Louisiana Tech will be without five starters against Marshall in Saturday's Conference USA Championship game. The Charleston Daily Mail's Derek Redd reported six Bulldogs players have been ruled academically ineligible, and coach Skip Holtz confirmed that report in a pregame interview with ESPN.
The ineligible starters include left guard Tre Carter, right tackle Mitchell Bell, defensive tackle Aaron Brown and linebackers Tony Johnson and Terrell Pinson. Wide receiver Tevin King will also miss the game.
Obviously, losing five starters for a game is a major blow for Louisiana Tech. Tony Johnson (69 tackles) and Terrell Pinson (57 tackles) are Louisiana Tech's second and third-leading tacklers this season. Aaron Brown has 3.5 tackles for loss this season and 1.5 sacks. Those are a lot of key parts to be missing on defense against a Marshall offense that's averaging 46.7 points per game.
