Louisiana
MTSU football vs Louisiana Tech: Score prediction, scouting report in Week 7 game
MTSU football coach Derek Mason on improving after loss to Duke
Middle Tennessee State football coach Derek Mason speaks following a 45-17 loss to Duke on homecoming.
Middle Tennessee State football, after a week off, will delve back into Conference USA play for the rest of the season beginning with a midweek contest.
The Blue Raiders (1-4, 0-1 CUSA) will try to snap a four-game losing streak and earn their first conference win when they play at Louisiana Tech Thursday (7 p.m., CBS Sports Networks).
MTSU is coming off a 24-7 loss at Memphis. Louisiana Tech (1-3, 0-1) has lost three in a row after a Week 1 victory over Nicholls. The Bulldogs dropped a 17-10 decision to Florida International during Week 5.
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Below is a scouting report on the matchup, including a score prediction by The Daily News Journal’s Cecil Joyce:
Louisiana Tech football has relied on its defense in 2024
Despite a 1-3 to start, Louisiana Tech has played good defense this season. The Bulldogs are allowing an average of less than 300 yards total offense per game.
The Bulldogs have been particularly tough against the pass, where they’ve allowed only 198 yards per game. That will test an MTSU offense whose strength has been its passing game — 265 yards per game — behind redshirt junior Nick Vattiato.
MTSU may also turn to its running game, though it’s averaging only 80 yards per game, a little more against the Bulldogs. With starter Frank Peasant out because of an injury, junior Jaiden Credle has carried a bulk of the load. He rushed 10 times for 39 yards in the loss to Memphis after gaining 125 yards and a touchdown in a homecoming loss to Duke.
Credle has 49 rushes for 233 yards and two TDs on the season.
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MTSU passing duo clicking on all cylinders
One of the bright spots during the current losing streak has been the play of Vattiato and his top receiver, junior Auburn transfer Omari Kelly. The duo has heated up over recent games.
Kelly has a team-leading 24 receptions for 471 yards with three touchdowns, and most of that production has come over the past three games.
Wrapped around a four-catch, 12-yard performance against Duke, Kelly totaled 15 receptions, 413 yards and three TDs against Western Kentucky and Memphis.
Vattiato is 107 of 163 for 1,285 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions.
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Louisiana Tech offense also likes to air it out
Like MTSU, Louisiana Tech has succeeded more with its passing game than running game, averaging just 100 yards rushing per contest. That comes despite a starting offensive line of all fourth-year players.
The team’s leading rusher is 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior Donerio Davenport. The McComb, Mississippi, product has 31 carries for 107 yards with one touchdown. The second-leading rusher has just 65 yards.
Unlike the Blue Raiders, the Bulldogs have rotated starting quarterbacks.
Redshirt junior Jack Turner, the team’s Week 1 starter, injured a knee injury in that game and missed Week 2 before coming back to throw for 314 yards and a TD (but also three interceptions) in a loss to North Carolina State. He was then pulled in the fourth quarter of Tech’s Week 4 loss to Tulsa after completing 7 of 14 passes for just 41 yards.
Redshirt freshman Evan Bullock got the start the next week against FIU, completing 26 of 37 passes for 218 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Redshirt freshman Blake Baker replaced Turner in both Week 1 and Week 4. He is 18 of 34 passing for 314 yards with a TD and three interceptions.
MTSU score prediction vs. Louisiana Tech
MTSU 24, Louisiana Tech 17. The Blue Raiders get their first CUSA win in the Derek Mason era, snapping a losing streak along the way. An improving MTSU defense exploits the Bulldogs’ issues behind center.
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Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at cjoyce@dnj.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @Cecil_Joyce.
Louisiana
Louisiana resident speaks to FOX10 News about deadly New Orleans attacks
MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – Shortly after 3 a.m. on Jan. 1, a time of celebration quickly turned into a night of tragedy and mourning after police say a truck plowed through a crowd on Bourbon and Canal Streets in New Orleans.
The FBI confirming 15 people were killed and over 30 others were injured.
The attacker,42-year-old Army Veteran from Texas Shamsud-Din Jabbar, had been deployed to Afghanistan.
Investigators said just days before the attack, Jabbar made videos that expressed a desire to kill.
One Louisiana resident Matt Baldwin was in New Orleans on Iberville Street in a private residence when everything unfolded.
Although he wasn’t aware of the heartbreaking incident until he woke up, he said he has military experience and heard a sound that he said was all too familiar. That’s when he knew something was wrong.
“I heard an explosion at about 9:15, 9:20 and we were told that it was them putting a charge on one of the devices that they think could’ve been an improvised explosive device,” Baldwin said. “I don’t know, just to be in the vicinity, 50 to 60 yards from a terrorist attack is, it’s crazy.”
Copyright 2025 WALA. All rights reserved.
Louisiana
Archbishop of New Orleans prays for victims of terrorist attack in Louisiana
Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans says the Church’s prayer are going out for the victims of a terrorist attack in his city in Louisiana.
A suspect named Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a pick-up truck around barriers and went through a crowd of people celebrating the New Year early on Wednesday.
The attack occurred around 3.15 am on the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Streets in the French Quarter, an area popular with tourists.
At least 10 people were killed, and police found an Islamic State (ISIS) flag in the attacker’s vehicle.
“Our prayers go out to those killed and injured in this morning’s horrific attack on Bourbon Street,” Aymond said in a statement.
“This violent act is a sign of utter disrespect for human life. I join with others in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans in offering prayerful support to the victims’ families. I give thanks for the heroic duty of hundreds of law enforcement and medical personnel in the face of such evil,” the archbishop said.
Jabbar was killed in a police shootout after the attack. Two police officers were injured in the exchange.
“He was trying to run over as many people as he could. He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and damage that he did,” Anne Kirkpatrick, the New Orleans police chief, told journalists.
The FBI says Jabbar was probably not “solely responsible” and urged anyone with images of him recorded over the last few days to get in touch with the federal agency. Investigators have reviewed video showing three men and a woman placing an improvised explosive device in connection with the attack.
President Joe Biden says he has been “continually briefed” since the attack by federal law enforcement leadership and his homeland security team, including Secretary of Homeland Security Ali Mayorkas, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, and the Mayor of New Orleans “regarding the horrific incident that occurred there overnight.”
“The FBI is taking the lead in the investigation and is investigating this incident as an act of terrorism,” he said.
“I am grateful for the brave and swift response of local law enforcement in preventing even greater death and injury. I have directed my team to ensure every resource is available as federal, state, and local law enforcement work assiduously to get to the bottom of what happened as quickly as possible and to ensure that there is no remaining threat of any kind,” Biden continued.
The president said he will continue to receive updates about the attack, and will have more to say as we further information comes out.
“In the meantime, my heart goes out to the victims and their families who were simply trying to celebrate the holiday. There is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation’s communities,” Biden said.
University of Notre Dame president Father Robert Dowd – whose college football team was scheduled to play in New Orleans on Jan. 1 – said the members of the university would participate in a Mass for the victims, after announcing the game would be delayed due to the terrorist attack.
“We deeply regret any disappointment this change in plans causes and appreciate your understanding given these terrible events,” he said on X.
Louisiana
Mass casualty event declared after car ramming, shooting in New Orleans – i24NEWS
A mass casualty event was declared in New Orleans, Louisiana, after a car-ramming and shooting attack, occuring a few hours after New Year’s Eve celebrations early Wednesday.
US media reports said at least one person had been killed, with many more wounded as the driver targeted New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street. The assailant allegedly exited his vehicle and began firing, with law enforcement returning fire.
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