Could Louisiana Tech football bounce back this season?

Louisiana Tech football has seen quite the tumble in recent memory, but could 2022 serve them a chance for the Bulldogs’ redemption?

Since the mid-2010s, Louisiana Tech football has consistently been one of the Group of Five’s mightier powers — that is, until last season happened.

In 2021, Louisiana Tech finished its run with a frightening 3-9 record, with that being its first losing record since 2013. But while such an unsettling tally is never encouraging on paper, perhaps a sprinkling of context could pave the way for some hope.

Of the nine losses that the Bulldogs suffered last season, five were decided by a touchdown or less. Among those five were Mississippi State, SMU, NC State, and Old Dominion — all bowl teams, with the Mustangs being the only ones to not host their matchup.

In other words, it can be argued that the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs were at least capable of hitting a record as promising as 8-4. And for context, that would have been their sixth time hitting a win count that high between 2013 and now. So, as previously established, it wouldn’t exactly have been out of the ordinary for them to have done such a thing.

With all of that in mind, if the close losses become close wins this time around, could LA Tech have returned to its winning ways come Christmas? Unfortunately, such a thought — while possible — isn’t quite that simple to humor.

For starters, a close loss is still a loss, so the ungodly nature of Tech’s 2021 record cannot be completely disregarded. But, even if the Bulldogs did have what it took to survive the bulk of their upcoming slate, that does not necessarily mean that they would successfully do so when considering just how much competition is on the horizon.

Looking at their schedule, they open with a brutal out-of-conference stretch. Said stretch includes four games, with all but the Stephen F. Austin one being on the road. That means that they have to visit Missouri, Clemson, and South Alabama before playing a single league game. That would not be a cushy entrance to any school’s season, but especially not a struggling Group of Five ones.

As for Louisiana Tech’s array of Conference USA obstacles, four opponents stand out above the rest: UTEP, Middle Tennessee, UTSA, and UAB, with the Roadrunners hosting their meeting.

All four of them are coming off of bowl seasons, and three of them (with the exception of Middle Tennessee) beat the Bulldogs by convincing margins in 2021. So yeah, those guys aren’t too comforting of sights, either.

Assuming that Louisiana Tech downs Stephen F. Austin and everyone on the schedule that has not been mentioned, its regular-season record for 2022 would be a better, yet still underwhelming 5-7.

However, with Middle Tennessee being an unfamiliar foe on the visiting end of its match with Tech, we can give the latter a win there solely for the sake of hypothetical discussion. And, since the Bulldogs have a reputation of giving Power Five competition trouble (an image that they protected even last year), we will give them a season-opening upset over Missouri as well.

All of that would build the record up from 5-7 to a much more respectable 7-5; to cap that off with a bowl win would have Lousiana Tech returning to eight wins in the blink of an eye.

In short, will the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs see some great bounce back this season? Probably not, as there are several roadblocks. But, could they? Absolutely. And with such an obtainable goal in mind, they just might be driven enough to make it happen.