FACTS & STATS: Site: Romney Stadium (25,513) -- Logan, Utah. Television: None. Home Record: LaTech 3-0, USU 1-1. Away Record: LaTech 0-3, USU 0-4. Neutral Record: LaTech 0-0, USU 0-0. Conference Record: LaTech 2-1, USU 0-2. Series Record: Louisiana Tech leads, 4-2.

GAME NOTES: For the second straight week the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs find themselves lining up against the Aggies, in this case the Aggies of Utah State, as the two Western Athletic Conference foes clash in Logan.

Last weekend, the Bulldogs were pitted against New Mexico State at home and crushed those Aggies by a score of 45-7, registering 45 unanswered points to begin the contest and only allowing a defensive touchdown by NMSU late in the fourth quarter. The win was the third in the last four games for LaTech and moved the squad to 2-1 in conference play.

As for the Aggies, they have yet to topple an opponent from the Football Bowl Subdivision this season, beating only Southern Utah by a score of 53-34 back on September 26th at home. Since then the team has fallen in three straight, including a narrow 35-32 decision versus Nevada last Saturday.

LaTech leads the series with USU by a count of 4-2, winning four in a row since both programs became competitors in the WAC. Last season, the Bulldogs put up a hard-fought 45-38 triumph at home in Ruston.

The Louisiana Tech offense was unstoppable last week as it registered 45 unanswered points to start against New Mexico State. Although he didn't make it into the end zone himself, Daniel Porter rumbled for a game-high 132 yards on 19 carries as the LaTech run game recorded 315 yards and three scores. Quarterback Ross Jenkins completed just 11 passes, yet those went for 204 yards and three touchdowns, adding a fourth on the ground for good measure did Jenkins. Dennis Morris reeled in a game-high six receptions for 126 yards and two scores. Morris has been used sparingly thus far in 2009, collecting 16 passes for a team-best 273 yards and four touchdowns. Phillip Livas is still one of the most dangerous players in college football as both a receiver ands a return man, even though his 16 receptions have brought little more than 175 yards thus far. On a team that is averaging 181 ypg on the ground, good for fifth in the conference, Porter plays an important role with his 87.5 ypg and six touchdowns as he tries to take some of the pressure off the passing attack which is still ranked just 90th in the country with 188.2 ypg after six games.

The defense for the Bulldogs was on top of its game last weekend, turning the Aggies away at every turn. The squad held NMSU to a mere 74 yards on the ground and allowed the passing combination of Trevor Walls and Jeff Fleming to complete a total of 13 passes for just 68 yards, sacking the latter twice and picking off each of them one time. Dominique Faust had just a single solo tackle for LaTech, yet was credited with a team-best six tackles and 1.5 sacks as NMSU recorded just six first downs, and one of those came way of penalty. Before locking up the Aggies on the ground last week, LaTech had the second- worst run defense in the conference, ranked 114th in the country while allowing 218.6 ypg. Thankfully that number has dropped a bit, but still the group is permitting 194.5 ypg rushing. Getting into the backfield to break up plays before they can fully develop has been a problem for this group as they average only 4.2 tackles for loss per game and that is tied for 105th in the nation this week.

Utah State was trapped in a see-saw battle with Nevada last week that took many twists and turns before the Aggies found themselves on the losing end of a three-point decision at home. Diondre Borel did all he could to keep his Aggies in the race, converting 25-of-42 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns, but he was also sacked five times and that caused him to lose 36 yards and left the rushing attack of the Aggies grasping at a mere 74 yards on 34 carries in the outing. Nnamdi Gwacham had a strong effort as well with his four catches for 140 yards and a score. Borel has picked up his game this year, especially in the passing department where he is averaging 248.8 ypg and already has nine touchdown passes. More importantly, the signal-caller has made much better choices in the pocket and has just a single interception in 189 attempts. Borel is also second on the team in rushing (223 yards, four touchdowns) behind only Robert Turbin who is averaging seven yards per attempt and has four TDs of his own and ranks as the second-leading rusher in the conference at the moment.

As most teams have found out recently, the Nevada rushing attack takes no prisoners and will take off down the field whenever given the opportunity. Against Utah State, the Wolf Pack ran the ball 46 times to the tune of 313 yards and two touchdowns. But what made it more difficult for the Aggies to gain some footing on defense was the fact that Colin Kaepernick was generating almost 20 yards per completed pass and had three of those end up in the end zone. James Brindley accounted for a team-best nine tackles, one behind the line of scrimmage, and also intercepted a Kaepernick pass in the outing. Because of the efforts by Nevada on the ground, Utah State now has the second- to-worst run defense in the conference and the 113th-ranked squad in the land, giving up 210.7 ypg. With that sort of weakness at the point of attack, it should not come as a surprise that USU is 110th in total defense, giving up 437 ypg, and is eighth in the conference and 103rd nationally with 32.8 ppg allowed. In terms of sacks and TFLs, those areas are still works in progress right now as the team averages just one sack per outing and 4.33 TFLs per game.

Both of these teams have potential, but neither has been able to produce on a consistent basis as of yet. Even though Borel and Turbin can make things happen on the ground, chances are Porter and the rest of the Bulldogs will make a better go of it this weekend, and that's where LaTech will take advantage.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Louisiana Tech 28, Utah State 20

Saturday, October 24th, 3:00 p.m. (et).