Liberty will visit Louisiana Tech for the first time in program history and its final road game of the season on Saturday afternoon at Joe Aillet Stadium.

Game Overview

  • Matchup: Liberty Flames (4-6, 3-3 CUSA) vs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-5, 3-3 CUSA)
  • Date & Time: Saturday, November 22, 2025, at Joe Aillet Stadium, Ruston, Louisiana. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
  • Series History: Liberty leads, 1-0

Preview of the Bulldogs

Liberty will attempt to rebound from two straight losses as the Flames remain on the road for a CUSA contest on Saturday, November 22 at Louisiana Tech. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+ from Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, Louisiana. Liberty won the only previous meeting with the Bulldogs, 56-30, in a homecoming victory at Williams Stadium on Nov. 4, 2023. The Flames racked up over 600 yards of offense in the win, rushing for 305 yards, paced by Quinton Cooley’s 179 yards and two touchdowns.

This game, however, is in Louisiana. The Flames have never won a game in the state of Louisiana, falling 35-14 at Louisiana in 2019 and 31-28 at Louisiana-Monroe in 2021. LA Tech has played well at home this season, going 4-1 on their home turf. Their lone home defeat was a 28-27 overtime loss to Western Kentucky on October 21.

Sonny Cumbie is in his fourth year guiding the Bulldogs. He enters Saturday’s game with a 16-31 record and 11-19 mark in conference play. Following two 3-9 seasons to begin his tenure in Ruston, Cumbie led Louisiana Tech to a 5-8 mark last year, losing in the Independence Bowl.

Many expect Cumbie is on the hot seat, and entering the season he and the Bulldogs got off to a hot start. They opened the season at 4-1 with the only loss at LSU. This included a win over one of the current Sun Belt leaders Southern Miss and UTEP and New Mexico State to open CUSA play at 2-0. It looked like Louisiana Tech was going to be firmly in the mix at the top of the conference, but things have gone south since then. The Bulldogs have dropped four of their last five games, including a loss at Washington State, 28-3, last week in a non-conference matchup.

Cumbie, the former quarterback, has had difficulty finding his signal caller this season. Trey Kukuk started the first two games before giving way to Blake Baker who started game three through the game a couple weeks ago against Delaware. Baker, who had completed 102 of 155 passes for 1,251 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions tore his ACL against the Blue Hens. Since Baker’s injury, Cumbie has gone back and forth between Kukuk and Evan Bullock. Bullock got the start this past week against Washington State, but Kukuk rotated in frequently. In the loss to Wazzou, Bullock completed 4 of 10 passes for 36 yards, while rushing three times for 1 yard. Kukuk completed 5 of 8 passes for 24 yards and an interception. He ran 9 times for 39 yards. Earlier this week, Cumbie announced that Bullock suffered an injury that will force him to miss the rest of the regular season which lends Kukuk to be the team’s starting quarterback Saturday against Liberty.

Largely due to the inconsistency at quarterback, the Bulldogs have struggled on offense. They are currently 11th in CUSA in passing yards, last in the league with 7 passing touchdowns, 10th in passing offense (194.4), and 8th in total offense (366.1). They are averaging 28.1 points per game, which ranks 4th in the conference. Louisiana Tech has the 4th best rushing offense in the league, averaging 175.4 yards per game and 4.34 yards per rush.

Clay Thevenin leads the team in rushing with 101 carries for 516 yards and 8 touchdowns. Omiri Wiggins has 87 carries for 415 yards and 4 touchdowns. Eli Finley leads Louisiana Tech in receiving with 31 catches for 365 yards. Devin Gandy has 21 receptions for 356 yards and a team-leading 2 touchdowns.

Especially early in the season, Louisiana Tech was led by their defense. The Bulldogs lead the nation with 7 defensive touchdowns, five on interceptions and two on fumbles. They also have a CUSA best 15 interceptions on the season. The Bulldogs are the top scoring defense in the conference and 24th nationally, holding teams to 18.9 points per game. They are also the top rushing defense in CUSA and 41st nationally while holding teams to 126.9 rushing yards per game. Louisiana Tech is the 8th best passing defense, allowing 248 yards through the air each game, and rank 4th in CUSA in total defense, with teams averaging 374.9 yards of offense against them.

Coach Chadwell on the Bulldogs

“LA Tech has a tremendous defense, I mean a tremendous defense. It’s kept them in a lot of games. That’s going to be a big challenge for us. They are going to be very similar defensively, as far as just the way they play physically, to Missouri State. It’s going to be a big challenge for us, from an offensive standpoint.”

“They’ve had to rotate a bunch of quarterbacks, had some injuries. I think they might have had another one, if I’m not mistaken. They play fast, a lot of tempo. We’re going to have to do a good job of getting our cleats in the ground and aligning, not getting beat deep by mis-alignments.”

“It’s a big game, you mentioned bowl implications, we are up against the wall, backs against the wall. We have to win or we don’t have an opportunity to go. They are in the same situation in that they’ve got two chances to get bowl eligible. It’s a big one. Our guys understand that.”

Prediction

Spread: Liberty -1.5

My forecast: Liberty 24, Louisiana Tech 21

My record this season: 7-3 straight-up, 7-3 against the spread