Frisco Bowl

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (6-6, 4-4 C-USA) vs. SMU Mustangs (7-5, 4-4 American Athletic)

Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas (20,500 capacity), Frisco is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area 

7 PM CT

ESPN

Mike Couzens John Congemi, Kris Budden

Stripes: Sun Belt, Ted Pitts, lead whistle

SMU by 4

Louisiana Tech

The Bulldogs, coached by Skip Holtz, lost to Mississippi State, 57-21, in week 2, South Carolina, 17-16, in week 4, and UAB, 23-22, in week 6. Their other losses came to Southern Miss, North Texas and Florida Atlantic, which played a heckuva game last night in the Boca Raton Bowl defeating Akron, 50-3. Lane Kiffin has it cookin’ in Boca Raton, and has many players returning including stud running back Devin Singletary and quarterback Jason Driskel. Both played spectacularly well last night and the FAU defense was equally fantastic. Kiff signed a 10 year extension with FAU yesterday that keeps him in Boca Raton through 2027. Interesting. I’d like to see that happen. He could take the Owls to some major heights. With the recruiting pool in Florida, there are super players to be had by every team in the state, Florida, FSU, Miami, Central Florida, South Florida, Florida Atlantic and Florida International. A lot of competition in the state, but that’s called recruiting. It’s as competitive as it gets and Kiffin sure did well for himself last night with that performance. He can start landing some higher rated guys now who want to play an exciting brand of football.  He can excel there. It will probably be hard to keep him if he has a lot of success, but we’ll see. Florida Atlantic opens the season in 2018 @ Oklahoma. 

LA Tech has been competitive in most games. They defeated Cure Bowl participant Western Kentucky, 23-22, on the road. Western Kentucky lost to Georgia State in their bowl. The Bulldogs also defeated Northwestern State, South Alabama, Rice, UTEP, and USTA- Texas-San Antonio.

The Bulldogs quarterback, J’mar Smith, has completed 214-of-386 passes, 55%, for 2,758 yards, 13 TDs and 5 interceptions. Running back Boston Scott has rushed for 937 yards on 163 carries, 5.7 average, and 8 TDs. He has also caught 20 passes for 181 yards and another TD. Jarred Craft has rushed for 516 yards on 111 carries, 4.6 average, with 3 TDs and has added 13 receptions for 74 yards and 2 TDs. The Bulldogs leading receiver is Teddy Veal who has caught 69 passes for 832 yards and 5 TDs. Rhashid Bonnette, has pulled in 32 passes for 576 yards and 2 TDs. On defense, linebacker Dae’Von Washington leads the team in tackles with 66. He also has 2 interceptions. Defensive end Jaylon Ferguson has posted 11 1/2 tackles for loss and 6 sacks. LA Tech has 16 interceptions on the season, which is tied for 12th nationally. Safety DeMarion King, safety Darryl Lewis, and corner Trey Spencer have each taken 1 back to the house. 

SMU

The Ponies have losses to TCU, 56-36, Houston, 35-22, Central Florida, 31-24, Navy, 43-40, and Memphis, 66-45. They really don’t have any quality victories. They defeated Camellia Bowl loser Arkansas State, which lost to Middle Tennessee on Saturday in Montgomery. The Ponies are led by quarterback Ben Hicks, who has completed 257-of-938 passes, 59%, for 3,442 yards, 32 TDs and 9 ints. His leading receivers are all world guys, Trey Quinn, who has caught 106 passes for 1,191 yards and 12 TDs, and potential high NFL draft choice Courtland Sutton, who has caught 62 passes for 1,017 yards and 12 TDs. Sutton has been double and sometimes triple covered this season, so that’s opened things up for Quinn. Sutton is supposed to be playing, haven’t read he’s sitting out for the draft, so he’s expected to play. The Mustangs leading rusher is Xavier Jones who’s rushed for 1,019 yards on the season and 9 TDs. Ke’Mon Freeman added 527 yards and 11 TDs.

On defense, safety Mikial Onu leads the team with 93 tackles. Defensive end Justin Lawler has 15 1/2 tackles for loss and linebacker-safety Kyran Mitchell has 14 1/2 tackles for loss. Cornerback Jordan Wyatt leads the defense with 4 interceptions. He’s taken 2 of them back to the house. 

Verdict

Chad Morris left SMU a couple of weeks ago to take the head coaching job at Arkansas. Morris will try to revive an SEC West program that has hit the skids lately. He’ll have his work cut out for him against S, Gus, and the others.

Sonny Dykes has taken over as head coach and WILL be the head coach tonight. The interesting thing about that, aside from him taking over tonight,  is that he was the head coach at LA Tech from 2010-2012 before leaving to become the head coach at Cal where he coached from 2013 until he was fired in 2016. He was an offensive analyst for TCU this past season. That makes this game really interesting. LA Tech was victorious in Fort Worth last year defeating Navy, 48-45, in the Armed Forces Bowl. I’ll take the Ponies, but in a thriller. 

SMU 45, LA Tech 40