Oct. 23, 2015 RUSTON, La. - Two of the better quarterbacks in the conference and in the country will take the field Saturday at Joe Aillet Stadium when Louisiana Tech hosts Middle Tennessee.
LA Tech's
Jeff Driskel and Middle Tennessee's Brent Stockstill are both ranked in the top 20 nationally in passing yards per game and will face each other in Saturday afternoon's game in Ruston that will be televised live on the American Sports Network (ASN). Jeff McCarragher (play-by-play), Michael Young (analyst) and Monica McNutt (sideline) will call the action.
The game marks the first meeting between the two teams since the turn of the century. The Blue Raiders claimed their only win in the series history that year, a 49-21 decision in Murfreesboro.
But a different story unfolded the last time the two teams met in Ruston. That year former Bulldog quarterback and current assistant coach Tim Rattay threw for 406 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-for-56 performance in a 1999 win over Middle Tennessee.
In both of those games, offense was the highlight and that could be the story again Saturday as LA Tech enters the week ranked 22nd in the nation in total offense and 26th in scoring offense while Middle Tennessee brings an offense ranked 39th overall and 22nd in scoring.
LA Tech will face an up-tempo offense when the Blue Raiders come to town led by a quarterback well known by Bulldog head coach Skip Holtz. Stockstill, son of Middle Tennessee head coach Rick Stockstill, has known the Holtz family for most of his life.
"I've been around coach Holtz and his family for a long time," Brent told The News-Star this week. "He's a great man with a great family. He took good care of me for a long time and I'm looking forward to this game."
Holtz and the elder Stockstill have known since Holtz was a graduate assistant at Florida State and Stockstill, having recently graduated from Florida State as the Seminoles' quarterback, had accepted a coaching position at Central Florida. The two served on the same staff at South Carolina in 2004.
"I have known Coach Skip Holtz for a long time and he is a heck of a coach," Rick Stockstill said of Tech's head coach. "He is a great person, great man and really good friend. He has done a really good job down there at LA Tech and I know he has got a really good team that he is proud of.
KXKZ 107.5 FM will serve as the flagship station for the LA Tech Sports Network for the 17th straight year as the 100,000-watt station will carry all of the Bulldog football games in 2015. Additional affiliates carrying Bulldog Football games this fall on the LA Tech Sports Network include WUBR-AM 910 (Baton Rouge/Zachary), KJVC-FM 92.7 (Shreveport/Mansfield), KTKC-FM 92.9 (Shreveport/Spring Hill), KRMD-AM 1340 and KRMD-FM 100.7 (Shreveport), KVCL-FM 92.1 (Winnfield) and KDBS-AM ESPN Radio 1410 (Alexandria/Pineville).
All Bulldog football games can also be accessed online (audio for all games) by purchasing a subscription to LA Tech All-Access on LATechSports.com. Cost of a subscription to LA Tech All-Access is only $9.95 per month or $79.95 for the entire year (which includes all live broadcasts for all of Tech's athletic teams).
Fans can also choose to purchase the C-USA Digital Network subscription for $14.95 per month or $119.95 per year, which includes all of the above content as well as audio and video for all road C-USA games along with additional video content throughout the year.
This fall, all of the Tech football broadcasts can be heard on the LA Tech Sports Network as Dave Nitz, Teddy Allen, Thomas Graham, Malcolm Butler and Bennie Thornell comprise the broadcast team. Nitz -- one of the longest-tenured broadcasters in college football -- is entering his 41st year of broadcasting Bulldog Football games.
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.
