Louisiana Tech must fill large voids in '16

This is the first in a 12-part series previewing Arkansas' 2016 football opponents.

Louisiana Tech is coming off a 9-4 season that was capped by a 47-28 win over Arkansas State in the New Orleans Bowl. The Bulldogs went 6-2 in Conference USA play, finishing second in the west division.

2016 outlook

Louisiana Tech opens its season in Fayetteville against Arkansas, before returning home the following week to play South Carolina State.

The Bulldogs are expected to take a step back, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. Their projected win total is 6.8, which would be about two fewer wins than their previous two seasons.

The FPI also has Louisiana Tech at No. 94 in the country, which is fifth in Conference USA and second in its division.

Significant departures

Much like Arkansas, Louisiana Tech must replace a highly productive quarterback and running back.

In his only season with the Bulldogs, former Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel threw for 4,033 yards and 27 touchdowns and was selected in the sixth round of the NFL Draft. Running back Kenneth Dixon was a fourth-round pick after capping his career with a 1,070-yard, 19-touchdown season. He finished second in NCAA history with 87 career touchdowns.

Louisiana Tech lost a first-rounder, as well. Defensive tackle Vernon Butler had 50 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, three sacks and eight quarterback hurries in 2015.

The Bulldogs will also have to replace four players who signed as undrafted free agents: cornerback Adairius Barnes (50 tackles, 11 PBU, 1 int.), safety Kentrell Brice (60 tackles, 8 PBU, 1 int.), defensive end Vontarrius Dora (48 tackles, 9.5 TFL, 6 sacks, 2 forced fumbles) and wide receiver Paul Turner (45 rec., 657 yds., 3 TD).

Key returners

Whoever replaces Driskel at quarterback – senior Ryan Higgins appears to be the frontrunner – will have several playmakers at receiver to work with, led by senior Trent Taylor (99 rec., 1282 yds., 9 TD) and junior Carlos Henderson (36 rec., 774 yds., 5 TD).

He’ll also benefit from having three returning starters along the offensive line, including redshirt senior Darrell Brown at left tackle. Brown has 22 career starts under his belt and was a second-team all-CUSA selection last season. Center David Mahaffey, a senior, and left guard O’Shea Dugas, a sophomore, will also be back.

Defensively, the Bulldogs will rely on sophomore Jaylon Ferguson at defensive end and senior Xavier Woods at safety. As a freshman opposite Butler, Ferguson racked up 28.5 tackles, including 15 for loss and six sacks, while forcing two fumbles. Woods made 46.5 tackles, including 7.5 for loss, and had three interceptions, three pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

Louisiana Tech returns both of its specialists, too. Senior Gerald Shouse averaged 40.9 yards on 51 punts, pinning 22 inside the 20-yard line, and junior Jonathan Barnes was a perfect 60-of-60 on extra points and 22-of-26 on field goals, including 2-of-2 on 50-yard attempts.

Notable additions

Louisiana Tech’s biggest addition this offseason is linebacker Dalton Santos, a graduate transfer from Texas. During his career with the Longhorns, Santos started nine games at middle linebacker and made 112 tackles, including 13 tackles for loss. However, he missed all of last season with an ankle injury. Santos’ arrival will help fill the void created by the graduation of three fifth-year senior starting linebackers, who combined to make 28 percent of the Bulldogs’ tackles in 2015.

The Bulldogs also added offensive lineman Josh Outlaw, a junior college transfer who began his career at Texas Tech, and three 3-star prospects: defensive end Willie Baker, defensive back David Beasley and defensive end Kalan Ritchie.

Coaching staff

Skip Holtz enters his fourth season at Louisiana Tech riding back-to-back nine-win campaigns. He is 22-17 as the Bulldogs’ coach and 110-88 overall in 16 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

During a previous stint at East Carolina, Holtz coached the Pirates in the 2010 Liberty Bowl, where he lost to Arkansas 20-17 in overtime.

At the coordinator positions, Todd Fitch is in his first season as offensive coordinator and Blake Baker is in his second season as defensive coordinator.

Fitch came to Louisiana Tech after three years at Boston College, where he was a wide receivers coach and passing coordinator for seasons before becoming the Eagles’ offensive coordinator in 2015. Boston College’s offense averaged only 275.6 yards per game under Fitch, ranking just third-from-last in the FBS.

Fitch replaces Tony Petersen, who left in December to become the offensive coordinator at East Carolina.

While this will be Baker’s second season as the defensive coordinator, it will be his third at Louisiana Tech, as he was the safeties coach in 2014. Prior to that, he was the safeties coach at Arkansas State for one season. Under Baker, the Bulldogs’ defense ranked 48th nationally (375.8 yards/game) last season.

Series history

Arkansas leads the all-time series 3-0. The most recent matchup between the teams came in 1997, when the Razorbacks beat Louisiana Tech 17-13 at War Memorial Stadium.

Recent SEC history

Over the last five seasons, Louisiana Tech is 1-4 vs. SEC teams.

The Bulldogs were blown out 45-20 at Mississippi State last season and 45-17 at Auburn two years ago. In 2012, they nearly upset Texas A&M during Johnny Manziel’s Heisman Trophy-winning season, but lost 59-57 when a two-point conversion attempt in the final minute failed.

They split a pair of games against the Mississippi schools in 2011, losing 26-20 in overtime at Mississippi State and winning 27-7 at Ole Miss.

Arkansas ties

Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz is the son of former Arkansas head coach Lou Holtz. Skip lived in Arkansas during his father’s tenure with the Razorbacks and played quarterback at Fayetteville High School, before eventually playing for his father at Notre Dame.

While Strong, Ark., product Kenneth Dixon graduated, the Bulldogs still have several Arkansas high school players on their roster. Running back Jaquis Dancy (Junction City) saw action on special teams – returning 17 kickoffs for 296 yards, including a 47-yarder – as a true freshman, but did have two carries for two yards and one reception for 30 yards on offense. Defensive end Immanuel Turner (Magnolia) appeared in seven games – making 4.5 tackles, two TFL and one sack – as a true freshman, while offensive lineman DeVante Lovett (Strong) redshirted last season. Louisiana Tech has also signed Pine Bluff athlete David Beasley.

Arkansas has 10 Louisiana natives on its roster, including wide receiver Jared Cornelius and cornerback Henre’ Toliver.

Cornelius and safety Santos Ramirez were teammates with Louisiana Tech punter Gerald Shouse, wide receiver Trent Taylor and cornerback Roland Dunn at Evangel Christian in Shreveport, La.

Louisiana Tech running back signee Israel Tucker played with Arkansas defensive tackle signee Briston Guidry, Toliver and linebacker Dwayne Eugene at Archbishop Rummel in Marrero, La.

Linebacker Kendrick Jackson played at Haynesville, La., High with Louisiana Tech defensive back Jerrell Jackson and safety James Jackson. Kendrick and Jerrell are cousins.

Linebacker signee Giovanni LaFrance was a teammate of Louisiana Tech wide receiver Marlon Watts and safety Theron Williams at St. Augustine in New Orleans.

Beasley and Arkansas tight end Will Gragg were teammates at Pine Bluff in 2013, before Gragg transferred to Dumas for his senior season.

Offensive lineman Deion Malone and Louisiana Tech cornerback Ephraim Kitchen played together at South Panola High in Batesville, Miss.

Wide receiver signee Kofi Boateng and Louisiana Tech offensive lineman Deontae McCrady were teammates at Lamar High in Arlington, Texas.

Thoughts from a beat writer

To get an even better idea of what Louisiana Tech will look like in 2016, WholeHogSports reached out Sean Isabella, who covers the Bulldogs for The News Star in Northeast Louisiana. We asked him several questions about Louisiana Tech. Here are his responses:

WHS: How big are the losses of Jeff Driskel, Kenneth Dixon and Vernon Butler?

SI: Big, but not as big as many think. Skip Holtz's message during spring practice was, yeah, Louisiana Tech lost three players who went in the first six rounds of the NFL Draft, but the bigger concern is who the Bulldogs have coming back. Quarterback Ryan Higgins is a three-year system guy and should be able to run the offense efficiently. He's not Driskel, though. Then there are three running backs who will help fill the void of Dixon. Again, they won't replace Dixon but Louisiana Tech is excited about them. The bigger concerns are who is going to step up on defense. Including Butler, Louisiana Tech lost eight defensive starters, so something needs to happen between now and September at linebacker and in the secondary.

WHS: Which players do you expect Louisiana Tech to lean heavily on?

SI: On offense, Ryan Higgins needs to be productive and keep the ball out of danger. Louisiana Tech will run its offense through Trent Taylor, who was top 10 nationally in catches. I'd argue he's one of the top slot receivers no one talks about. He's very good and he plays up to competition, so I'd expect him to have a solid game against Arkansas unless the Razorbacks decide to double- or triple-team him. On defense, safety Xavier Woods will probably get drafted next year, so he'll have to lead the secondary and the entire defense. Jaylon Ferguson is still young at defensive end, but he became one of the top pass rushers in C-USA last year.

WHS: Are there any key additions that will play large roles for the Bulldogs in 2016?

SI: Former Texas linebacker Dalton Santos is transferring in for his senior year. He's expected to be on campus in June and he should start at middle linebacker. He is familiar with the Holtz family and Louisiana Tech's defensive coordinator was a GA at Texas when Santos was a freshman. There is a lot of comfort there. Louisiana Tech lost all three starting linebackers, so they'll look to Santos to help control the middle.

WHS: Do you think there will be much of a change on offense with the new offensive coordinator?

SI: Little if any. Todd Fitch is now on his fourth stop with Skip Holtz as OC. They previously worked together at UConn, East Carolina and South Florida. They have a very close relationship and Holtz didn't bring him in to change up the offense. The Bulldogs will still have multiple looks and operate as a pass-first team primarily out of the shotgun. Louisiana Tech has recruited bigger players at tight end and fullback the last few years to give the offense more looks. The offense may run more from under center this year in heavier packages because of this.

WHS: How do you think Louisiana Tech will fair against Arkansas in the season opener?

SI: It's going to be tough sledding. Arkansas is big up front and everyone knows it likes to run the ball. Louisiana Tech had one of the nation's top rushing defenses thanks to Vernon Butler, so maybe 2015 would have been a better year for Louisiana Tech to play Arkansas. There are so many questions on defense that the Bulldogs will probably have a hard time in the trenches. Normally, the defense has struggled against spread teams, but I think in this case the running game may be too much to overcome for 60 minutes.