Colby Cameron tabbed as Tech quarterback

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In their on-going efforts to find a quarterback to run offensive coordinator Tony Franklin's freestyle offense, the Louisiana Tech coaching staff on Thursday named redshirt sophomore Colby Cameron starter for Saturday's game at Texas A&M.


The native Californian becomes the third quarterback to be named starter since fall workouts began. Senior Steven Ensminger was tabbed for the job just a couple of weeks before the 2010 season began, but he faltered as the Sept. 4 date with Grambling drew nigh.

So, veteran Ross Jenkins started and played for three quarters against the Tigers on Saturday night in Independence Stadium. Cameron was used in mop-up duty against GSU going 8-for-12 for 95 yards in Tech's 20-6 win.

Neither coach Sonny Dykes, Cameron nor Jenkins were available to comment on the move.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Cameron has participated in six games at Tech with his best outing coming in a 45-44 loss at Idaho last year when he went 10-for-16 for 105 yards. He also played briefly against Nicholls State, New Mexico State and Boise State in 2009.

Kickoff for Saturday's game at Kyle Field is 6 p.m.

Jenkins' inability to create a downfield passing game against GSU may have cost him a chance to get his dream start. The Houston native was 15-of-19 passing for 101 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions against Grambling. Jenkins said earlier this year that he hoped to start against A&M, since his late father was a graduate of the Aggie' class of 1984.

"I bled maroon growing up. That's all we cared about. I know coming into this year he was fired up about actually getting to see me play on Kyle Field," Jenkins said. "Now he'll have that best seat in the house ... he'll get that chance to see me play ... not here with us, but from above."

Meanwhile, Cameron took the only scholarship offered to him after graduating from California's Newbury Park High School.

Cameron's Bulldog teammates have nicknamed him "Sunshine," due to his similarity to Ronnie "Sunshine" Bass, also a transplanted Californian, from the movie "Remember the Titans."

Cameron also showed promise as a wide receiver this fall, which improved his decision making when he moved back under center.

"You get to see the defense from a different perspective. When you run routes you see how the cornerbacks and safeties play the ball," Cameron said. "So when you're back at quarterback, you know better angles of how to throw the ball."

 

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Tim Molton reinstated, 3 others gone

Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Dykes says he has reinstated wide receiver Tim Molton after an 11-day suspension, but has dismissed the three players who were suspended with him.

Dykes also said Monday that defensive lineman Jared Barron has quit the team.

Molton, linebacker Kiamni Washington, and wide receivers R.P. Stuart and Cruz Williams were suspended Aug. 27 for violating a team rule which Dykes did not reveal.

Barron played in 13 games as a redshirt freshman in 2008 and was credited with 33 tackles, 13 solo. He left the team before preseason camp in 2009, and does not appear in this year's online roster.

Louisiana Tech beat Grambling State 20-6 in both teams' opener last week and plays at Texas A&M on Saturday.

 

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from aggies site..

Given that they are still figuring out who their starting QB is, and the lack of production from the wide receivers, it looks like the strength of the Bulldog offense right now is their running game. However, I expect them to attempt to get back to basics on offense, and stress the fundamentals of the Air Raid while playing us. I expect to see a lot of Mesh and Shallow Cross series as they try to go back to their bread-and-butter plays of their offense, and focus on execution. It will be up to our interior DL and our OLBs to get pressure on their QBs and take them out of their rhythm. Grambling seemed to be able to keep the under control by playing loose on them, playing off their receivers in zone coverage and making the tackle after they caught the ball, limiting yardage. I expect us to mix coverages and use zone blitzes to bring pressure, as we use an aggressive attack against their defense.

Defense

The Bulldog defense only gave up 102 yards rushing and 158 yards passing for 260 yards of total offense allowed to go along with 6 points; that is a very respectable defensive performance in the first game. Tech runs a 4-2-5 defense, so it should be a new challenge for our offense to attack this scheme. Tech's defensive line coach is Dan Eggen, who was A&M's defensive line coach under Dennis Franchione. If his unit's performance at A&M is any indication, we can expect his defensive line to underachieve, and for us to be able to run on them inside.

The Bulldogs were led by junior MLB Adrien Cole, a returning All-WAC player who had 5.5 tackles against Grambling. Both Cole and SLB Jay Dudley are active players in the linebacking corps. The big playmaker against Grambling was junior strongside DE Matt Broha, who had 4 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble. Against a 4-2-5 defense, you want to see if they are solid up the middle. Tackles Mason Hitt (4 tackles, 1.5 TFL) and Ramone Randle (1.5 tackles) seemed to have done a solid job keeping the Grambling OL off their linebackers and letting them make plays. The Nickel player in the Tech defense, the fifth defensive back, is senior Tank Calais, who had a quiet 1.5 tackles for the game. Cornerback Olajuwon Paige finished second on the team with 4 tackles against Grambling, while fellow CB Josh Victorian had two tackles and an interception. SS Chad Boyd (3 tackles, 1 INT) and FS C.J. Broades (3 tackles) are also active members of the secondary. The strength of this defense looks to be their front six, where an aggressive scheme allows their LBs to make plays. Tech's defensive line and LB corps should make for a nice challenge for our young offensive line. I expect us to run the ball often against them, and challenge their secondary deep. Given that they are running a 4-2-5, I expect us to be productive running the ball, and think they're going to try to guard the flats to stop our short passing game to Swope, which we used so effectively against SFA. We need to use our TEs in the seams, and hit our outside receivers in the deep routes to force their defense to play us straight up. Grambling ran the ball well against Lousiana Tech, and we have a better running game than Grambling, so I expect us to prosper on the ground.

Tech's defensive coordinator Tommy Spangler is well thought of in the coaching community, so it'll be interesting to see what he cooks up for our offense.



Special Teams

Ryan Allen is Lousiana Tech's punter. He averaged 33.2 yds on 4 punts. Kicker Matt Nelson was 2-3 against Grambling, good from 39 and 45 yards, missing one from 27 yds wide left. The Bulldogs special teams are coached by Mark Tommerdahl, who some of you will also remember from his time at A&M as our TE coach and special teams coordinator under Dennis Franchione. It would be nice if our special teams could make some plays against his special team units (I remember too many breakdowns from his time at A&M), but given how we performed against SFA, I'd just settle for us not making any mistakes that will hurt us.
Conclusion

Louisiana Tech is a solid opponent for our second game of the season, but we should be able to move the ball on them on the ground and through the air. If our offensive line can control their interior DL and neutralize their LBs, we will romp in this game. I like the challenge this offense should present to our defense, because we haven't played an Air Raid offense yet, and this is good preparation for our conference opener against Oklahoma State in three weeks. I expect to see all of Lousiana Tech's quarterbacks play as they try to figure out who their leader on offense is. As long as we shut down their running game and force them to be one-dimensional on offense, so we can bring pressure on their passing game, we should win this one going away.