Louisiana Tech Football

Louisiana Tech suspended linebacker Brevin Randle indefinitely for stomping on the neck of UTEP offensive lineman Steven Hubbard in his team's 24-10 win Friday.

Louisiana Tech athletic director Eric Wood announced Saturday that Randle is now suspended.

"Our University, athletic department, and football program believe in culture, class, and competitive excellence and in no way was that displayed in the moment," Wood said.

Bret Bloomquist of the El Paso Times was among those to draw attention to the sequence, which was initially missed and not penalized by the game officials, whose attention was diverted to a scrum for the ball.

Randle was returning to his feet away from the pile. After getting up, he stomped his right foot down onto Hubbard around the neck area.

UTEP head coach Dana Dimel said the the referees communicated to him at halftime they were made aware of the stomp.

"The referee, who I really admire, came over at halftime and very gentlemanly said that he missed it," he said, per Bloomquist. "That's part of the game. He (the official) was a class act, I really appreciated that."

Randle is in his first year with Louisiana Tech after transferring in from Stephen F. Austin, where he played for four seasons. He has appeared in each of the Bulldogs' six games and has 46 tackles and two sacks.

Thirty-eight Louisiana Tech football players have tested positive for COVID-19 in the aftermath of Hurricane Laura, per Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports.

Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic also confirmed the news.

Before Hurricane Laura, only one Louisiana Tech player had tested positive over a three-week period despite officials administering 350 tests to players, per Thamel.

The storm eliminated power in 90 percent of the area for seven to 10 days, and that led to players seeking safe havens elsewhere, per Thamel.

Louisiana Tech is located in Ruston, Louisiana, which was hit particularly hard by the storm. Of note, 95 percent of the city's electrical grid was taken out, per Isabel Albritton of myarklamiss.com.

The need to be safe amid potentially life-threatening circumstances made it difficult to socially distance, as Thamel noted.

In response, Louisiana Tech's scheduled game against Baylor on Saturday has been postponed.

The Louisiana Tech vs. Baylor contest isn't the only game that has been postponed because of COVID-19. In the Big 12 alone, three games have been pushed.

The TCU vs. SMU matchup was scheduled for Friday, but per an announcement from Horned Frogs athletic director Jeremiah Donati, some athletes and support staff recently tested positive for COVID-19.

A Tulsa vs. Oklahoma State game previously scheduled for Sept. 12 is now pushed to Sept. 19.

Multiple Golden Hurricanes players had tested positive for COVID-19, and the team's practice schedule has been truncated in response, per the Associated Press, necessitating more recovery time and on-field work before playing a game.

Other matchups that have been postponed include NC State at Virginia Tech, Marshall at East Carolina, ULM at Troy, Temple at Navy, Rice at Marshall and UAB at Rice, per Ralph D. Russo of the Associated Press.

Louisiana Tech's Jaylon Ferguson registered 2.5 sacks in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night, bringing him to 45 for his career and surpassing former record-holder Terrell Suggs (44).

Ferguson nearly surpassed the record by an even greater margin but had one sack wiped away on a questionable facemask call in the second quarter.

The all-time college football sacks record is 56, held by Marcus Martin of DII's Slippery Rock.

As Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports added:

"It's important to note that the NCAA did not begin officially tracking sacks as a statistic until the 2000 season. The unofficial NCAA sack record is held by Alabama's Derrick Thomas and Arizona's Tedy Bruschi. Both players were credited with 52 sacks by their schools during their playing careers."

Ferguson, a fifth-year senior, finished the season with 17.5 sacks. His football career will continue on Sundays, as ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. has him No. 19 overall on his latest big board.

B/R's Matt Miller, meanwhile, had Ferguson as his No. 9 edge-rusher and No. 39 overall on his big board released Dec. 11.

If his pro career is anything like Suggs', he'll be a difference-maker for the next decade. The former Arizona State Sun Devil and current Baltimore Raven has played 16 seasons professionally, accumulating 132.5 sacks, tying him for 11th in NFL history with Leslie O'Neal and Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor.

After allowing three unanswered touchdowns to Mississippi State, Louisiana Tech looked poised to open the fourth quarter with a touchdown.

Although already facing a 57-14 deficit, the Bulldogs had a 2nd-and-goal at the six-yard line to slightly lessen the rout.

They somehow played the next down from their own seven.

An errant snap soared over quarterback J'Mar Smith's head, and an outlandish comedy of errors followed. In a sequence that can only be soundtracked by "Yakety Sax," multiple players from both sides bobbled and kicked the ball all the way to the opposite end of the field.

Louisiana Tech wide receiver Cee Jay Powell at least avoided a disastrous turnover by recovering the loose ball. The absurd sequence cost them 87 yards, and they only managed a 21-yard run on their 3rd-and-93.

[CBS Sports]

Louisiana Tech sophomore running back Jaqwis Dancy announced Friday that he is cancer-free.

According to the team's official website, Dancy was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma in October.

After learning of the positive news, Dancy released the following statement:

It felt amazing when I heard the news that I am cancer-free. It was something I have been waiting to hear since I was diagnosed and I can't wait to share my happiness with all my teammates. I especially want to thank the LA Tech family and everyone who supported me in this fight. The support I have received since the beginning has been amazing. My biggest goal right now is to get back on the field with my teammates.

The Arkansas native did not play in 2016 after seeing limited action offensively as a freshman in 2015.

Bulldogs head coach Skip Holtz also commented on Dancy's diagnosis:

We are thrilled about the positive news and to hear about the progress he has been making in his battle against cancer. It has been a tough fight for Jaqwis and his family. There is still work to do, but this is certainly positive news to celebrate. As much as anything, I am thrilled for him and his mom for what they have been through. At this point, it is nice to know he is cancer-free and we are optimistic, but we know he still has some work to do.

Dancy's teammates supported him during the 2016 season with decals on their helmets while he went through chemotherapy sessions.

He was a special teams standout during his freshman campaign, particularly on punt and kick return coverage.

While leading rusher Jarred Craft will return for Louisiana Tech as a senior in 2017, Dancy has a chance to carve out a role for himself on offense provided he continues to progress in his recovery.

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs head football coach Skip Holtz announced Monday that sophomore running back Jaqwis Dancy has been diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma, according to Sean Isabella of the News Star.

Isabella provided Holtz's comments:

What they're going through is traumatic. It is hard to deal with. I've sat in those meetings when you hear that c (cancer) word and how has that is to deal with especially when you're a 19-year-old sophomore in college athletics who is fit and healthy with what he's battling. Jaqwis is in a different battle right now.

Dancy was primarily a return man in his freshman season, averaging 17.4 yards per return on 17 attempts. He also carried the ball twice for two yards in 13 games.

On Oct. 13, Holtz announced he planned to redshirt Dancy after an ankle injury kept him out of action to start the 2016 season.

A press release on the team's official website announced Dancy was alerted of his diagnosis Oct. 7 and will start a treatment plan at St. Jude's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

Pittsburgh Panthers running back James Conner returned to the field this season after announcing he had been diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma in December 2015. Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry also returned to his team this season less than a year after his cancer diagnosis.

Keenan Reynolds' record has fallen—for now.

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs running back Kenneth Dixon became the FBS' all-time touchdown leader after notching the 86th of his career during the Bulldogs' matchup against the Arkansas State Red Wolves in the New Orleans Bowl on Saturday, per Dane Brugler of CBS Sports.

Dixon has had a stellar career since becoming the featured tailback at Louisiana Tech.

It all began in his freshman season, when he ran for 1,194 yards and 27 touchdowns. If not for a sophomore year that resulted in only five total touchdowns, his lead over Reynolds could have been greater, making the Navy signal-caller's game in hand irrelevant.

Not only did Dixon surpass Reynolds in the touchdown race, but he also set a New Orleans Bowl record with four scores against the Red Wolves.

RedditCFB provided a clip of Dixon's record-breaking score:

CBS Sports projects Dixon to land in the third or fourth round in the upcoming NFL draft. At 5'10" and 213 pounds, he has the build of someone such as Robert Turbin, with more speed. Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports thinks you should be looking to add him to your fantasy team next year:

You should watch Kenneth Dixon cuz he’s gonna be the rookie RB you never heard of that you pick up off the waiver wire in fantasy next year.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) December 20, 2015

Dixon's career has been a successful one, to say the least. Louisiana Tech has had a winning record in three of Dixon's four years with the Bulldogs. The team's one losing season was his sophomore year, the five-touchdown year. As he enters the draft, he could be a highly touted running back and serve as a weapon out of the backfield at the next level.

Reynolds broke the record earlier this year, and he'll get a chance to get his record back Dec. 28 against the Pittsburgh Panthers in the Military Bowl.

Marshall was the preseason favorite to win the Conference USA championship, and despite last week's loss, which ruined the Herd's run at perfection, they can still live up to those lofty expectations.

Louisiana Tech, meanwhile, got hot toward the end of this season, going 4-1 against the spread over its last five games, winning CUSA's West Division.

Two of the better teams to bet on this season meet when the Thundering Herd and the Bulldogs battle in the CUSA Championship Game on the Herd's home field in Huntington on Saturday afternoon.

Point spread: The Thundering Herd opened as 14.5-point favorites, according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark (line updates and matchup report).

College football pick, via Odds Shark computer: 41.6-23.0 Thundering Herd

Why the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs can cover the spread

The Bulldogs are 6-1 SU over their last seven games and 6-2 ATS over their last eight after routing Rice 76-31 and easily covering the spread as seven-point favorites last week. Louisiana Tech led 28-17 at the half and then scored four times in the third quarter to pull away. The 'Dogs racked up 677 yards of offense on the Owls, ran for 269 yards and scored twice on defensive touchdowns.

So after going 4-8 in its first season under Skip Holtz last year, Louisiana Tech is playing for a conference title. The Bulldogs have been betting dogs four times this season; they're 4-0 ATS in that spot.

Why the Marshall Thundering Herd can cover the spread

The Herd had won 11 games in a row but got caught napping last week, giving up nine touchdowns in a 67-66 overtime loss to Western Kentucky. Marshall trailed almost all day, including by 10 points with 10 minutes to go, but rallied for two scores to force overtime before falling on a bold two-point call by the Hilltoppers. Prior to that, the Herd had won 10 of their 11 games by at least 19 points.

Marshall is averaging 289 yards per game on the ground and 286 through the air while giving up just 359 total yards per outing. Finally, after losing last year's conference title game to Rice as six-point favorites, the Herd might be hungry for redemption.

Smart pick

Marshall owns the edge on offense, but Louisiana Tech owns the edge on defense. And when you can get the team with the better defense plus points, that's probably the smart choice.

Betting trends

• Louisiana Tech is 4-2 SU in its last six games on the road.
• Marshall is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games.

All point spread and lines data courtesy of Odds Shark. All quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line-movement updates, and get the free odds tracker app.