2017 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team

The 2017 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team represented Louisiana Tech University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs played their home games at the Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, Louisiana and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by fifth-year head coach Skip Holtz. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in C-USA play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. They were invited to the Frisco Bowl where they defeated SMU.

2017 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football
Frisco Bowl champion
Frisco Bowl, W 51–10 vs. SMU
Conference	Conference USA
Division	West Division
Record	7–6 (4–4 C-USA)
Head coach	Skip Holtz (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Todd Fitch (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Blake Baker (3rd season)
Base defense	Multiple
Home stadium	Joe Aillet Stadium
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Conference USA football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Florida Atlantic x$		8	–	0					11	–	3
FIU		5	–	3					8	–	5
Marshall		4	–	4					8	–	5
Middle Tennessee		4	–	4					7	–	6
Western Kentucky		4	–	4					6	–	7
Old Dominion		3	–	5					5	–	7
Charlotte		1	–	7					1	–	11
West Division
North Texas x		7	–	1					9	–	5
Southern Miss		6	–	2					8	–	5
UAB		6	–	2					8	–	5
Louisiana Tech		4	–	4					7	–	6
UTSA		3	–	5					6	–	5
Rice		1	–	7					1	–	11
UTEP		0	–	8					0	–	12
Championship: Florida Atlantic 41, North Texas 17
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Louisiana Tech announced its 2017 football schedule on January 26, 2017. The 2017 schedule consists of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Bulldogs will host C-USA foes Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Southern Miss, and UTSA, and will travel to Rice, UAB, UTEP, and Western Kentucky (WKU).^[1]

The Bulldogs will host three of the four non-conference opponents, Mississippi State from the Southeastern Conference, Northwestern State from the Southland Conference, and South Alabama from the Sun Belt Conference. They will travel to South Carolina, also from the Southeastern Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	Northwestern State*	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA (rivalry)	ESPN3	W 52–24	24,002
September 9	6:30 p.m.	Mississippi State*	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	CBSSN	L 21–57	28,100
September 16	6:00 p.m.	at Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	Stadium	W 23–22	16,223
September 23	2:30 p.m.	at South Carolina*	Williams-Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	SECN	L 16–17	71,821
September 30	6:00 p.m.	South Alabama*	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	ESPN3	W 34–16	22,013
October 7	3:00 p.m.	at UAB	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	CUSA.TV	L 22–23	27,213
October 21	6:00 p.m.	Southern Miss	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA (Rivalry in Dixie)	STADIUM	L 27–34 2OT	17,815
October 28	2:30 p.m.	at Rice	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	FloSports	W 42–28	19,992
November 4	2:30 p.m.	North Texas	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	STADIUM	L 23–24	18,504
November 11	2:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	STADIUM	L 23–48	16,511
November 18	2:00 p.m.	at UTEP	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	CUSA.TV	W 42–21	16,597
November 25	6:30 p.m.	UTSA	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	ESPNU	W 20–6	15,651
December 20	7:00 p.m.	vs. SMU*	Toyota Stadium Frisco, TX (Frisco Bowl)	ESPN	W 51–10	14,419
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Central time

^[2]

Game summaries

Northwestern State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Demons	7	3	14	0	24
Bulldogs	10	14	7	21	52

Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
MSU Bulldogs	16	20	21	0	57
La. Tech Bulldogs	9	5	0	7	21

At WKU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	3	10	0	10	23
Hilltoppers	8	7	7	0	22

At South Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	3	3	7	3	16
Gamecocks	0	0	0	17	17

South Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jaguars	7	6	3	0	16
Bulldogs	14	3	0	17	34

At UAB

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	3	0	12	22
Blazers	13	3	0	7	23

Southern Miss

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Golden Eagles	3	7	6	11	0	7	34
Bulldogs	3	14	0	10	0	0	27

At Rice

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	14	7	14	42
Owls	0	7	7	14	28

North Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mean Green	7	3	7	7	24
Bulldogs	3	14	3	3	23

Florida Atlantic

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	6	14	22	6	48
Bulldogs	3	6	7	7	23

At UTEP

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	21	0	14	42
Miners	0	0	14	7	21

UTSA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Roadrunners	0	0	3	3	6
Bulldogs	7	3	3	7	20

vs SMU–Frisco Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	21	21	6	3	51
Mustangs	3	7	0	0	10

Roster

2017 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 2 Elijah Walker Fr RB 3 Jarred Craft Sr WR 4 Alfred Smith  So RB 6 Boston Scott  Sr QB 8 J'Mar Smith  So WR 9 Teddy Veal  Jr QB 10 Westin Elliott So QB/WR 11 Jon Randall Belton  Fr WR 13 Marlon Watts Sr QB 14 Justin Stolberg Fr WR 15 Kam McKnight  Jr WR 16 Marcus Gaines Sr WR 17 DeJuawn Oliver  Sr QB 18 Nate Cox Fr TE 19 Alex Woodall  Jr RB 22 Israel Tucker  Fr RB 23 Jaqwis Dancy  So WR 27 Cualan Andrews Fr RB 29 Dee Fleming So TE 29 Hunter Stelly  Fr WR 31 Gavin Englade  So RB 32 Jackson Smithey  Fr WR 35 Wes Gresham  So RB 41 Bobby Holly  So WR 42 Roderick Jackson  So RB 43 Quanta Moore  Jr OL 54 Hanner Shipley  Jr OL 55 Drew Kirkpatrick Jr OL 57 DeVante Lovett  So OL 58 Joshua Outlaw  Sr OL 61 Ethan Reed  So OL 62 Abraham Delfin Fr OL 64 Joshua Mote Fr OL 65 Kody Russey  Fr OL 66 Shane Carpenter  Jr OL 68 Justin Throckmorton Fr OL 69 Drew Melancon  Fr OL 72 Chris Roberts  So OL 74 O'Shea Dugas Jr OL 75 Michael Rodriguez  Jr OL 76 Conner Estes Fr OL 77 Gewhite Stallworth Jr OL 79 Kennedy Madison Fr WR 80 Griffin Hebert Fr WR 81 Cee Jay Powell  Fr WR 83 Jake Norris  Fr WR 84 Javonte Woodard  So WR 85 Deontae Allen  Fr WR 86 Rhashid Bonnette  So WR 87 George Scott Fr TE 88 Zach Cousar  Fr WR 89 Adrian Hardy  Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class S 2 Secdrick Cooper Sr CB 5 Michael Sam Jr S 7 Jaiden Cole Fr S 8 DaMarion King Sr S 14 Ronald Lewis  Sr CB 18 Zach Hannibal  Fr S 20 Kollin Hurt Fr CB 21 Amik Robertson Fr CB 24 L'Jarius Sneed So S 25 Theron Williams Jr S 26 Jacorion Andrews Fr S 28 Jordan Baldwin Jr CB 30 Aaron Roberson Jr LB 31 Russell Farris Sr CB 32 Trey Spencer Jr LB 33 Dae'Von Washington  Jr LB 34 Reggie Cleveland  Fr LB 35 Collin Scott  So CB 37 Ephraim Kitchen  So S 38 Darryl Lewis  So LB 39 Randy Hogan Jr CB 40 Roland Dunn Sr S 42 James Jackson  So LB 44 Brandon Durman Jr DE 45 Jaylon Ferguson  Jr DB 46 Ezekiel Barnett  Fr DE 47 Eric Kendzior So LB 48 Alex Zayed  Fr S 49 Elliot Blankenship  Sr DE 50 Deldrick Canty  Sr LB 51 Gaston Richardson Fr DE 58 Charles Adeola  So DE 64 Parker Brewton  Fr DL 67 Tyler Spears  Jr DL 73 Luke Robinson Fr DE 85 Willie Baker  Fr DT 90 Courtney Wallace  So DT 91 Cedric Johnson  Jr DT 92 La'Dante Davenport  So DE 93 Immanuel Turner Jr DT 94 Jordan Bradford Jr DE 95 Matthew Ydarraga  Jr DL 96 Ka'Derrion Mason So DL 97 Milton Williams Fr LB 98 Tristan Allen Fr DT 99 Keonatye Garner Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 10 Jonathan Barnes  Sr P 18 Will Parker  Jr K 34 Curphey Hardin  Fr P 36 Davan Dyer Jr P/K 40 Brady Farlow So DS 46 Robert Trimber  Fr P/K 53 Carson Wyld Fr DS 57 Tanner Borskey  Fr DS 59 Cameron Linck GS DS 63 Reeves Blankenship Fr	Head coach Skip Holtz Coordinators/assistant coaches Joe Sloan (assistant head coach / inside receivers) Blake Baker (defensive coordinator / safeties) Todd Fitch (offensive coordinator / wide receivers) Kevin Curtis (cornerbacks) Lanier Goethie (linebackers) Robert McFarland (offensive line) Rick Petri (defensive line) Tim Rattay (quarterbacks) Tony Ball (running backs) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster