RUSTON, La. – The 93rd edition of Louisiana Tech's Homecoming celebration will take place this weekend as the Bulldogs host the UTEP Miners on Saturday, Oct. 20.
Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ for subscribers with Lyn Rollins (play-by-play), Butch Alsandor (analysis) and Madison Kaufman (sideline) calling all the action on Saturday night. Fans can also tune in to the radio broadcast on the LA Tech Sports Network on KXKZ-FM (107.5) or access audio from LA Tech's radio broadcast for free through the LA Tech Mobile X app or the Red Peach Media app.
"Our focus right now is on UTEP," head coach
Skip Holtz said earlier this week. "I think we learned some valuable lessons on how important it is to be consistent and prepare for each opponent. This is not a team to take lightly. They play extremely hard. They play extremely physical. They have really bought in to what they are doing as a football team right now. We know it is going to be a challenge as it is each and every week. We've just got to do what we have to do to get ready this week to go play the football game."
Holtz and the Bulldogs are coming off a 31-3 road win over UTSA and enter this week's Homecoming contest with a 4-2 overall record and 2-1 mark in Conference USA. LA Tech is 1-1 in home games this season. UTEP is led by first-year head coach Dana Dimel, while the Miners head to Ruston looking for its first win of the 2018 season after an 0-6 start.
Saturday's afternoon kickoff will mark the 15th meeting all-time between Louisiana Tech and UTEP with LA Tech holding an 11-2-1 advantage. The Bulldogs have won five straight meetings over the Miners and are 5-1 against UTEP in games played in Ruston. Last season, LA Tech traveled to El Paso and brought home a 42-21 win over UTEP late in the campaign.
PREGAME NOTES
- This Saturday will mark the program's 93rd annual Homecoming game as LA Tech enters the contest with a 67-23-2 all-time record on Homecoming. The Bulldogs have hosted UTEP on Homecoming once before in 2004 in a game the Miners won 44-27.
- Louisiana Tech quarterback J'Mar Smith is just 11 yards shy of cracking the top 10 in LA Tech history for career passing yards, while he is three touchdown passes away from tying for 10th all-time in program history for passing touchdowns (currently has 4,953 passing yards and 28 touchdown passes).
- The Bulldogs enter Saturday's C-USA home game versus UTEP a perfect 21-for-21 in the red zone. In six games, LA Tech has 15 touchdowns (7 rushing, 8 passing) and six field goals for a total of 122 points put on the board in the red zone this season.
- LA Tech's Jaylon Ferguson, who is the nation's active career leader in sacks (33.5), has recorded at least half a sack 22 times in 36 career starts. The senior defensive end needs just 4.5 sacks to tie the Louisiana Tech record for career sacks, while he needs four sacks to tie the C-USA career sack record.
GAME DAY CENTRAL
Promotions: Homecoming, Faculty & Staff Appreciation, Education Day, Class of '68 Reunion
Tickets: Season and single-game tickets for Bulldog football can be purchased through the Louisiana Tech Ticket Office located in the Thomas Assembly Center. Fans can call 318-257-3631, email TechTickets@latech.edu or stop by during business hours Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Fans can also buy tickets 24/7 by logging onto LATechSports.com/Tickets.
The ticket booths on both the east and west sides of Joe Aillet Stadium will open at 10:30 a.m. this Saturday. Gates to the stadium will open at 1 p.m.
Tech Trolley: The City of Ruston will once again offer the "Tech Trolley" service for all five of the Bulldogs home games at Joe Aillet Stadium. Using iShuttle Transportation Service, the "Tech Trolley" will run continuously from the Trolley Stop in Railroad Park on Vienna Street in downtown Ruston to the Davison Athletics Complex. Signage showing the pickup and drop-off locations will be available on game days. The "Tech Trolley" will begin running five hours prior to kickoff and will run up to one hour after the game ends.
The "Tech Trolley" is a quick easy way to avoid the game day hassle of parking and will take priority over all other traffic in route to Joe Aillet Stadium.
The "Tech Trolley" will begin running at 9:30 a.m. this Saturday and will run up to one hour after the game ends. Fans can download the iShuttle Corporate app and utilize the password
ruston to track the trolley in route.
Pregame Activities: One of the centerpieces of Loyal Blue Weekend is the Rock the Railroad series on Friday nights of home football weekends. This event will be held at Railroad Park in downtown Ruston and will start at 4 p.m. with the Homecoming Float competition and Homecoming Court presentation, while the LA Tech Family pep rally featuring the cheerleaders and Champ will start at 6:30 p.m.
Live music will start each Friday night at 7 p.m. (until 9 p.m.) with Alive by Sunrise serving as the featured artist for Friday, Oct. 19. A Late Night Pep Rally will conclude the evening at 9 p.m. featuring the Tech Band of Pride, Regal Blues, Tech Cheer, Tech XXII and Champ.
For more information on this event go to Facebook.com/RocktheRailroadRuston and for other events go to Facebook.com/ExperienceRuston.
TUNE IN
Louisiana Tech fans can tune into the LA Tech Sports Network this fall for all live game broadcasts for the Bulldogs' 12-game schedule as well as 12 editions of Inside Bulldog Football with
Skip Holtz.
The LA Tech Sports Network will team up with KXKZ-FM (107.5) Ruston as the flagship station for Tech Athletics.
All 12 Bulldog football games can be heard on KXKZ 107.5 FM (Ruston/Monroe) as well as KDBS 1410 AM (Alexandria), KQID 93.1 HD3 (Alexandria), WUBR 910 AM (Baton Rouge), KFNV 107.1 FM (Ferriday), KJVC 92.7 FM (Mansfield), KRMD 1340 AM (Shreveport/Bossier City), KRMD 100.7 FM (Shreveport/Bossier City), KNCB 1320 AM (Vivian) and KVCL 92.1 FM (Winnfield).
The LA Tech Sports Network team will host a 90-minute pregame show prior to kickoff and a 30-minute postgame show. Tech Gameday, a 90-minute pre-pregame show hosted by Ed Hebert and Joel Sharpton, will also air prior to each home game live from Tailgate Alley on KXKZ 107.5 FM.
Bulldog fans can access free audio of every LA Tech game and radio show through the Louisiana Tech X mobile app which is available for download on the iTunes App Store or Google Play.
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.
