Bailey Hale – Noteworthy
OCT 1 CONFERENCE USA SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Louisiana Tech junior K Bailey Hale came into Saturday’s West Division matchup at North Texas having attempted just three field goals on the season. But in LA Tech’s 29-27 victory over the Mean Green, he attempted five field goals and connected on all five, tying a Louisiana Tech program record for most field goals in a single game. Hale set a new career-long with a 42-yard field goal, which ended up being the game-winner for the Bulldogs in the C-USA opener. His previous career-long as a Bulldog coming into Saturday was 24 yards. Hale was also a perfect 2-for-2 on extra-point attempts in the win as the graduate transfer kicker accounted for 17 of LA Tech’s 29 points on the night. – Conference USA Football
Jaylon Ferguson – Noteworthy
OCT 1 CONFERENCE USA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Louisiana Tech senior DE Jaylon Ferguson set a new career high with four sacks in a single game to help lead the Bulldogs to a win at North Texas. That mark, as well as four tackles for loss, are both tied for the second-most in program history, while the nation’s active leader in career sacks upped his career sack total to 33.5. He is only 4.5 sacks away from tying the program record and has now registered at least half a sack in each of the last seven games dating back to last season. Ferguson totaled six tackles overall in the win and had two QB hurries, while he and the Bulldog defense held the Mean Green to a season-low 27 points. North Texas came into the game having scored at least 44 points in each of their four games this season (averaged 48.8 points per game), while they had also scored in all 16 quarters this season. The Bulldogs shut them out in both the second and fourth quarter. – Conference USA Football