Turnovers driving Tech's Bicknell crazy

Jack Bicknell is probably repeating those words in his sleep these days.

"They've really hurt us," said the sixth-year coach at Louisiana Tech (2-1), which meets up with unbeaten Tennessee (2-0) at Neyland Stadium on Saturday night. "They are absolutely killing us. If you don't hang on to the football, you're going to be in trouble. And you're likely going to lose."

Statistics tell the story of Tech's woes in that department.

Out of the 117 NCAA programs which make up Division 1-A, the Bulldogs are No. 104 in turnover ratio at minus five.

That's driving Bicknell bonkers.

"The thing that I guess makes it even worse than it is is because you're preaching about it all of the time to your team," he said. "Every coach does. Turnovers are the thing you've got to avoid if you expect to have success. Sometimes you can overcome them and win anyway, but for the most part, they're a killer."

Particularly against teams such as Miami and Tennessee, which are tough enough to deal with minus the added aggravation of those turnovers.

In last weekend's 48-0 loss to the Hurricanes, Tech set the stage for an early romp at the Orange Bowl and could only then try and savor what little confidence remained afterward.

"It made for a rough start for us," said junior running back Ryan Moats, the nation's No. 1 rusher with 595 yards. "It put the game out of our reach early on and we were never able to recover. I fumbled early and hurt us and I've got to keep from doing that. I've definitely got to concentrate more and do a better job of handling the football because I know our offense depends on me so much."

Moats had a lost fumble in the opening quarter right after Tech had forged an offensive drive that appeared to be the perfect ingredient for an early confidence booster.

A couple more turnovers in the first half were the catalyst for 13 additional points for Miami, which went to the dressing room at halftime with a 34-0 lead.

"We've just got to do a better job of taking care of the football," said quarterback Donald Allen. "It doesn't matter who you are playing, you have to protect the football. Against the bigger schools, it's even more critical. You give up the football to a Miami or Tennessee, they're going to take an advantage of it and make it tougher for you to try and get an upset win."

For the past two games, Tech has given up six fumbles, three each time. Against Louisiana-Lafayette, they were able to overcome three first half mishaps to eventually hang on for a 24-20 victory.

Injury Report: Two starters on the offensive line are out for Saturday's game. Tackle Adrian Gonzalez has an undisclosed injury and tackle Lester Brown is sidelined because of ankle problems.

Notebook: Based on winning percentages by their opponents, the Bulldogs have the 12th toughest non-conference Division 1-A schedule in the country at .647. ... Before Miami posted that 48-0 win last weekend, Tech had scored in 127 consecutive games. That streak began in 1993 after tumbling to Tennessee 50-0 at Neyland Stadium. ... The 95,106 fans who filed in for that game on Sept. 4 is the second largest crowd Tech has played in front of, the biggest being the 103,987 at Penn State's Beaver Stadium on Sept. 21, 2002.