Oct. 28, 2011

RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech returns home for the team's annual Homecoming game Saturday as the Bulldogs (3-4, 2-1 Western Athletic) host San Jose State (3-4, 2-1) with a 3 p.m. kickoff set at Joe Aillet Stadium.

Tech's Homecoming game is expected to have another great crowed at Joe Aillet Stadium Saturday, which has already seen two of the top 10 crowds in its history enter the gates this season. Tech has averaged 23,497 fans in its three home games to date and has a chance to record four consecutive home games with over 20,000 in attendance for the first time in school history. While Saturday's game will not be televised, live video/audio can be found on LA Tech All-Access at www.LATechSports.com.

Saturday's game marks the 83rd Homecoming game for Louisiana Tech and the Bulldogs have a 60-20-2 record in past Homecoming games, including winning the last four contests. Louisiana Tech is 7-3 in Homecoming games since joining the WAC but the program has never hosted a team from California for the annual event.

Overall, LA Tech leads the all-time series against San Jose State, 6-4. Tech has a four-game winning streak in the series and has not lost a game to the Spartans in Ruston since the two teams joined the Western Athletic Conference.

Louisiana Tech's starting quarterback will likely be a game-time decision with Nick Isham sustaining a shoulder injury in last week's 24-17 win at Utah State. Colby Cameron replaced Isham late in the third quarter and led the Bulldogs on a fourth-quarter scoring drive that but Tech up for good.

Isham did not practice Monday or Tuesday and saw limited reps in practice Wednesday. No matter what quarterback takes the field for Louisiana Tech Saturday, the Bulldogs will be facing a much-improved San Jose State team.

"The thing that stands out about them is that they play hard, make plays in the stretch and win close ballgames," Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Dykes said of the Spartans. "They've played well on both sides of the football and make plays late in the game. They play fundamental football and do the things they need to do to win the game; things like blocking kicks the way they did against Hawai'I. They've been a team that makes a big play when they need one, so again, it's a tribute to them and the growth of their program."

Despite bringing a two-game winning streak into this week's game, Tech knows it will have to perform better on the field than it has in the last few weeks to get a win.

"We are going to have to be better offensively," explained Dykes. "That is going to be very important to us; to be able to move the ball better than we have the last several weeks. We have to be able to generate big plays more than we have the last several weeks. We need to get the ball down the field more; our passing game is going to have to be important for us. It's the same as it has been every week; we have to be good on special teams, we have to be good on defense, better on tackles, get good reads and getting good positioning. The key for us the last couple of weeks has been winning the turnover battle. We have not turned the ball over ever since the Hawai'i game, no turnovers against Idaho or Utah State, and have taken good care of the football. When you play good defense, do not turn the ball over and have a punter that punts like ours, you can be pretty tough to beat."

While the offense has been hit-or-miss in the last few games, Tech's defense has been stellar, holding Idaho out of the end zone two games ago and keeping Utah State to only 5-for-16 on third down conversions last week.

Tech's defense ranks 12th in the nation in forcing third down attempts and of the top 15 schools in forcing third down attempts, Tech's defense has held its opponents to the second-lowest conversion percentage (29.66), behind only to Alabama (26.45).

The win at Utah State marked a pair of firsts for the program under Dykes. Tech won a game after trailing to start the fourth quarter for the first time since 2008 and also won a game as an underdog on the road for the first time in three years. Both figures show this year's team is improving on all aspects of the game.

San Jose State's top running back, Brandon Rutley, is currently ranked 32nd in the nation in rushing but Louisiana Tech's powerful run defense - ranked 24th in the nation - has held every opponent to below its average rushing totals in a game. Last week Utah State, ranked sixth in the nation in rushing and averaging over 270 yards per game on the ground, was held to just 166 yards rushing against the Bulldogs. Considering Tech has faced three teams ranked in the top 40 in rushing this year, that is quite an accolade.

Louisiana Tech's Achilles Heel this year has been penalties. The Bulldogs are eighth in the nation in most yards penalized with 511 yards flagged, averaging 73.0 yards per game.

The game can be heard statewide on the LA Tech Sports Network as Dave Nitz, Teddy Allen, Max Causey and Bennie Thornell will team up to provide all the live play-by-play, color commentary and more. The show will start with a one-hour pregame and will conclude with a 30-minute postgame.

For the 13th straight year, KXKZ 107.5 FM (Ruston) will serve as the flagship station for Bulldog football. Joining KXKZ on the network this year are KLKL 95.7 FM (Shreveport/Bossier City), KTKC 92.9 FM (Springhill), KJVC 92.7 FM (Mansfield), KVCL 92.1 FM (Winnfield), KBEF 104.5 FM (Minden), WUBR 910 AM (Baton Rouge, Zachary) and KTTP 1110 AM (Alexandria).

Throughout the year, Tech fans can also access the audio for away games and audio/video for home games by purchasing a subscription to LA Tech All-Access by logging onto www.latechsports.com.

For complete coverage of Bulldog Football, follow @LATechPWalsh on Twitter or visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.