Aug. 9, 2008

RUSTON - Louisiana Tech head coach Derek Dooley has been excited all fall camp about the future potential of his freshman wide receiver corps.

During a 60-play intrasquad scrimmage Saturday night at Joe Aillet Stadium, the young group showed just why.

Freshmen Richie Casey, Eric Fiege and Cruz Williams combined to record seven catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns to help lead the Bulldog offense which had the upper hand in the scrimmage.

"I was extremely pleased with how our offense came out," Dooley said. "They showed a good tempo. We have more guys making plays down the field then we've had a in while. We have some young guys who have shown the ability to make plays and have shown they aren't afraid to make plays. You saw Williams, Fiege and Casey all make some nice plays tonight."

In the second series of the evening, transfer quarterback Taylor Bennett hooked up with Casey for a nine-yard touchdown strike in the back of the endzone, culminating a 12-play, 75-yard drive.

Bennett, who is battling Ross Jenkins for the starting quarterback position, had a nice evening, completing 14-of-18 passes for 107 yards and two touchdowns, his second coming on a 15-yard crossing pattern to Fiege on the fourth series of the night.

Jenkins would not be outdone. The red-shirt sophomore completed 7-of-10 passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns. His touchdowns came on a seven yard completion to tight end Dennis Morris midway through the scrimmage and on a 40-yard strike to tight end Dustin Mitchell on the next to last series.

"I thought both Taylor and Ross showed a lot of poise and made some good plays down the field," Dooley said. "It is something we can build on. I thought they both played better in the scrimmage than they've been practicing which is a good sign. They just went out and played and you could see a noticeable difference in them."

Dooley said the scrimmage ends what he calls the first quarter of his fall camp and was very pleased with where his team is at this point.

"Now is the time where we will evaluate the first seven practices and evaluate personnel and start looking ahead to what personnel moves need to be made and move to next week," Dooley said. "I'm concerned about depth at a lot of positions. However, I think we have enough good football players that if we stay healthy, we can have a good team."

Another highlight of the night was the placekicking of senior Brad Oestriecher who was a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals, including 47- and 49-yarders.

Defensively, the Bulldogs struggled to slow down their counterparts but did force two turnovers on a Darrius Terry interception and a Weldon Brown fumble recovery.

The Bulldogs will participate in Fan Fest Sunday at the Thomas Assembly Center at 4 p.m. as Tech fans can come out and meet this year's team.

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