RUSTON - So much for the relatively cool evening practices that Louisiana Tech has been accustomed to during the first two weeks of fall drills.

Saturday morning's scrimmage was nothing less than draining as head coach Jack Bicknell put his team through a 100-play scrimmage in 98-degree temperatures at Joe Aillet Stadium.

After the first possession of the day that saw the Tech first team offense drive 61 yards in 10 plays capped by a Josh Scobee 37-yard field goal, the day was pretty much controlled by the Bulldogs defense.

"I was a little concerned the way the offense marched the ball right down the field in the first possession of the morning," Bicknell said. "But the defense held them to a field goal and then I became concerned about the offense for much of the day. As a coach, you really hate to see one side or the other dominate all day."

In 23 total offensive possessions, the Bulldogs managed only three field goals, two by Scobee and one by freshman Zach Myatt, and a one-yard touchdown run by Ralph Davis, who totaled 88 yards on 16 carries.

"I thought Ralph ran really well at times," Bicknell said. "He made a couple of really nice cuts and ran well during the goal line situations. He also held onto the ball. All of those things are important and I am happy to see it."

The Tech defense recorded five sacks, three fumble recoveries and one interception during the actual scrimmage portion of the day. Sacks were registered by Antonio Crow (one and a half), Jeremy Hamilton, James Atkins, Jemelle Cage and John Nash (one half) while the fumble recoveries were made by Moqut Ruffins, Terence Alexander and Wendell Crowe.

The lone touchdown surrendered by the Bulldogs defensive unit was on the last series of the morning when the first team offense marched 70 yards in 10 plays, including the final 45 coming via the rush.

Senior signal caller Luke McCown completed 13 of 17 passes for 109 yards and one interception that came by junior cornerback Jerron Wishom on a tipped pass. Backup Maxie Causey completed 13 of 19 passes for 65 yards while the Tech receivers were led by DJ Curry (4 catches for 56 yards) and Chris Norwood (4-35).

Tech's other scores came when Myatt connected on a 43-yard field goal on the seventh series of the morning while Scobee added a 21-yard field goal capping the 14th series of the scrimmage.

During a seven series goal line situation portion of the morning, the Bulldogs offense found a little more success, scoring six times in seven possessions starting at the four-yard line, including four touchdown runs by Davis.

Bicknell gave his team Sunday off and will resume fall workouts Monday.


Unofficial Stats

Scoring
Scobee 37 yard field goal
Myatt 43 yard field goal
Scobee 21 yard field goal
R. Davis 1 yard run

Rushing
R. Davis 16-88, 1 TD
Moats 7-27
Wilson 4-23
Richardson 4-5
Odums 3-15
Causey 6-18
Kubik 3-1
A. Sloan 2-0
Champion 3-(-4)
McCown 6-(-22)
Totals 54-151, 1 TD

Passing
McCown 13-17-109, 1 interception
Causey 13-19-65
Kubik 2-3-55
Champion 1-6-20
Totals 29-45-249, 1 interception

Receiving
Curry 4-56
Cosby 4-19
Norwood 4-35
Moats 3-12
Bryant 2-46
S. Brown 2-9
Wilson 2-2
James 1-20
Richardson 1-15
Newman 1-18
Hollands 1-7
King 1-6
Others 3-4
Totals 29-249

Defense
Sacks
Crow 1 1/2
Atkins 1
Hamilton 1
Cage 1
Nash 1/2

Fumble Recoveries
Ruffins
Alexander
W. Crowe

Interceptions
Wishom 2 (1 during 2-minute drill)
Lee Johnson 1 (during 2-minute drill)


Goal Line Situations
7 offensive possessions
6 touchdowns (R. Davis 4, R. Moats 1, McCown to Capps 1)