5-82 F. Osika 2-49, 1 TD J. Bernet 4-38 A. Armour 1-11

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[b][u]2011 Louisiana Tech Player Awards[/b][/u] Louisiana Tech is proud to announce it's All-American and All-Conference USA performers! [b]Third Team All-American[/b] RB Jashon Massey [b]First Team Conference USA[/b] QB Stacy Kadela RB Jashon Massey WR JoJuan Bernet OT Joe Heller OG Shockmain Merriweather K Moe Upshaw DT Donovan Sirmon CB Lum Johns [b]Second Team Conference USA[/b] FB Abdual Armour WR Ernest Ledbetter TE Martin Shields DE Kory Mauti LB Mosi Cloud [b]Third Team Conference USA[/b] DT Laurence Boydston The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs would also like to announce that Stacy Kadela has been named Conference USA Freshman of the Year, and that Coach Kenneth Choate has been named Conference USA Coach of the Year! Congratulations to all of these players on their accomplishments this season.

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[b][u]Week 15 Top 10 Coaches Poll[/u][/b] 1. USC (11-0) 2. Louisiana Tech (12-0) 3. Miami (10-1) 4. Auburn (10-1) 5. Minnesota (9-2) 6. Oklahoma (10-2) 7. Texas (9-2) 8. Air Force (10-1) 9. Wisconsin (8-3) 10. Maryland (9-2) [b][u]Week 15 Top 10 Media Poll[/u][/b] 1. USC (11-0) 2. Louisiana Tech (12-0) 3. Auburn (10-1) 4. Miami (10-1) 5. Oklahoma (10-2) 6. Texas (9-2) 7. Minnesota (9-2) 8. Oregon State (8-3) 9. Georgia (8-3) 10. Syracuse (9-2)

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[b][u]2011 Conference USA Championship Game[/b][/u] Two seasons in Conference USA, and two seasons playing for the conference championship! If we win this one, we'll be assured of playing in a BCS bowl game, if not the national title game! We're playing an 8-4 Marshall for the first time this season, and they've been stellar at times this year. Junior QB J.C. Frisch was one of the best in the country this year, passing for over 3300 yards and 27 touchdowns. Junior Wali Flick and senior Marv Stacy are his go to guys, and their offensive line gives Frisch plenty of time to get it out to them. Their offensive weakness is the running game, as Mitch Powell, their leading rusher, only had 958 yards on the regular season. Defensively, we've seen better than them, but they are solid for the most part, with only a few weaknesses. Their line is only a decent line, so we should have some good running here today. It's going to be cold, wet, and nasty today, so a good running game is paramount to a victory today. [u]First Quarter[/u] Their offense starts on the field for the game, and watching our guys' breath freeze coming out of their mouths is a bit disconcerting, since we're a warm weather team. We hold Marshall to a 3 and out though, and we take over at our 31. 3 and out for us, and this may be the theme of the game. Ickey Angulo punts it away to the Marshall 19. 3 and out again for Marshall, and we take over at our own 46 this time. Yet again, another 3 and out, and Ickey Angulo pins them at their 8. Marshall does take it down the field this time, but we hold them at our 28 and they miss a 46 yard field goal. Not much again for us, and Angulo punts it down to their 6. Frisch takes a deep drop, and Mosi Cloud comes untouched up the middle and sacks him in the end zone for the first points of the game! [i]Tech 2, Marshall 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] We take the free kick to start the quarter, and 3 penalties kill us, especially a 15 yard unnecessary roughness call on Shockmain Merriweather that takes us out of field goal range, so we have to punt, this time to their 14. A nice pass across the middle to Flick is caught, but Mosi Cloud does it again as he forces the fumble, and Dean Huard jumps on it at the Marshall 28! We get down to the Marshall 2, and on 4th down we go for it and Kadela slips it through the defense to Martin Shields for the touchdown! Marshall heads down the field again, and they seem to be playing better than we are in the cold, and this time they convert the field goal. We move into Marshall territory, all the way to the one, but instead of pressing our luck again, Moe Upshaw kicks the field goal. Marshall gets into our territory with only a few seconds left, and Frisch completes a 34 yard pass near the end zone to RB Powell, but Lum Johns shoves him out of bounds at the 2 to end the half. [i]Tech 12, Marshall 3[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] Jake McGraw fumbles the opening kickoff of the second half, and they take over at our 13. Our defense holds fast again though, as we force the field goal to make it 12-6. 3 and out this time for us, and Marshall takes it at their 42. Frisch goes deep across the middle, and Dean Huard gets his second turnover of the day as he was deep covering the tight end and picks it off at our 26. We move the ball down to the Marshall 9, but we stall, and Moe Upshaw has his field goal blocked, and Marshall takes over at the 20. They take advantage, and they drive all the way down the field before Frisch tosses it to a backup receiver for an 11 yard touchdown to give them their first lead of the game. We can't move the ball much, and Angulo punts it away to end the quarter. [i]Marshall 13, Tech 12[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] Marshall moves down the field again on us all the way to our 6, but our defense bends but not breaks as Kory Mauti gets a fingertip on the field goal just enough to deflect it wide. We get a single first down, and Angulo punts it away yet again. An unnecessary roughness call now on Marshall on a 3rd and long makes it 4th and even longer as it's a short punt that Terrance Swartz returns 6 yards to the Marshall 44. We get into the red zone, but stall at the 13, and Moe Upshaw hits the 31 yard field goal to give us the lead back with 2 minutes to go! Marshall gets the ball back, and Frisch leads them down the field with several big plays, but We hold them at our 27, and they miss the field goal from 44 yards out! Stacy Kadela takes a knee to preserve our win, and our second straight Conference USA title! [i]Tech 15, Marshall 13[/i] It was ugly, it was brutal, and it was sloppy, but we pull it out in the end, and we had just enough offense to eke out the victory. It was our worst offensive showing of my tenure at Louisiana Tech, but nothing matters besides the fact that we won. Now it's time to wait until Monday to see if we get the call to go to New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl and the national title game. [b]Total Yards 269-380 Passing 161-341 Rushing 108-39 TOP 31:41-28:19[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 17-24, 161 yards, 1 TD [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 36-101 A. Armour 5-9 S. Kadela 4-3 [u]Receiving[/u] F. Osika 3-36 J. Massey 3-33 E. Ledbetter 3-27 M. Shields 4-26, 1 TD J. Bernet 2-26 T. Swartz 1-9 A. Armour 1-4

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[b][u]2011 NCAA Division I-A National Championship Game is Set[/b][/u] In a shocking turn of events for the 2011 season, the University of Southern California returns to the national title game for the first time since 2005 when they played the Texas Longhorns. Their opponent this year is another team from the south, but perhaps the most unlikely of teams. Unranked at the beginning of the season, the Conference USA champions, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs will be on the opposite side of the ball from the Trojans from USC. Offensive coordinator for the Bulldogs Barron Porcher is a former assistant coach for the Trojans and coordinator for the Cal Golden Bears, and has a first hand knowledge of the Trojans. Coach Kenneth Choate of the Bulldogs said, "It's an honor to be the first mid-major school from a non-BCS conference to be competing for the national championship. We look to have a very competitive game, and with some breaks our way, we could be bringing home the trophy." Head Coach Ray Flanagan of USC: "The Bulldogs had a great season this year, and were good enough to play for the national title last year. It'll be a tough game, but we're confident that we will prevail." New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl will be the site of this year's national title game, only 5 hours from the campus of Louisiana Tech, and all of the Bulldogs tickets were gone in less than 5 minutes for this extended home game.

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[b][u]Sugar Bowl[/b][/u] We come into today's game as the first ever non-BCS school to get a shot at the national title. Our work will be cut out for us as we're facing a tough Southern California team that has gone undefeated and has been the #1 team in the nation for the past several weeks. True freshmen Dwyane Whitehurst and Eagle O'Neil have shared starting quarterback duties this season, but Whitehurst is going to start today against us. Another true freshman, Jumbo Beebe is their top tailback, with senior Daylon Coady, frosh Deacon Middleton and another true freshman Aveion Winfield as their top receivers. Defensively, they are extremely solid all the way around, with an outstanding secondary that has shut opposing quarterbacks down almost all season. [u]First Quarter[/u] We take the opening kickoff after losing the toss, and Jashon Massey reels off 14, then a pair of passes from Stacy Kadela to Ernest Ledbetter lead to gains of 24 and a 36 yard touchdown with barely a minute off the clock! What a way to start the game. We force a USC punt, but stall on our side of midfield and punt it back. We hold again, and take over at our 21 after a nice punt from USC. 3 and out, and Ickey Angulo booms a 51 yarder to the USC 22. Whitehurst leads his troops down the field into our territory before the clock ends the first quarter. [i]Tech 7, USC 0[/i] [u]Second Quarter[/u] Whitehurst and company finally get stopped by our defense and we force a field goal. Nothing doing for us as we punt after 3 downs, but our defense goes likewise on the USC offense. We move out to our 40 before punting again, and once again they punt after 3 and out with a booming shot. Nothing for us yet again, and Whitehurst turns on the offense and drives down before hitting his fourth wide out with a 4 yard touchdown strike. We get the ball back with a few seconds left, but Kadela gets hit as he's throwing and gets picked, which USC turns into a field goal as the half ends. [i]USC 13, Tech 7[/i] [u]Third Quarter[/u] We force a 3 and out for USC's first drive of the half, but we return in kind and they take back over. We force another punt, and yet again we can't get anything going as they take over at our 45 after a nice return. We hold after a first down, but they get a long field goal to make it a two possesion game. We drive right down the field with a good mix of run and pass though before getting 4th and goal at the 3, when Kadela pulls out a 3 yarder on play action to JoJuan Bernet for the score! USC gets moving down the field again and into our territory as the quarter expires. [i]USC 16, Tech 14[/i] [u]Fourth Quarter[/u] Our defense can't hold as Beebe takes us 6 yards for a score, but backup tight end Kris Blades comes up with a huge block of the extra point, keeping it potentially a one possession game. We take over at the USC 49 after a piling on penalty, but we squander it and go for it on 4th down at their 45 and can't convert. Whitehurst leads his team down the field again, but Saint Benson picks the ball off just shy of the endzone and we take over at our 5! We move all the way to the USC 4 with only 2:49 left on 4th down, and with the way our offense has been mostly stagnant, I go for it again and we come up just short. We hold USC again on 3 and out, and take over with 1:49 left. It's Stacy Kadela's time to shine as he pulls out the 2 minute drill and marches us down the field before hitting JoJuan Bernet again for the score! We go for two, and Abdual Armour gets knocked out of bounds before crossing the goal line. Our onside kick attempt fails, and Whitehurst kneels down, giving USC the win and the national title! [i]USC 22, Tech 20[/i] I blame myself for this loss, as our guys played their hearts out. I made two blunders with going for it on 4th down, as I didn't have faith in my offense at the time. Kadela was brilliant, even in a losing effort that didn't yield much in the way of yardage, and hopefully our guys will stay in school for a run next season. After the game, I can see the dejection on the faces of my guys, and I tell them that we accomplished every goal we set for the season and more besides that. We came in as the underdogs by 15 points today, and we made it a 2 point game, taking it to the wire, and I point out that no other non-BCS team has ever gone to the national title game before. For the guys leaving, I hand out game balls, and a very special ball to Kadela, who's leadership kept us in the game. It'll be fun next year, but I wish that my first loss in Division I-A hadn't been in the national title game. [b]Total Yards 328-331 Passing 205-186 Rushing 145-123 TOP 27:00-33:03[/b] [b]Tech Stats[/b] [u]Passing[/u] S. Kadela 16-37, 205 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT [u]Rushing[/u] J. Massey 23-113 S. Kadela 4-11 A. Armour 1-0 [u]Receiving[/u] E. Ledbetter 6-104, 1 TD J. Bernet 7-61, 2 TD M. Shields 1-35 J. Massey 2-5

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[b][u]2011 Bowl Recap[/b][/u] [u]Bowl Week One[/u] Las Vegas Bowl - Air Force 45, Washington State 12 Motor City Bowl - Northern Illinois 29, Illinois 17 [b]GMAC Bowl - Ohio 33, Memphis 19[/b] Poinsetta Bowl - Louisville 45, TCU 19 Fort Worth Bowl - Kansas State 24, Miami (OH) 10 [b]Hawaii Bowl - Hawaii 37, East Carolina 10[/b] New Orleans Bowl - Nevada 28, Louisiana-Monroe 20 Champs Sports Bowl - Virginia Tech 31, UCLA 24 [u]Bowl Week Two[/u] Peach Bowl - Arkansas 38, Clemson 35 Holiday Bowl - Nebraska 19, Oregon State 17 Alamo Bowl - Penn State 23, Colorado 17 Sun Bowl - Iowa 24, Oregon 21 [b]Liberty Bowl - Marshall 24, Bowling Green 21[/b] Independence Bowl - Texas A&M 44, NC State 37 Houston Bowl - Texas Tech 34, Kent State 26 Music City Bowl - Purdue 45, Vanderbilt 6 Emerald Bowl - Stanford 26, Colorado State 19 MPC Computers Bowl - Boise State 30, North Carolina 17 Insight Bowl - Pittsburgh 20, Washington 6 Meineke Car Care Bowl - Florida State 30, Syracuse 14 [u]Bowl Week Three[/u] Capital One Bowl - Minnesota 41, Alabama 27 Cotton Bowl Classic - Oklahoma 33, Tennessee 14 Outback Bowl - Michigan State 28, Kentucky 10 Gator Bowl - Maryland 32, Notre Dame 20 [u]Championship Bowl Week[/u] Orange Bowl - Auburn 33, Miami 29 Rose Bowl - Wisconsin 26, Georgia 9 Fiesta Bowl - Texas 34, West Virgina 22 [b]Sugar Bowl (National Championship) - USC 22, Louisiana Tech 20[/b]

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[b][u][i]2011 Final Top 25 Polls[/u][/b][/i] [b][u]Final Top 25 Coaches Poll[/u][/b] 1. USC 12-0 [b] 2. Louisiana Tech 13-1[/b] 3. Texas 11-2 4. Auburn 11-2 5. Miami 11-2 6. Oklahoma 11-2 7. Minnesota 10-2 8. Air Force 11-1 9. Wisconsin 9-3 10. Oregon State 8-4 11. Oregon 8-4 12. Nebraska 10-3 13. Syracuse 9-3 14. Maryland 10-3 15. Penn State 9-3 16. Clemson 8-5 17. Colorado State 10-3 18. Iowa 8-4 19. Boise State 11-1 20. Purdue 8-4 21. Kentucky 7-5 22. Alabama 8-4 23. Florida State 8-4 24. Georgia 9-4 25. Michigan State 8-4 [b][u]Final Top 25 Media Poll[/u][/b] 1. USC 12-0 [b] 2. Louisiana Tech 13-1[/b] 3. Texas 11-2 4. Auburn 11-2 5. Miami 11-2 6. Oklahoma 11-2 7. Minnesota 10-2 8. Air Force 11-1 9. Nebraska 10-3 10. Boise State 11-1 11. Maryland 10-3 12. Wisconsin 9-3 13. Purdue 8-4 14. Michigan State 8-4 15. Syracuse 9-3 16. Clemson 8-5 17. Penn State 9-3 18. Colorado State 10-3 19. Iowa 8-4 20. Oregon 8-4 21. Alabama 8-4 22. Oregon State 8-4 23. Georgia 9-4 24. Texas A&M 7-5 25. Arkansa 7-5 What a season, to end up ranked #2 in both polls after beginning the season unranked. Hopefully, this will translate into some great transfers and recruits coming home to Ruston, and more success in the future.

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[u][b]Coach Choate's Thoughts on the Upcoming Season (2012)[/u][/b] We win the Conference USA championship for the second season in a row, but come up just short in capturing the national title. Our supporters were all ecstatic here again, so my future here is secure for another season. All of my assistants are staying, but now begs the question, am I staying? I get calls from Central Michigan, Northwestern, and Michigan State, and those were fairly easy to say no to since I don't want to live in cold weather. Unfortunately, I get another two calls from SEC schools, from Tennessee and Georgia respectively. I have to sit on those calls for a couple of days before deciding that ultimately, I want to stay here at Louisiana Tech unless the coaching job at LSU comes open, and even then, if I have a nice dynasty rolling here, I may stick around. I get the news from a couple of my guys that they're considering heading to the pros. No surprise that Jashon Massey is considering it, especially since he put up over 2000 yards last season, but JoJuan Bernet, Laurence Boydston, and Lum Johns are also thinking of declaring. I talk to each of these four guys, and I think that aside from Massey, the others are really more for staying. If Boydston leaves though, we have Darwin Craft available this year to take up the slack.

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[b][u]Transfer Summary[/b][/u] Not as many players are interested in transferring here as there were last year, but we do have some certain guys we're going after. [u]Week One[/u] Vilnis Humphries, our backup strong safety, decides that he's done with us and heads out west to New Mexico State. I bid him farewell and to have fun losing. None of the 6 players we targeted come to Ruston [u]Week Two[/u] With a week left in transfer bidding, we're out of the running as the last guy interested in our program has transferred somewhere else. Since we don't have too many scholarships available this year, we should be okay. [u]Week Three[/u] Of course, last week was our last week in transfers, so I took the week and started planning our recruiting visits.

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[b][u]Weeks One thru Five of Recruiting[/b][/u] [u]Week One[/u] Scouting week for week one, and there are some very good players that we're going after. Inside backer Spec Kowalczyk and outside backers Buck Clayton and Ladarius Petties are all very interested in joining the Dawgs this year. Kowalczyk is the number one rated inside linebacker in the nation, where Clayton and Petties are the number 3 and 4 outside linebackers in the nation. [u]Week Two[/u] Not surprising, no signings to begin with. There are some good feelings for some great players that can contribute immediately. [u]Week Three[/u] Andrew Obee, the number 3 overall player in this years recruiting class, wants to visit our campus, and we're more than happy to oblige. Clayton and Kowalczyk are also coming to town, so there's a lot to do this week. [u]Week Four[/u] Only one big loss this week, but it's Kowalzyk going to LSU. RJ Kitna, a nice safety prospect, decided to stay at home and go to Alabama. Another big outside backer in Guido Bartee is coming to town this week, along with some other good defensive players. [u]Week Five[/u] Last year we landed four pretty good players in this signing week last year, but no one this week. Andrew Obee is our second player we had targeted that heads to LSU, and corner Thom Gothard also heads to Baton Rouge. I'm genuinely concerned that our signing class is in trouble this year.

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[b][u]Weeks Six thru Ten of Recruiting[/b][/u] [u]Week Six[/u] Again, we're shut out, and I get visit a visit from Jashon Massey and Lum Johns together, telling me that they're headed to the pros. I wonder if I made a mistake not going to Tennessee or Georgia, but I look back at our team roster and figure that I've got another good year ahead of us next year that I can probably head somewhere else next year. [u]Week Seven[/u] Our first signings happen this week, whereas last year we had signed over 10 players. Wide receiver Allen Clarke and CB Twan Markham both head to Ruston, and while they're going to be good additons, I'm still disappointed that no one else has come in. [u]Week Eight[/u] Jackpot! 4 players this week, and all of them were ranked in the top 50 players in the country. Two strong safties in Latorio Marconi and Stacy Ciruciu, defensive end Morlon Butkus, and guard Jovon Van Wagner are all top notch recruits! Maybe with the higher rated players we have to wait longer than with the recruits we've been targeting in the past. Unfortunately, Petties and Clayton go elsewhere, and two good running backs go somwhere else as well. Luckily, we have Linzy Dockery and Curley Dial to take up the slack left by Jashon Massey. [u]Week Nine[/u] Three more into the fold, and while not the blockbusters of last week, we get our starting center the next two years in juco transfer Daniel Roman, solid third receiver in Luis Tinoisamoa and a good inside linebacker in Roger Nomellini. One last scholarship remaining, and we're targeting a good running back. [u]Week Ten[/u] Our last scholarship gets filled as Jerramy Frederick comes from Georgia to Louisiana Tech. We snatched him from under the noses of Georgia and Florida, and we're ready to go. [b][u]National Signing Day[/u][/b] An outstanding recruitng class in my opinion, since we had only 10 scholarships to hand out. According to the stat sheets, we signed seven 4 star recruits and three 3 star recruits. We battled and won on a couple of occasions with LSU, but they got the better of us as they landed 3 of the 5 5-star recruits that we had targeted, with Tennesse and Michigan landing the other two. We should get a much better grade than 52nd, which was where our class was last year.

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[U][B]Coach Choate breaks down the offense[/B] [/U] After last season with Browning Hipp and J.T. Kilroy, I got a bit spoiled with how well the offense clicked. This year should be pretty solid though, as we had some guys that had breakthrough spring practices [U]Quarterback[/U] Stacy Kadela returns as the starter, and he's better than we really thought he was. Errict Crecion is again his backup, as Aaron Hebron is just as good as the third quarterback. [I]Starter - Stacy Kadela, 3.0/3.5[/I] [U]Running Back[/U] Last year's main backup running back Linzy Dockery is coming in as the starter, as Curley Dial is again the backup. Desmond Anderson, Monte McCoo, and Ross Sherman will all battle for the third spot. [I]Starter - Linzy Dockery, 3.5/4.5[/I] [U]Fullback[/U] Abdual Armour returns for his third year as a starter, with Tremain Sawyer and Curt Parilli as his backups [I]Starter - Abdual Armour, 3.5/4.0[/I] [U]Wide Receiver[/U] Junior JoJuan Bernet is back after contemplating going to the pros, and Terrance Swartz will start opposite of him. Felipe Osika is the clear cut third receiver, with Jake McGraw and juco signee Luis Tinoisamo as the fourth receivers. [I]Starters - JoJuan Bernet 4.0/4.0 / Terrance Swartz 3.5/4.0[/I] [U]Tight End[/U] Martin Shields is the top tight end, with Kris Blades again the number two. With our depth here, I talk Rip Marconi into taking a redshirt this year and let Hanik Ferguson in as the third in goalline situations. [I]Starter - Martin Shields, 4.0/4.0[/I] [U]Offensive Line[/U] Joe Heller and Harris Redman return as the starting tackles, along with Shockmain Merriweather and Tre Fitzgerald returning at the guards. Juco transfter Daniel Roman will start at at center.

[kennywanchizoate]

[U][B]Coach Choate breaks down the defense[/B] [/U] Kory Mauti and Lum Johns and a couple of other guys are gone from the number three defense in the nation, but we have some hard hitters and fundamentally sound defenders. [U]Defensive End[/U] Donovan Sirmon is back, and sophomore Darwin Craft goes to fill the shoes of Kory Mauti, with Brody Bratzke and Tra Wonsley for quality backups. [I]Starters - Donovan Simon 3.5/3.5 / Darwin Craft 3.5/4.0[/I] [U]Defensive Tackle[/U] Laurence Boydston and Teag Bannan return to start, as Victor Cerqua is the main backup. Things could get interesting if anyone gets hurt here. [I]Starters - Laurence Boydston 4.5/4.5 / Teag Bannan 3.5/4.0[/I] [U]Outside Linebacker[/U] Gordon Erlandson is back here, along with Ruben Matson as his opposite. Nyle Tinker and Thad Mili are the backups. [I]Starters - Gordon Erlandson 3.5/4.0 / Ruben Matson 3.5/4.0[/I] [U]Inside Linebacker[/U] With our depth at defensive back, we're going to play more of a 4-2-5 this season, rather than a 4-4 or 4-3. Senior Luke Myles will be the starter when we have an inside backer in the game, with Nicky Berlin and Denero Masters as the backups. [I]Starters - Luke Myles 3.5/4.0[/I] [U]Cornerback[/U] With Lum Johns gone, Kenoy Alderman is our main corner, with Jim Horner as the other corner. Royce Pinder and Shane Fenny at backup [I]Starters - Kenoy Alderman 3.5/4.0 / Jim Horner 2.5/4.0[/I] [U]Safety[/U] Ken-Yon Rome steps into the starting role at free safety, with Montrae Martinez at strong safety. Juco transfter Stacy Ciurciu will be the 5th man in the defensive backfield, with Latorio Marconi and Donnie Gurley as the backups. [I]Starters - Ken-Yon Rome 3.0/4.0 / Montrae Martinez 4.0/4.5[/i]

[kennywanchizoate]

[U][B]Coach Choate breaks down the special teams[/B] [/U] Moe Upshaw and Ickey Angulo are back for their senior seasons, but with our backup kicker in Cleo Darche being a senior and backup punter J.C. Nedney a junior, we're going to have to get both positions next season. Terrance Swartz is back again to return punts, and he's a bit better than last season, as we worked all season on it last year, and to return kicks we have Jake McGraw and Curley Dial [I]Starters Kicker - Moe Upshaw 4.0/4.0 Punter - Ickey Angulo 3.0/3.0 Kick Returners - Jake McGraw (91) and Curley Dial (77) Punt Returner - Terrance Swartz (93)[/I]

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[b][u]Scheduling[/b][/u] After last year's grueling 12 game schedule and Conference USA title game had us worn out to the point where I think we may have just been too tired to finish the national title game, so we're playing 11 games this year. We go out to play Air Force to open, and then home for Temple before starting our Conference USA schedule. We round out the season in week 14 with a renewing of the Bone Bowl against Fresno State in Ruston Week Opponent 1 at Air Force 2 Temple 3 OPEN 4 at Tulane 5 at Marshall 6 UTEP 7 Southern Miss 8 At Central Florida 9 Tulsa 10 at Houston 11 OPEN 12 Rice 13 OPEN 14 Fresno State 15 OPEN