STARKVILLE, Miss. – Louisiana Tech steps out of conference play this week as the Bulldogs travel to Starkville, Mississippi, to face off against the No. 21-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday night.
The game is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville and will air on SEC Network with Dave Neal (play-by-play), D.J. Shockley (analysis) and Dawn Davenport (sideline) calling all the action on Saturday night. The broadcast will also be available to stream live on WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
"We step outside the conference race this week playing at Mississippi State, which is unusual to play a non-conference game this late, but we have an unbelievable challenge ahead of us," head coach
Skip Holtz said in his weekly press conference. "This is a very talented team, a very athletic team and it is going to be a great challenge for us on the road up there."
Louisiana Tech enters the matchup enjoying its best start to a season since 2012 as the Bulldogs have posted a 6-2 overall record through the first eight games of the season. Additionally, LA Tech heads to Starkville having won three straight on the road with a 4-1 record in road games this season.
The Bulldogs from Mississippi State head into Saturday's game with a 5-3 overall record, including a 4-1 record at home this season. Mississippi State is led by first-year head coach Joe Moorhead, who led his team to a 28-13 win over No. 16 Texas A&M last week in Starkville.
LA Tech and Mississippi State will meet for the 14th time in the series history on Saturday night with the host Bulldogs holding a 10-3 advantage in the all-time series, including a 9-2 record in games played in Starkville. Mississippi State traveled to Ruston last season and came away with a 57-21 victory over LA Tech at Joe Aillet Stadium.
PREGAME NOTES
- LA Tech is one of only seven teams in the country with four true road wins this season (along with Cincinnati, Clemson, LA Tech, Buffalo, Western Michigan, Boise State and Coastal Carolina). The last time the Bulldogs had four road wins in a single season was 2014, while the most road wins LA Tech has recorded in a season over the last 30 years has been five (1999, 2011 and 2012).
- LA Tech defensive end Jaylon Ferguson set a new C-USA record for career sacks last weekend in Boca Raton, while the senior is tied for the school record with 38 sacks in his career. Ferguson leads the country in sacks this season with 10.5 and was recently named one of 20 semifinalists for the 2018 Chuck Bednarik Award, which is awarded annually to the top defensive player in college football. Ferguson was the only non-Power 5 player named a semifinalist for the prestigious award and became one of only six non-Power 5 players in the last 10 years to be named a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award. Ferguson is six sacks shy of tying the all-time NCAA career sack record, which is held by Terrell Suggs (44).
- Louisiana Tech and Mississippi State are familiar foes with Saturday's meeting in Starkville marking the fourth time the two teams have faced off since 2011. In the six years LA Tech has been a member of Conference USA, the Bulldogs have played seven league opponents three times or less. In that same span, Tech will have played Mississippi State as many times, making the Bulldogs from Starkville more common of an opponent than over half of Conference USA.
- LA Tech's defense has allowed only seven passing touchdowns this season, which is tied for the 13th fewest in the country. The Bulldogs will meet their match this weekend as LA Tech will face a Mississippi State team on Saturday that has allowed only four passing touchdowns this season, which ranks 1st nationally. The seven touchdowns allowed by the Bulldog pass defense is tied with UAB for the fewest allowed in C-USA in 2018. The fewest passing touchdowns Tech's defense has allowed in a single season over the last 30 years is 10 (1990).
HOW TO WATCH
This Saturday night's game between LA Tech and Mississippi State will be televised on SEC Network with Dave Neal (play-by-play), D.J. Shockley (analysis) and Dawn Davenport calling all the action from Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville. The broadcast will also be available to stream live on WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
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.
