FACTS & STATS: Site: Kibbie Dome (18,000) -- Moscow, Idaho. Television: ESPN Regional. Home Record: LaTech 3-0, Idaho 3-0. Away Record: LaTech 0-4, Idaho 3-2. Neutral Record: LaTech 0-0, Idaho 0-0. Conference Record: LaTech 2-2, Idaho 3-1. Series Record: Louisiana Tech leads, 3-1.

GAME NOTES: The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs hit the road in search of their first victory outside of Ruston this season as they make the trip to Moscow to challenge the Idaho Vandals in a Western Athletic Conference showdown at the Kibbie Dome.

Now a game under .500 on the season at 3-4, the Bulldogs are 2-2 in conference play after bowing to Utah State in Logan last weekend, 23-21. The defeat was the second in the last three outings for LaTech and now shows it at 0-4 on the road in 2009.

As for the Vandals, a group that is already bowl eligible with six wins in eight opportunities, they had their five-game win streak snapped last Saturday in a wild 70-45 loss at home to a surging Nevada outfit. The point total for Idaho was the highest of the season thus far, but the total allowed by the squad was almost as many as the last three opponents scored combined.

Unfortunately for Idaho, history has not been on its side against the Bulldogs as the team has fallen in three of the previous four encounters. Since posting a 24-14 win over Tech on the road in 2006, the Vandals have dropped back-to- back meetings, including a 46-14 rout last year in Ruston.

If not for the efforts of Phillip Livas who scored on a 100-yard kickoff return in the second quarter, the meeting with Utah State would not have even been as close for the Bulldogs. In the fourth quarter, Ross Jenkins had touchdown throws of 26 and 20 yards to R.P. Stuart and Dennis Morris, respectively, and thanks to a successful two-point conversion to Livas following the first score LaTech could have tied the game at 23-23, but the second two-point effort failed. Jenkins finished the outing 17-of-26 for 155 yards and one interception, but his four sacks left the squad with just 118 yards rushing as Daniel Porter managed a mere 68 yards on 18 attempts. Porter has dropped down to 84.7 ypg on the ground now, pushing him to sixth in the conference, but he'll have to keep plugging away because the passing attack for the Bulldogs is a distant eighth in the league and 96th nationally with a mere 183.4 ypg thus far.

The LaTech defense limited the Aggies to just 5-of-19 on third down plays and because of that Utah State was forced to opt for field goals rather than chance extending drives. With that effort, the Bulldogs left themselves an opportunity to come back, which they did, but it just wasn't enough. Tech registered just three tackles for loss, half of those being credited to Jay Dudley who was also the top tackler for the squad with his game-high 15 stops. Tackles for loss are a rare commodity for the Bulldogs this season, occurring just over four times per game, which means the team is not only sixth in the conference in that area, but a distant 104th in the nation as well. The run defense has taken a severe hit because of that, permitting opponents to record more than 189 ypg on the ground, again sixth-best in the WAC, but 106th in the nation heading into the final week of October.

The Vandals scored a season-high 45 points last Saturday, the only problem was the Nevada Wolf Pack dropped 70 points on Idaho in the epic offensive onslaught. Nathan Enderle had an outstanding outing with 15-of-26 passing for 342 yards and four touchdowns, although he was sacked four times and picked off once. Backup Brian Reader got some work in as he completed all seven of his tries for 62 yards and a score, but it was really already too late. Max Komar (10 receptions, 136 yards) and Maurice Shaw (five receptions, 183 yards) combined for all five receiving scores. Running back DeMaundray Woolridge had been putting up strong numbers since the second game of the season for the Vandals, but his production dropped off significantly with a mere 13 yards on six attempts. Obviously the Vandals had to abandon the run just to try and remain competitive and now Enderle has this team ranked second in the conference and 19th in the nation with 277.5 ypg through the air. For a team that has struggled since breaking into the WAC, Idaho is now fourth in the conference and 21st in the country with better than 430 ypg in total offense, scoring 31.5 ppg as a result.

Against a team that had already eclipsed the 60-point barrier earlier in the season, the Vandals were bound to have their hands full against a Nevada squad that only now seems to have found the key to its offense. From a defensive standpoint, there was very little positive that the Vandals could take away from their efforts last Saturday because they allowed Nevada signal-caller Colin Kaepernick, the WAC Offensive Player of the Week, to run for 230 yards and four touchdowns and pass for another 178 yards and two scores. Altogether, Idaho was helpless to keep the Pack from rolling up 484 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground on 53 attempts. Last week this unit was first in the conference and 14th nationally with a mere 95.6 ypg allowed on the ground, but now the group has been pushed all the way down to 67th in the country, giving up 144.1 ypg, which just goes to show what can happen to a defense if a team like Nevada is hitting on all cylinders. The pass defense has been called into question, permitting 257.1 ypg to rank eighth in the league and 107th in the country, but going up against LaTech this weekend should held ease the strain in that area.

Once the laughingstock of the WAC, this Idaho program is finally putting all the pieces together and deserve to be recognized as one of the better teams under Boise State, of course. Given that LaTech had trouble scoring on the road early last week and the team is away from Ruston yet again, give the nod to head coach Rob Akey and his Vandals.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Idaho 41, Louisiana Tech 21

Saturday, October 31st, 5:00 p.m. (et).