RUSTON, La (KTVE/KARD) – It is officially under 80 days until Louisiana Tech football squares off with FIU in their week zero match up. The big story around the team is the arrival of Boise State transfer Hank Bachmeier, who will most likely be calling the shots under center this year. Head coach Sonny Cumbie has been impressed with the 23-year-old Californian.
“He’s definitely come back from the spring more determined in these last few weeks of our workouts, in the weight room and in our throwing sessions. From an offensive standpoint, anytime you have a quarterback that has started 29 games and play the people he’s played, and won the games he’s won, he’s very experienced, he’s very seasoned,” Cumbie said during the schools’ ‘Bulldog Blitz’ event in Ruston this week.
Bachmeier went 20-9 in his career at Boise State, amassing just over 66-hundred yards passing, and a completion percentage just under 62 percent. He also threw for 41 touchdowns to 19 interceptions in his time in Idaho…
While Tech fans are looking at the shiny new signal caller, Cumbie has been really impressed with a group on the other side of the ball.
“I think our linebacker group. I think when people watch us play and watch us warm up, you look at our linebacker group and think that’s what a linebacking group should look like,” Cumbie said.
It wasn’t just on the offensive side of the ball where the Bulldogs made a splash in the transfer portal. De’Coldest Crawford comes back to the Boot after missing a full season at Nebraska with a knee injury. He’s someone coach Cumbie says they’re taking it slow with, but the talent is there.
“He’s working out with us in the summer and has had a great couple workouts. I think consistency, getting his strength back. The one thing you see is that he attacks the football, he has really strong hands and ball skills and I think a 50/50 ball guy that I think we would like to have and continue to develop but he still has a way to go,” Cumbie added.
With the Bulldogs playing in a week zero game this year, Cumbie tells us that the ramp up starts earlier than usual.
“With us having a week zero game we report a week earlier, July 26th is our report day and when we come back off that break it’s like ok here, we go it’s real.”
Louisiana Tech and Florida International will kick off the 2023 college football season Saturday August 26th at Joe Aillet Stadium. You can catch that game on the CBS Sports Network with kickoff for that game set for 8 p.m.
