JOURNAL SPORTS
Louisiana Tech puts its unbeaten Sun Belt Conference record on the line in another trip to southern Alabama Saturday, while Grambling and Northwestern are at home as they try to halt skids and Centenary wraps up its regular-season schedule in Texas.
LOUISIANA TECH: The Bulldogs ride a five-game winning streak as they head into Troy, Ala., Saturday afternoon to play Troy in a 3 p.m. Sun Belt Conference contest on ESPN+.
Tech, 6-2 overall, is 4-0 in its first season in the Sun Belt, two games up on the rest of the contenders in the SBC’s West Division. That includes the Trojans (4-4, 2-2).
The Bulldogs earned bowl eligibility with a 35-20 victory at South Alabama last Saturday, extending their winning streak to five games for the first time since 2019. This is the first-ever meeting between the Trojans and the Bulldogs.
Tech linebacker Alonzo Jackson Jr. remains the Sun Belt’s leader with 13.5 tackles for a loss and his seven sacks sit in a three-way tie for the most in the league. He leads the Bulldogs with 58 total tackles, which rank 14th overall in the conference. His 7.0 total sacks and 0.88 sacks per game are among the top 10 in FBS (T-9th), and his 13.0 TFLs and 1.63 tackles per game are top three nationally.
The Bulldogs defense enters Week 10 leading the Sun Belt with 10 interceptions, a conference-best 8.4 TFLs/game and 67 total team TFLs for the second-most. The Bulldogs also lead the Sun Belt in turnovers gained (16), and are top three in the conference in opposing 4th-down conversions (.333), passing defense (197.3), scoring defense (20.9), opposing passing efficiency (118.81), team sacks (2.75/game) and total defense (332.6).
NORTHWESTERN STATE: After consecutive one-possession losses to McNeese and Nicholls showed obvious progress by the Demons (0-9, 0-6), a difficult afternoon at Incarnate Word provided another reminder of how much the details matter. With two straight games at Turpin Stadium, NSU has an opportunity to reset and show its resilience.
Northwestern (0-9, 0-6) welcomes UT-Rio Grande Valley (4-5, 2-4) to Natchitoches for the first meeting between the programs. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday to start the Demons’ Military Appreciation game. The contest will air on ESPN+.
GRAMBLING: The Tigers (4-4 overall, 2-3 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference) haven’t lost this season at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium, which is the site of Saturday’s 2 o’clock matchup with Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-3, 3-2).
That’s good news since the Golden Lions are rolling, coming off a 63-21 rout of Bethune-Cookman. UAPB brings a three-game winning streak south on U.S. 167 to Lincoln Parish, scoring 56 unanswered points to open last week’s contest while forcing five interceptions and recording six sacks.
The 63 points marked a season high for UAPB, which finished with 451 yards of total offense, including 333 rushing yards while averaging an impressive 9.8 yards per carry.
Grambling fell in a defensive battle with Texas Southern last week, losing a 23-20 overtime decision.
CENTENARY: The Gents finish their regular season on Saturday visiting the Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference game with kickoff set for 1 o’clock in Seguin, Texas.
The Gents (2-5, 1-2 SCAC) lost to Lyon College at home last Saturday 43-36 while the Bulldogs (7-1, 3-0 SCAC) posted a 23-0 shutout over Austin College.
The Gents’ last-second comeback attempt fell short to the Scots on Senior Night last Saturday as they rallied from a 19-0 hole after one quarter of play and 29-7 at halftime.
Freshman quarterback Stephen George passed for a season-best 257 yards and rushed for a season-high 122 yards.
Centenary is averaging 20.0 points and 290.3 yards per game of total offense (159.6 rushing and 130.7 passing).
“Our focus this week is simple: clean up the mistakes from last week, build on the things we did well, and continue to get better,” said Gents coach Byron Dawson. “We have to bring our best for 60 minutes.
“It’s going to take discipline, toughness, and everybody doing their job. We know what’s in front of us, and we’re excited about the opportunity.”