Sonny Cumbie wasn’t given a full deck of cards for his first season at the helm of the Bulldogs, as they struggled throughout the year, failing to put together a top 100 offense or defense, and finishing 3-9 overall. They only played in 3 one score games, all of which were losses. It doesn’t help that their out of conference schedule included Clemson, Missouri and South Alabama. Once they got in conference the performances atleast got better, but the scoreboard didn’t show that. They lost to Rice, North Texas, FIU, UTSA, Charlotte and UAB. The only conference wins were UTEP and MTSU. In year two, he’ll look to make tangible improvements on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, you could kinda see what Cumbie wanted to do. He wanted to pass to open up the run game, but the problem was the pass game wasn’t nearly efficient enough to do that, and he didn’t really have the pieces he to the puzzle he wanted to build. So it ended up being a little bit of a square peg in a round hole scenario with this offense, as neither the run or pass was really able to get it going. And it certainly didn’t help that there was zero quality on the offensive line. This made it really hard for the offense to find consistency down to down, where they ranked 103rd in offensive success rate and 105th in EPA/play, largely the two most important metrics to judge a teams performance over a time period.
Defensively things weren’t all that much better. Teams knew that they could run all over this Bulldog defense, sot hey did. They were one of the higher teams in the country facing standard down runs and they were one of the worst teams in the country in slowing down opponent run games. The secondary was probably than the numbers alluded because they had to be so focused on shoring up the run game that the defensive line couldn’t, but they still put up decent numbers. They ranked 47th in passing success allowed and 51st in explosive plays allowed. If this defensive line can take a different shape, things could be looking up for the defense as a whole.
Offense
The starting QB will be a different face than it was in 2022, with Parker McNeil graduating and Landry Lyddy moving on via the portal. That leaves Matthew Downing who got 133 snaps last year and Jack Turner who got 60. But the likely starter is probably Hank Bachmeier, Boise St transfer. He comes in with a boatload of experience and some decent seasons under his belt, and he should be in a good spot to run this offense. Downing was a former TCU quarterback before transfering in last year, so there may still be some talent left in his arm as well.
Either way, the quarterback needs to find some time in the pocket. The line from 2022 was epically bad for quarterbacks. Landry Lyddy had the least amount of time in the pocket of any QB to take snaps in the country and Parker McNeil was 5th worst. The talent doesn’t matter if there is zero time for them to throw the ball. 3 starters return from what was a very poor offensive line, with the right guard and center/LG departing via graduation. There are 4 guys on the roster who got over 150 snaps that weren’t included as the starters, so the hope is that they’ll be able to step in and contribute and fill the voids. Bert Hale was the highest graded lineman for La Tech and he returns on the left side of the line, with Carson Bruno being the 2nd highest graded who played the whole season at RT as a freshman – he also returns. The positive is the two best players on this line are both coming back, per PFF.
Of course, after a season like La Tech had, any solid skill position players were going to test their market, and that they did. Tre Harris was the teams best receiver and he is off to Ole Miss. Griffin Herbert was a highly graded tight end and 4th on the team in targets and he also departs. On the positive, Cyrus Allen is back as is Smoke Harris, and they’re responsible for 150 combined targets. They need another sure target to develop here, but this room could be okay.
But they have to be able to run the ball to keep defenses off balanced, and the positive is both Charvis Thornton and Marquis Crosby, the 1-2 in carries and snaps last year at the running back position, return. They also added heavily from the portal here, with the additions of Craig Sqwirl Williams and Tyre Shelton from Baylor and Miami of OH. Sqwirl could be the lead guy here by the end of the year with his level of talent.
Defense
It’s pretty telling when a defensive lineman isn’t represented in the top 7 tacklers on your team, and that’s exactly what we have here with the Bulldogs D. In fact, there is only 1 defensive lineman in the top 11 tacklers. That was how bad this defensive line was in 2022. The leader in tackles for loss? A defensive back. The leader in sacks? Also a defensive back. Not good.
This line returns 70% of it’s snaps and they went HARD in the portal this year across the whole defense, as they clearly knew there were holes that needed patched. Kershawn Fisher played over 500 snaps on the DL and hit the portal, as did Rasheed Lyles. Neither has found a home, and any returning depth would be helpful, but neither were that great, per PFF. Keivie Rose was the highest graded defensive lineman by PFF for LA Tech, and he returns, as does J’Dan Burnett and Deshon Hall, who weren’t graded too far below Rose. Add in Joseph Mason and you have a young group here that got a good bit of experience and graded out decently in pash rush by PFF. Most of those guys are young as well, so another year in the system and in the gym will likely help the line. Jayden Gray transfers in from Iowa State, and he could also have an impact as a sophomore.
The top two tacklers on the team were linebackers, and both return. The problem is both grade out very poor in run defense, and that was totally evident by the defense. They couldn’t stop guys from racking up hi-lite YPR on them, and they need to take the next step in 2023 and hopefully with experience they will be able to do that. Tyler Grubbs was the highest graded linebacker on the team per PFF but he went into the portal and landed at Tulane. Snaps are back here, but these guys need to take a step forward. Jeslord Boateng should help, who transfer in from Akron with lots of playing experience.
And boy did they hammer the portal for secondary players. At safety they brought in Zach Zimos from Akron, Isaiah McElvane from SDSU, Kejuan Markham from ASU, Roderick Roberson Jr from SMU. At CB they landed Demarcus Griffin-Taylor from Houston, Keon Markham from ASU. Those guys should be immediate upgrades at a lot of the spots and they should also really help the depth. Bee Jay Williamson was an all-conference player last year at safety and returns, as does Cecil Singleton who played over 600 snaps. Willie Roberts was 2nd on the team in passes defended and is also back, but they need to fill 2 starter spots. With the depth and the transfers, this secondary should be as good, if not better than last year. Keep an eye on Jhamal Shelby a rising sophomore cornerback who was a talented recruit.
Summary
So much of this teams success will rely on the trench play. The offense will be better with Bachmeier and a serviceable offensive line and a 2nd year in Cumbie’s system, and the front 7 of the defense should improve with the amount of snaps returning – the question is if those snaps have any talent. The secondary should be better.
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