RUSTON, La. (Sept. 27, 2018) – Head coach Skip Holtz and the Louisiana Tech football team will open Conference USA play this weekend with a key divisional matchup as the Bulldogs travel to take on a streaking North Texas team on Saturday in Denton.
 
The game is set to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT at Apogee Stadium and will air on beIN Sports with Mike Gleason (play-by-play) and Brett Romberg (analysis) calling all the action on Saturday night.
 
Louisiana Tech enters the weekend with a 2-1 record after the Bulldogs fell to No. 6 LSU last Saturday by a score of 38-21 in Baton Rouge. As for North Texas, the Mean Green come into the matchup with a perfect 4-0 record with wins over SMU, Incarnate Word, Arkansas and Liberty. North Texas enters the game leading the league in 13 different statistical categories, including scoring offense, total offense, scoring defense, interceptions, sacks and turnover margin.
 
"You don't need to make a lot of stats up when you start talking about this North Texas team and what they have accomplished so far in the 2018 season," Holtz said. "They are 4-0 right now. It is going to be a great challenge for us again on the road in Denton on Saturday night and we are looking forward to having the opportunity to get back into conference play. They certainly have our attention not just because of the game last year, but because of the numbers that they are putting up this year as well."
 
This Saturday's game will mark the 17th meeting all-time between Louisiana Tech and North Texas with the Bulldogs leading the series with a record of 9-7, including a 5-1 record in Denton. North Texas is currently on a nine-game home winning streak with its last loss coming against Louisiana Tech in 2016. Last season, LA Tech came up just short against the Mean Green after a long field goal attempt with under three minutes to play missed wide left to give North Texas a 24-23 victory in Ruston.
 

---

PREGAME NOTES
 

• When Louisiana Tech travels to Denton on Saturday night for the Conference USA opener, it will mark the fifth straight season the Bulldogs have opened league play on the road against a preseason divisional favorite. Since LA Tech joined C-USA (2013), the Bulldogs have only opened the conference slate at home once and it was in 2013 versus Tulane. LA Tech has posted a 2-2 record the last four seasons in league openers away from Joe Aillet Stadium with wins at North Texas (2014) and WKU (2017).

 

• Louisiana Tech is currently one of only 14 FBS teams in the nation to put up perfect numbers in the red zone through the first four weeks of the college football season. The Bulldogs enter Saturday's C-USA opener at North Texas 11-for-11 inside the 20-yard line. In three games, LA Tech has nine touchdowns (4 rushing, 5 passing) and two field goals for a total of 68 points put on the board in the red zone thus far.

 

• Quarterback J'Mar Smith has plenty of weapons on offense this season and he is making good use of them. In all three of Tech's games, Smith has completed passes to at least nine different receivers (Game 1: 9 at South Alabama; Game 2: 10 vs. Southern; Game 3: 9 at #6 LSU). The nine receivers Smith connected with versus LSU totaled 330 yards, which is the most passing yards allowed by the Tigers since the 2015 season.

 

• LA Tech's Jaylon Ferguson, who is the nation's active career leader in sacks, has recorded at least half a sack in six straight games dating back to the 2017 season, which ties a career-long streak for the senior defensive end. Additionally, in 33 career starts as a Bulldog, Ferguson has recorded at least half a sack 21 times.

 

---

HOW TO WATCH
 
beIN Sports is available via OTT streaming service providers YouTube TV, fubo TV and Hulu. A live beIN Sports stream is also available through beINSports.com and the beIN Sports Connect app by with select cable and service providers. For more information and a full programming schedule, visit http://www.beinsports.com/us/.
 
 
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.