Utah State? Utah State ML?!?! Please, please explain. Louisiana Tech has everything in the world to play for. They win this, they become bowl eligable for the first time in...forever? Not to mention, they've been playing lights out defensively lately (allowing 100 yards rushing/game and give up an average of 58 yards rushing/game at home - that's 2nd best in the NATION). Last season, LT beat Utah State by 10, at Utah State, and the Bulldogs are definitely an improved team this season. Situationally, it's a great spot for the Bulldogs.
On top of all that, Utah State has to travel all the way across the country for the second straight week, after getting thrashed and beat up by Boise State 14-49 last week. The Aggies are not a good football team...at all. Horrible spot for a team with little to play for at this point. Utah State has been outscored 79-216 on the road this year...and I see that scoring disparity trend continuing this week. In every road game this year when they've been held under 100 yards rushing, the Aggies have lost by 42, 23, 27 & 35 points. That does not bode well for Utah State at all.
Again, I'd love to hear your reasoning on this one.
GL on the rest bro.
:shake:
usu is awful. no question. and i actually like this la tech team and agree that they have improved. that being said, i don't see how in the world they're favored by 13. la tech's offense is putrid. utah state is a bad team, but they always find a way to score points.
that 100 yard state for usu is fine, but we're talking about oregon, sj state, nevada, and boise, all of which were a lot different matchups and all of which are significantly better (boise and oregon you have to just throw out imo -- huge talent gap) with the exception of sj state, and we can easily explain what happened in the sj state/la tech game. different situation and even personnel than when usu played em. i think you have to put latech on the same plane as unlv, hawaii, fresno -- or even below that plane. all three of these games usu played competitively. in 2 out of 3 of those games, they rushed for 130 and 140 yards...not a huge step up from 100.
are they bad on the road? yes, they're bad period. but i think relying on road stats here is a mistake. the road vs home level of competition has been just so much greater for usu.
latech is great vs the run, but there are definite holes against the pass imo. they are a different team home/away for sure, but i'd say they have two wins that are impressive. fresno, miss st. both teams are pretty much one dimensional running football teams. so is sj state without reed, who didn't start the game and when he played was ineffective because of a back injury. his replacement threw two picks, one returned for a td and one deep in their territory for 2 of the 3 tds. sj state's passing scheme is grossly flawed imo as well. the offensive production for la tech in that game is skewed because sjsu could only get i think 6 first downs -- entirely one dimensional.
any team that loses to army should not be laying 13 points to anyone. if you can lose to army, you can lose to anyone. i don't know how you can be "up" to play utah state. they have two more opportunities to get bowl eligible after this, and probably think they can just show up and get a win, and they're probably right.
i think utah state sees this as a winnable game to a team that has a shot at making a bowl..that's something to play for. they have another winnable game ahead as well so they could possibly win 3 out of their last 4 taking a big step for the program and momentum for next year for a lot of new faces that guy has brought in.
simply not 13 pts better imo. i put this line at 9.5
i'll have a little more on this one later, but wanted to give you a quick response to your post
