Busy Saturday for Louisiana Tech with scrimmage, fan day

LA Tech Football Practice Report: Saturday, Aug. 18

RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech football team experienced a full day of action on Saturday beginning with a scrimmage in the morning and followed by the annual fan fest inside the Thomas Assembly Center in the afternoon.

The Bulldogs began the day by holding the team’s second scrimmage of fall camp inside Joe Aillet Stadium as fans looked on to get a glimpse of the 2018 team. With exactly two weeks until the season kicks off at South Alabama, the offense and defense faced off against each other for two hours, running approximately 120 plays over the course of the morning.

“This morning we had really our first big scrimmage where we got a good evaluation of where some of these guys are,” head coach Skip Holtz said. “We had conference officials in here to see where we are from a penalty standpoint and get a little better evaluation of where some of these young guys are at. I liked the effort and attitude throughout. One thing that showed up is that some of these young guys are a long way away. Coaches have been in practice instructing guys and helping them along, and this was the first real scrimmage situation where the bright lights are on. People were in the stands, guys’ eyes got big, and we couldn’t make the routine play. We struggled up from on the offensive line. We’ve got a couple injuries up there, and that gave guys like Willie Allen and a couple of the freshman an opportunity and a lot of reps in a critical situation.

“What we learned is that we aren’t there yet. We aren’t where we need to be quite yet. There were a few plays on both sides of the ball that I thought were positive, but overall the biggest thing I took out of the scrimmage is that we have to get better up front. I thought throughout the course of 120 plays that we tackled pretty well. We hung on to the football pretty decently; we just have to clean some things up. We’re still two weeks away and it shows. I’m glad this wasn’t the opening game, but this does give us a really good indication of where we are and the things that we need to do moving forward.”

Highlights on offense included a 40-yard touchdown connection between Westin Elliott and Jake Norris and a 30-plus yard pass from J’Mar Smith to Alfred Smith, who made a defender miss for a big gain. On the ground, newcomer Justin Henderson had a pair of rushing touchdowns during the scrimmage.

Defensively, true freshman Xavier Lodge hauled in the lone interception on the day for the Bulldog defense, while veteran Jaylon Ferguson forced plenty of pressure from the corner by registering three sacks on Saturday morning.

The kicking game was solid on Saturday for the Bulldogs with transfer Bailey Hale connecting on four field goals in five attempts, including hitting a 47-yarder on the morning.

“We will come back and watch film on Sunday and then go back to the drawing board on Monday and evaluate what we need to get fixed heading into the last week of camp before we enter game week,” Holtz said following the team’s second scrimmage.

Following the two-hour scrimmage in the stadium, the Bulldogs switched gears and headed over to the Thomas Assembly Center to mingle, sign autographs and show their appreciation at the team’s annual fan fest, which also featured an appearance by LA Tech’s soccer team.

“We also had the chance to come over here to Fan Fest today, which is always a great opportunity for us to mingle with the fan base in the TAC,” Holtz said. “I know this is always something the players look forward to. As soon as they get over here and start mingling with the people and seeing the smiles and excitement for the season, it really puts everyone in a positive mood.”

The Bulldogs will take Sunday off for before the team regroups for the start of a new week on Monday morning.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Bulldogs play five home games this year, including the home opener on Sept. 8 against Southern when the University will celebrate the first 50 years of Joe Aillet Stadium. Tech is one of only four programs in the country to win a bowl game in each of the last four years, joining Utah, Wisconsin and Georgia.

SEASON TICKETS

Season tickets and mini-plans for Bulldog football are still currently on sale and can be purchased by calling 318-257-3631 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. or by logging onto LATechSports.com/tickets.

For complete coverage of Bulldog Football, please follow Louisiana Tech on social media at @LATechFB (Twitter), /LATechFootball (Facebook) and @LATechFB (Instagram) or visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.