Louisiana Tech puts 8-game win streak on the line versus Marshall

One way or another, the Bulldogs will be barking on Friday night, as Louisiana Tech and Fresno State both hit the gridiron in Week 12 college football action.

Louisiana Tech at Marshall, 7 p.m. ET, CBSSN

Friday night offers us a great glimpse into Conference USA, as perhaps the conference’s best two teams face off in Huntington, West Virginia. The last time Louisiana Tech played Marshall it was in the 2014 C-USA titlegGame (Marshall won 26-23).

The Bulldogs are currently on an eight-game win streak (their only loss was to Texas to open the season) but have not faced any stiff road challenges since. With standout senior quarterback J’Mar Smith, Louisiana Tech might be up to this test. Look for Smith to spread the ball around to an underrated wide receiver corps, but his best offensive complement is junior running back Justin Henderson (6.5 yards per carry, 712 yards rushing, 155 yards receiving and 15 total touchdowns).

The best player in this game (and surefire pro prospect) is Louisiana Tech junior cornerback Amik Robertson. Get ready to salivate over this stat line—45 tackles (3rd on team), six tackles for loss, one forced fumble, 14 pass breakups, five interceptions and three touchdowns (two on interceptions and one on a fluke onside-kick recovery to clinch the win over Florida International).

When I look for the standouts on the Thundering Herd, my eyes go to the linebacker duo of senior Omari Cobb and junior Tavante Beckett (combined 157 tackles, 13 1/2 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, the pass breakups and an interception). These two are going to need to play a dynamite game to get their side to the winner’s circle.

Marshall needs this win to keep pace with Florida Atlantic in the East Division (Marshall owns the tiebreaker over both Florida Atlantic and Western Kentucky but might not be able to survive a loss with FAU’s last two games very winnable). Head coach Doc Holliday is 11-5 off a bye in his career, but Louisiana Tech just looks like the better team.

Pick: Louisiana Tech +2

Fresno State at San Diego State, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Another group of Bulldogs hits the road Friday night in the Mountain West, and it’s another game pivotal in a conference race. If San Diego State wins, it will remain alone at the top of the West Division. If Fresno State wins, however, complete chaos will ensue in the West Division, with four three-loss teams. In the latter scenario Fresno State would have some control, with a win at Hawaii in the books and a future date with Nevada. So who do we trust, with control of the division at stake?

This game is going to be decided by turnovers. The Aztecs cannot score (20.8 points per game, 4.54 yards per play) and their opponents really can’t score (14.4 points per game, 4.56 yards per play). Whichever team takes care of the football and does not grant its opponent additional scoring opportunities will have the leg up.

San Diego State has played in five games decided by six points or fewer. In those games the Aztecs were 3-2, with a net turnover margin of zero. In their other four games, they went 4-0, with a net turnover margin of +10. Fresno State has a +5 turnover margin for the year and has yet to be -2 in any of its 37 games under coach Jeff Tedford. Knowing the Bulldogs are a very strong bet to take care of the football, I give them a great chance of knocking off the Aztecs in San Diego. Tedford is 2-0 against SDSU and will make it 3-0.

Pick: Fresno State +1

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