Louisiana Tech won the WAC championship last year with a 6-1 record. It was their first meeting title since 2001.
LA Tech ended 2011 with an overall mark of 8-5, with two of those defeats coming by 2 points or less and another coming in overtime.
Louisiana Tech is in an exceedingly favorable position considering league rivals Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii are now not in the conference. The Bulldogs are heavy favourites to win a second straight title and anything less would be a big discontent.
Offense
Louisiana Tech came fourth in the conference in scoring last years with 30.1 points/game. They came 6th in the conference in total offense with 394.6 yards/game.
Their stellar running attack was the main reason why their offense was so efficient. They rated third in the conference with 146.2 yards/game.
Team leading rusher Lennon Creer has departed and his 838 rushing yards will be felt. But sophomore Hunter Lee appears poised to take over and be the primary rusher. He had 650 rushing yards in 2011 and he will be essentially answerable for keeping defenses fair so that the passing game can flourish.
QB Colby Cameron stepped in halfway thru last season and tossed for 1,667 yards with 13 TDs and three interceptions. He's being relied upon to grow from his decent production last season and he'll have lots of opportunities to do it. He has 4 senior starting offensive linemen coming back and he should have masses of time to deliver the ball.
Quinton Patton will be Cameron's best target and he led the roster with 79 grabs for 1,202 yards and 11 touchdowns last year.
Defense
The defense actually stepped up big time last season and really over-matched the offense despite the offense's already robust season. It led the league in scoring defense with 23.2 points allowed per matchup and came third in total defense with 376.5 yards surrendered per game. The defense should pick up right where they left off in spite of only four starters returning from last year.
The Bulldogs were wonderful against the rush as they led the league with 127.4 rushing yards allowed per game last year. With defensive tackles Justin Ellis and Shakeil Lucas coming back, teams will think carefully before employing their running offense against the Bulldogs in 2012 also.
Joining Ellis and Lucas up front is defensive end IK Enemkpali, who tallied 7.5 tackles for loss in his sophomore campaign.
Junior Rufus Porter and senior Soloman Randle figure to snatch the attention as the 2 LBs in the Bulldog's 4-2-5 alignment.
Top returning tackler senior safety Jamel Johnson and Chad Boyd will anchor what should ideally be a very good secondary. Johnson had 88 stops last season.
WAC Prediction: 1st Place
A tough non-conference schedule forced LA Tech to a poor start as they began the year with 1-4 last season. They took on Southern Miss, Houston and Mississippi State and they could be in for another hard start to 2012 with a brutal schedule to start the season once again.
The Bulldogs open the season versus Texas A&M, Houston, Illinois and Virginia in its first month. Those four games figure to be their only stumbling block as they appear poised to win the rest of the way. The Bulldogs have a big opportunity against anybody in league play and their only tough opponent is Utah State, but they get the Aggies at home in 2012.
LA Tech ended 2011 with an overall mark of 8-5, with two of those defeats coming by 2 points or less and another coming in overtime.
Louisiana Tech is in an exceedingly favorable position considering league rivals Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii are now not in the conference. The Bulldogs are heavy favourites to win a second straight title and anything less would be a big discontent.
Offense
Louisiana Tech came fourth in the conference in scoring last years with 30.1 points/game. They came 6th in the conference in total offense with 394.6 yards/game.
Their stellar running attack was the main reason why their offense was so efficient. They rated third in the conference with 146.2 yards/game.
Team leading rusher Lennon Creer has departed and his 838 rushing yards will be felt. But sophomore Hunter Lee appears poised to take over and be the primary rusher. He had 650 rushing yards in 2011 and he will be essentially answerable for keeping defenses fair so that the passing game can flourish.
QB Colby Cameron stepped in halfway thru last season and tossed for 1,667 yards with 13 TDs and three interceptions. He's being relied upon to grow from his decent production last season and he'll have lots of opportunities to do it. He has 4 senior starting offensive linemen coming back and he should have masses of time to deliver the ball.
Quinton Patton will be Cameron's best target and he led the roster with 79 grabs for 1,202 yards and 11 touchdowns last year.
Defense
The defense actually stepped up big time last season and really over-matched the offense despite the offense's already robust season. It led the league in scoring defense with 23.2 points allowed per matchup and came third in total defense with 376.5 yards surrendered per game. The defense should pick up right where they left off in spite of only four starters returning from last year.
The Bulldogs were wonderful against the rush as they led the league with 127.4 rushing yards allowed per game last year. With defensive tackles Justin Ellis and Shakeil Lucas coming back, teams will think carefully before employing their running offense against the Bulldogs in 2012 also.
Joining Ellis and Lucas up front is defensive end IK Enemkpali, who tallied 7.5 tackles for loss in his sophomore campaign.
Junior Rufus Porter and senior Soloman Randle figure to snatch the attention as the 2 LBs in the Bulldog's 4-2-5 alignment.
Top returning tackler senior safety Jamel Johnson and Chad Boyd will anchor what should ideally be a very good secondary. Johnson had 88 stops last season.
WAC Prediction: 1st Place
A tough non-conference schedule forced LA Tech to a poor start as they began the year with 1-4 last season. They took on Southern Miss, Houston and Mississippi State and they could be in for another hard start to 2012 with a brutal schedule to start the season once again.
The Bulldogs open the season versus Texas A&M, Houston, Illinois and Virginia in its first month. Those four games figure to be their only stumbling block as they appear poised to win the rest of the way. The Bulldogs have a big opportunity against anybody in league play and their only tough opponent is Utah State, but they get the Aggies at home in 2012.