By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
When then-under-fire Louisiana Tech football coach Sonny Cumbie got Tony Franklin back into college coaching, and more specifically, back to the offensive coordinator’s role with the Bulldogs a year ago, nobody saw this coming.
Absolutely, Tech followers envisioned Franklin’s wide-open, fast-paced scheme triggering success in the way of the first winning season in Ruston since 2019, and a resulting bowl bid that the Bulldogs would earn and not back into, as they did last year in a five-win season.
Cumbie’s 2025 squad has reached that W-L milestone, and is in a bowl for all the right reasons.
But when the 7-5 Bulldogs collide with the 6-6 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers today a few moments after 1 o’clock in the 49th Annual Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, it’s not at all the expected path – or destination.
It’s the fifth time in the local bowl’s history that a team has played in Independence Stadium in consecutive years – Tech, McNeese, Air Force and Ole Miss have done it previously, but not since the Rebels were in Shreveport in 1998-99. Last year, it was an on-demand appearance when Marshall withdrew from the I-Bowl a week after accepting an invitation, and the bowl pivoted to a 5-7 Tech squad in a dizzying 24-hour span to line up against Army in three weeks.
This time around, the Bulldogs are one of Conference USA’s bowl-eligibles, lining up against a first-time foe that will become a frequent opponent when Tech enters Coastal’s Sun Belt Conference beginning next season.
None of the national projections had Tech staying in the neighborhood, but with visions of another turnout like last year’s 34,283 attendance – the I-Bowl’s best since 2014 – there was mutual attraction. Cumbie and team have seemed to relish their repeat visit, as they look for the program’s first postseason win since their 14-7 victory over Miami in the 2019 I-Bowl.
It’s a squad that has won its last two and except for a collapse in the final three minutes on Nov. 8 at Delaware, a 25-24 stunner, would have a four-game streak against “like” competition (excluding a 28-3 loss the following week at Washington State).
Cumbie’s bunch has a pair of one-point league losses. Turn those around and the Bulldogs would have won their last five CUSA contests.
But the core of the team teeing it up today is nothing like what was expected in preseason. It is led by the fourth-team quarterback (Trey Kukuk, after injuries to the other three), and Franklin’s offense has shifted into run mode.
With a late-season surge, Tech recorded four 300-yard rushing games and one 400-yard rushing game while finishing with the nation’s 22nd best rushing offense (196.6 yards per game). The last two games, with Kukuk taking all the snaps, have been run-heavy – wins over Liberty and at Missouri State when Kukuk averaged 158 rushing yards and scored five TDs while the Bulldogs averaged 353 on the ground.
The Bulldogs’ defense has had some bite all season long.
The Bulldogs led the nation with seven defensive touchdowns and ranked third in the FBS with 20 interceptions. The Bulldogs had the No. 1 scoring defense in CUSA (21.3 points per game) and the No. 1 rushing defense in CUSA (142.1 yards per game). They weathered the loss to a season-ending knee injury of linebacker Kolbe Fields as first-team AP All-America safety Jakari Foster and linebacker Jacob Fields, the CUSA co-Defensive Player of the Year, led the way.
The Chanticleers get a slight scouting edge from their interim head coach, Jeremiah Johnson, who was on Tech’s sideline as defensive coordinator in last year’s I-Bowl. He bolted for Coastal soon after and will be moving again, this winter off to Kansas State as defensive backs coach, after today’s game.
Coastal’s 6-6 record ended with three straight losses – at Georgia Southern (45-40), at South Carolina (51-7) and to James Madison (59-10) – on the heels of four consecutive Sun Belt wins, a collapse that cost third-year head coach Tim Beck his job exactly a month ago.
ESPN will carry the contest. The Louisiana Tech Radio Network broadcast can be heard locally on 95.7 KLKL FM with Shreveporters Teddy Allen and Jerry Byrd joining first-year play by play man Kyle Schassburger.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com