MOBILE, Ala. – Louisiana Tech is set to kick off year six under head coach Skip Holtz as the Bulldogs prepare to open the 2018 season on the road at South Alabama on Saturday night.
 
The game is set to kick off at 6:05 p.m. CT Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile. Tomorrow night's game will be streamed on ESPN+ for subscribers, while fans can tune in to the radio broadcast on the LA Tech Sports Network on KXKZ-FM (107.5). Fans can also access audio from LA Tech's radio broadcast for free through the LA Tech Mobile X app or the Red Peach Media app.
 
Louisiana Tech enters the 2018 season as one of most of the nation's most experienced teams, while the Bulldogs closed out the 2017 campaign with a 7-6 overall record. South Alabama is beginning a new era under first-year head coach Steve Campbell, who was hired from Central Arkansas following a 4-8 record by the Jaguars a season ago.
 
"This is a football team that has been working extremely hard and they understand what is out there," Holtz said of his 2018 squad. "If we want to go win a football game, you have to go earn it. We learned last year that nobody will give them to you, it doesn't matter how close you are. At the end of the day it is a W or an L. And right now I think this team is really focused on what we have to do to find a way to win the game.
 
"We know opening on the road is hard and we are going to play a team that is going to be full of a lot of confidence and going to come out and play extremely hard and extremely physical. We have to match that if we have any chance of trying to go on the road and win an opening game. Opening games always scare you because you don't know what to expect."
 
The game on Saturday will mark just the second meeting all-time between Louisiana Tech and South Alabama and the first time the two teams have met in Mobile. Last season, the Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the series after scoring 17 points in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Jaguars and defeat South Alabama, 34-16, when the two teams faced off in Ruston in week five of the 2017 season.
 
 
PREGAME NOTES
 

• As the Bulldogs prepare to open the 2018 season, they are going to have to withstand a tough schedule to start the campaign with only one home game slated in the month of September. LA Tech will open the year at South Alabama (9/1) before hosting Southern on Sept. 8. The Bulldogs will enjoy their bye the next week before spending the next two weeks on the road at LSU (9/22) and North Texas (9/29).

 

• When J'Mar Smith starts the 2018 season at quarterback, it will mark the first time in Skip Holtz's tenure as head coach that the Bulldogs return their starting quarterback. In fact, Louisiana Tech has had a different starting quarterback each season dating back to the 2010 campaign when Ross Jenkins returned as a senior.

 

• Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz, now entering his sixth season with the Bulldogs, is currently ranked fifth in program history for most wins as a head coach with 38 victories under his belt after five seasons. With the 2018 season about to get underway, Holtz is just two wins shy of tying Joe Raymond Peace (40) for fourth place, while he is just five wins away from tying Jack Bicknell III (43) for third place.

 

• LA Tech is one of only seven teams in the country to produce a different 1,000-yard rusher in each of the last three seasons, along with Navy, Oklahoma, Ohio State, San Diego State, Utah and Auburn.

 

• LA Tech defensive end Jaylon Ferguson opens the season ranked first in the nation among the NCAA's active career leaders with 27.5 sacks in his Bulldog career.

 
 
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.
 
Starting with tomorrow's season-opener at South Alabama, 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.
 
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