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FACTS & STATS: Site: Romney Stadium (25,513) -- Logan, Utah. Television: Local. Home Record: LaTech 1-2, USU 2-1. Away Record: LaTech 1-2, USU 0-3. Neutral Record: LaTech 0-0, USU 0-0. Conference Record: LaTech 1-1, USU 0-1. Series Record: Louisiana Tech leads, 5-3.

GAME NOTES: The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs shoot for back-to-back wins this weekend, as they get back to action and take on the Utah State Aggies in Western Athletic Conference action at Romney Stadium in Logan.

LaTech, which took a break in the action last week, snapped a three-game slide the last time out with a 24-11 victory over Idaho in Moscow. The Bulldogs, who are back home in Ruston next week versus San Jose State, are in the midst of a six-game run in which all but one is being played on the road. The team is also aiming for just its second win of the campaign against another member of the Football Bowl Subdivision, the team having beaten only Central Arkansas (48-42) in overtime in the second week of the season.

As for the Aggies, they began their WAC schedule last Saturday night and again the team failed to come up with a win against Fresno State on the road, instead bowing by a score of 31-21 in the Golden State. USU, which has dropped three of the last four outings and has just one other win this season versus an FCS opponent (Weber State), has not won in Fresno since 1980.

According to USU records, Louisiana Tech owns a 5-3 edge in an all-time series that dates back to 1993. USU actually won the first two games of the series in the early 1990's, but once the teams became conference foes the momentum shifted to the Bulldogs who have captured five of the last six encounters, including a 24-6 final last year in Ruston.

Nick Isham has been trying to lead the Bulldogs this season, but being just a freshman means he still has a lot of growth ahead of him. The quarterback has had a couple of 300-yard passing games against the likes of Central Arkansas and Hawaii, posting a combined five passing touchdowns in those two matchups, but otherwise he's been rather average in 2011. Isham, who has almost as many interceptions (seven) as he does TD passes (eight), often defers to running back Lennon Creer who has accounted for 528 of the team's 882 rushing yards this season and has scored half of their 12 rushing TDs, but the loss of Ray Holley (four TDs) to a back injury might place too much pressure on Creer to shoulder the load coming out of the backfield. Making plays down the field is Quinton Patton who has more than twice as many receptions (46) as anyone else on the team and has 635 yards and five TDs to show for his efforts as well.

The overall stats show that the Bulldogs have had some trouble slowing down opposing passers so far this season, permitting 294.5 ypg to rank last in the WAC and 113th in the country entering this week, but a closer look inside the number explains a lot. First of all, LaTech gave up 410 yards and four touchdowns to Hawaii which had the top passer, in terms of yardage per game, last season and then the team also gave up 351 yards and three scores to Houston and Case Keenum as the signal-caller led a furious charge late in the contest to pull off the win. After that. the Bulldogs also permitted another 372 yards and four TDs to Central Arkansas which was locked in an overtime thriller with LaTech which resulted in a combined 90 points, so all of that explains why the secondary appears to have been beaten and bruised so far in 2011. Quinn Giles has been trying to even the playing field somewhat with his three interceptions thus far, but there is still plenty of work to be done.

After erupting for 63 points against Wyoming a week earlier, the offense for the Aggies stalled a bit versus Fresno State after the team posted a couple of touchdowns in the first few minutes of the meeting. Utah State, which produced more than 450 yards of total offense, opening up with a 14-0 lead within the first nine minutes against the Bulldogs thanks to a 47-yard TD pass from Chuckie Keeton to Michael Smith and a 59-yard TD run by Robert Turbin. Smith added a 46-yard TD run later in the meeting and Turbin finished with a game- high 145 yards rushing on 16 attempts. Turbin continues to be the focal point of the offense for the Aggies, leading the WAC and placing sixth in the nation with his 125.7 ypg on the ground. Breaking big runs on a regular basis these days, Turbin's efforts have earned him 11 touchdowns and close to seven yards per crack, which has helped push the USU rushing attack to an astounding 298.8 ypg which is tops in the conference and sixth in the country. Keeton has completed 61.6 percent of his passes and his 10 TD passes have come without a young gunslinger being picked off even once in 138 attempts thus far.

Unlike more Fresno State opponents who have been able to rattle Bulldogs quarterback Derek Carr, the Aggies had trouble getting through against the offensive line of the hosts. The pass defense surrendered 248 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Carr, the signal-caller hitting eight different receivers during the meeting in order to keep the USU secondary guessing. The Aggies failed to register a single sack and managed a mere three stops in the backfield, one each by Will Davis and Bojay Filimoeatu. The team as a whole so far this season is posting two sacks per game, which is respectable, but in a league that tends to rely so much on the pass, that number should climb as the Aggies work their way through the WAC schedule in all honesty. Another aspect of the defense that needs more attention is how well the secondary defends passes because at the moment Utah State has just one interception through six games and yet the team's overall turnover margin is just minus-0.17 turnover per outing.

As long as Turbin can pound out the yards on the ground and Keeton can again refrain from making any poor throws, the Aggies could be in prime position to get back into the win column this weekend.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Utah State 24, Louisiana Tech 17