DXL FRISCO BOWL
SMU MUSTANGS vs. LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS
Wednesday, Dec. 20
8 p.m. ET
Toyota Stadium
(20,500/Natural Grass)
Frisco, Texas
Television
ESPN
Mike Couzens, John Congemi and Kris Budden
Satellite Radio
SiriusXM 81
Radio
KTCK-FM 96.7 (SMU)
THE GAME
The DXL Frisco Bowl makes its debut on the annual bowl calendar in 2017 … The game has roots in the American Athletic Conference, however — The American owned and operated the Miami Beach Bowl for three years (2014-16) at Marlins Park in Miami before the conference sold the game to ESPN Events, which renamed the game and moved it to Frisco, Texas … The American will remain a participant in the bowl on an annual basis … The game is played at Toyota Stadium, which is the home of FC Dallas of Major League Soccer and has been the annual host of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision final since 2010 … New SMU head coach Sonny Dykes, who will make his Mustangs debut in the DXL Frisco Bowl, spent three years (2010-12) as head coach at Louisiana Tech, going 22-15 and winning a WAC title with the Bulldogs … Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz, meanwhile, has been head coach at three schools that are current members of The American (UConn, ECU, USF) … SMU and Louisiana Tech have met four times previously, all when both schools were members of the WAC … Louisiana Tech holds a 3-1 record against the Mustangs, whose only win in the series came in the 2002 season.
SMU
7-5, 4-4 American
Head Coach
Sonny Dykes (Texas Tech ’93)
0-0, first season at SMU
41-45, eighth season as collegiate head coach
Notes
SMU will make its 16th bowl appearance, and its first since the 2012 season, with this year’s appearance in the DXL Frisco Bowl … The Mustangs are 7-7-1 in their previous 15 bowl appearances and have won their last two, including a 43-10 victory against Fresno State in the 2012 Hawai’i Bowl … SMU has seven wins at the end of the regular season for the first time since 2011 … The Mustangs went 6-1 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium to finish with their most home wins since 1981 … SMU is one of two teams in the nation to have a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers (Oklahoma State) … SMU introduced former Louisiana Tech and Cal coach Sonny Dykes as the Mustangs’ new head coach Dec. 11 after Chad Morris stepped down to take the head job at Arkansas … Dykes will coach the Mustangs in the DXL Frisco Bowl … SMU began the season with four wins in its first five games and was within six points of TCU after three quarters in its only loss in that stretch … SMU ranks 13th nationally in total offense (493.8 ypg) and is eighth in scoring offense (40.2 ppg), but are 121st and 112th, respectively, in total defense and scoring defense … QB Ben Hicks has enjoyed a prolific sophomore season that has seen him throw for 3,442 yards with 32 touchdowns against nine interceptions … Hicks has what might be nation’s top wide receiver tandem at his disposal as WR Trey Quinn and WR Courtland Sutton both earned first team all-conference honors … Quinn leads the nation with 106 receptions to go with 1,191 yards and 12 touchdowns, while Sutton has 62 catches for 1,017 yards and 12 TDs as well … Not to be outdone, WR James Proche is averaging 20.4 yards per reception (13th nationally) on 40 catches for 816 yards and six TDs … RB Xavier Jones has rushed for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns on 170 carries and is averaging 84.9 yards per game … RB Ke’Mon Freeman has a team-high 11 rushing touchdowns … The defense is led by DE Justin Lawler, who has 74 tackles with 9.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss, along with a nation-leading three blocked kicks … CB Jordan Wyatt has four interceptions and three forced fumbles and has scored three defensive touchdowns.
LOUISIANA TECH
6-6, 4-4 Conference USA
Head Coach
Skip Holtz (Notre Dame ’86)
37-28, fifth season at Louisiana Tech
125-99, 18th season as collegiate head coach
Notes
Louisiana Tech will make it’s 10th major college bowl appearance this season as the Bulldogs won their last two regular-season games to secure bowl eligibility … The Bulldogs are 5-3-1 in their previous bowl appearances and have won three straight postseason games after last year’s 48-45 win against Navy in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl … Additionally, Louisiana Tech has gone 4-2 in six NCAA FCS Championship games and is 7-2 in nine previous NCAA Division II playoff games, including three straight national championships between 1972 and 1974 … The Bulldogs’ football alumni includes Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw, Fred Dean and Willie Roaf … The Bulldogs won nine games in each of the last three seasons under fourth-year head coach Skip Holtz, who has previous head coaching stops at UConn (1994-98), ECU (2005-09) and USF (2010-12), which are all members of The American … Louisiana Tech is one of four FBS schools (along with Wisconsin, Clemson and Utah) to win nine or more games, as well as a bowl game, in each of the last three seasons … Louisiana Tech has had three one-point losses this season while a fourth setback was decided in overtime … The Bulldogs are 4-0 this season when they finish with more rushing yards than their opponent and are 1-5 when the opponent has more rushing yards … QB J’Mar Smith has thrown for 2,758 yards and 13 touchdowns with five interceptions and has rushed for 356 yards and five more TDs … RB Boston Scott has a team-high 937 rushing yards with eight touchdowns … WR Teddy Veal, who previously played two seasons at Tulane, is the top receiver with 69 catches for 832 yards and five touchdowns … Veal was chosen as the Conference USA Newcomer of the Year … The Bulldogs had two players from the defense on the All-Conference USA First Team as DE Jaylon Ferguson and S Secdrick Cooper were selected … Ferguson leads the Bulldogs with 6.0 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss, while Cooper ranks second on the team with 63 tackles to go with two interceptions … Louisiana Tech has had 10 players selected in the NFL Draft since the 2013 season, the most in Conference USA.