| 90. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs |
| #5 in Conference USA |
Quick, who shares the current longest bowl winning streak, with five? Well, Wisconsin is one of the teams, and you probably guessed Louisiana Tech was the other, because it would be weird to stick that fact here otherwise. So while that’s the upside, the downside is that the reason for that is that Louisiana Tech is finding ways to lose games they shouldn’t, and winding up in bowls they shouldn’t be playing in. There is too much talent here, for this team to be just 9-7 in conference over the past two years. Ending 2018 with a home loss on Senior Day to a Western Kentucky team that was 2-9 overall, 1-6 in conference going into the game is just the latest example. They also can’t seem to get their offense and defense on the same page. In 2017 they had one of the best offenses in the conference, but a bottom half defense. Their defense vastly improved last year, thanks to a surprising performance from an inexperienced secondary, but their offense vastly underperformed. This year, the only question is the defensive line. That outstanding secondary returns four of their 5 starts, now dripping with experience, led by Amik Robertson, who might be the best cornerback in Conference USA. The offense is also loaded with talent and experience. If they play like they should be capable of, with the losses that UAB had this offseason, the Bulldogs home game against North Texas on November 9 could determine who wins the East Division. That starts with J’Mar Smith getting back to his 2017 form. The funny thing is that Smith didn’t exactly light the world on fire in his first year as starter, but it was loads better than he did in 2018, when his adjusted yards per attempt fell by a full yard, and his interceptions doubled. Teddy Veal graduates, but Louisiana Tech’s three other top 4 receivers return, and if Rhashid Bonnette can regain the form he showed earlier in his career, the group could actually be better in 2019 than they were with Veal in 2018. Veal, attracting more defensive attention saw his numbers drop last year, and Adrian Hardy was the beneficiary, going for 75 receptions, 1145 yards and 6 touchdowns. Now it’s Hardy who is the guy everyone is circling, and it’s on Bonnette and Utah transfer Alfred Smith to force them out of that. The running game needs to show improvement. While Louisiana Tech has a pass first reputation, last year was the first year since 2013 the Bulldogs didn’t produce a 1,000 yard rusher. Jaqwis Dancy averaged a fine 5.4 ypc, but only got 124 carries, which was most on the team, but over 60 carries fewer than any leading rusher for the program in at least a decade. That goes hand in hand with averaging over 4 passing attempts more per game, and late in the season it was over 10 more attempts per game than in 2017. Again, that may be who you think the Bulldogs are, but it isn’t who they have actually been, rising from #82 to #27 in the nation in pass attempts.
| KEY PLAYERS |
| QB | J'Mar Smith, Senior |
| RB | Jaqwis Dancy, Senior |
| WR | Adrian Hardy, Junior |
| . |
| LB | Collin Scott, Senior |
| CB | Amik Robertson, Junior |
| S | James Jackson, Senior |
| 89. Arkansas State Red Wolves |
| #5 in Sun Belt |
On one hand 2018 feels like a missed opportunity with a senior backfield that looked to be the best in the conference, and they wound up not even playing for a conference title. On the other hand, with the new divisional format of the Sun Belt, that plopped Appalachian State, Troy and Georgia Southern all in the East, leaving Arkansas State as the top program in the West, the Red Wolves might be the favorite every year to win the division until proven otherwise. That maybe even includes 2019 in spite of the graduation of both of said seniors, being Justice Hansen, who graduates as the second leading passer in school history; and Warren Wand, who graduates as the school’s second all time leading rusher. So why the positive vibes? Well, starting with running back, Wand was the second most prolific running back in school history, true, but he wasn’t actually even the team’s leading rusher last year, his 792 yards slotting in behind true freshman Marcel Murray. He was a late commit to the Red Wolves 2018 class, and made an immediate impact. Blake Anderson was able to nearly exactly split the carries between the two a year ago, 11.8 and 10.6, so with Armond Weh-Weh, who was third in carries, also graduated, the only remaining question is whether Murray can handle the additional work. As good as he was, there is absolutely zero experience behind him. Alex Roberts, and his 6 carries for 22 yards slots in next. The defense should be substantially better up front, with only one graduation in the front 6 in their 4-2-5. It will be interesting to see who Anderson finds on the JUCO circuit as well. Arkansas State’s 2018 class was rated tops in the conference, bolstered by some late JUCO additions, who did not disappoint. Both Forrest Merrill and Jerry Jacobs, not on the team in the spring, worked their way not just into the starting lineup, but onto the all-conference teams. There are 10 JUCOs as part of the 2019 class, including a pair of potential big time receivers in Eugene Minter and Kevin Howard, the later of which had Power 5 offers out of high school. The most interesting JUCO addition though might be massive offensive guard Ivory Scott from Pearl River Community College, checking in at 345 pounds, and one of the top 10 JUCO offensive linemen in this class. He’s listed as a guard most places, but can play tackle as well. So overall, I like this roster, but while the pipeline at quarterback has been solid for a decade now, it’s still too much of a question mark to pick them as division champions. It might look more like the Fredi Knighten offense from Anderson’s first couple years as head coach, assuming its Logan Bonner who wins the job, more of a running threat than a passing one.
| KEY PLAYERS |
| RB | Marcel Murray, Sophomore |
| WR | Kirk Merritt, Senior |
| TE | Javonis Isaac, Junior |
| . |
| DE | William Bradley-King, Junior |
| DT | Forrest Merrill, Senior |
| CB | Jerry Jacobs, Junior |
