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Louisiana Tech Will Face The Fighting Illini In The Heart Of Dallas Bowl

Stefan Ogrisek
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Flickr

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and the Illinois Illini will close out the 2014 season in style at the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Kick off is this Friday at noon on ESPN.

Mark Haslett,of NPR member station KETR in Dallas, says the Bulldogs are six-point favorites over Illinois.

The Louisiana Tech football team has a shining opportunity to make the season bright — and banish the ghost of a three-point loss in this year’s Conference USA championship game.

The Bulldogs (8-4) will face Illinois (6-6) in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Dec. 26. Kickoff is at noon and the game will be televised on ESPN.

Credit Univ. of Ill.
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Univ. of Ill.
Members of the Louisiana Tech and Illinois football teams got into the Christmas spirit by working at a Dallas food bank on Dec. 23. The teams will face one another in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Dec. 26.

Louisiana Tech won six of its last seven regular-season games to earn a spot in the C-USA title tilt against Marshall. But the Bulldogs dropped that game 26-23 on Dec. 6.

“I think coming out of a very disappointing loss in the championship game, (the players) were eager to get back out on the field,” head coach Skip Holtz said. “And we've had a good week of practice last week and really looking forward to getting some things done this week for this game.”

The Bulldogs enter the game as six-point favorites over Illinois, which had to scramble in the season’s last weeks to salvage a break-even record and secure a bowl berth. However, Holtz cautioned that the Fighting Illini have been playing their best football of the season in recent weeks and will present a challenge for Louisiana Tech.

“They are really playing well right now,” Holtz said. “When I look at the defense, very big, physical, strong‑type players… I think their defensive front seven is one of their strengths. And I think they're very good at corner, and they fill with their safeties. They're a very physical group from a defensive standpoint.  Very solid on special teams. So I keep saying it, but I think it's got all the makings to be very competitive, great football game (between) Conference USA and the Big Ten.”

The Illini will start senior Reilly O’Toole at quarterback. O’Toole won the starting job from sophomore Wes Lunt, who suffered a knee injury and then struggled after returning to action. O'Toole (6-4, 220) had been a backup during his years at Illinois, but his play in in victories over Minnesota, Penn State and Northwestern helped Illinois secure its first bowl game appearance in three years.

The Louisiana Tech offense features junior running back Kenneth Dixon, who ranks sixth in the country with 21 touchdowns and has rushed for 1,236 yards this season. The Bulldogs run to set up the pass, with senior quarterback Cody Sokol (246-420-3189, 29 TD, 13 INT) looking to finish his collegiate career on a winning note.

Defensively, Louisiana Tech leads the nation with 40 takeaways (3.1 per game). The defensive backfield is responsible for most of the theft, with 25 interceptions, tied for first in the country. Junior defensive back Adairius Barnes leads the pack with nine picks for 96 yards.

The game will mark the first bowl appearance for the Bulldogs under Holtz. In its most recent bowl game, Tech lost to TCU 20-11 in the 2011 Poinsettia Bowl. The Bulldogs have played Illinois only once in school history — a 52-24 Tech victory in 2012 at Champaign, Ill.

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