When the Louisiana Tech football team kicks off opening week preparations for the 2024 season, the quarterback room will be filled with perhaps the tallest group of signal callers in school history.
Led by incumbent starter Jack Turner at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, Bulldog coach Sonny Cumbie can look around the room and be thankful he doesn’t have to look over them. There’s redshirt freshmen Evan Bullock (6-5, 215) and Blake Baker (6-5, 220), along with Northwood-Shreveport’s Mason Welch (6-3, 220), a transfer from Kilgore Community College.
And then there’s fall signee Ty Keyes (6-2, 225), the smallest of the quintet, but possibly the fastest. Cumbie is just happy to have a quarterback with some game experience in Turner, who hopes to lead the Bulldogs to a rebound of last year’s dismal 3-9 campaign.
“Jack started four games for us last year, and he’s continued to grow and develop,” Cumbie said during a recent Shreveport visit. “He’s worked on his accuracy as a passer in terms of his intermediate passing. He’s a phenomenal leader and a really good athlete. The kids all respect him. The kids follow him, and that’s one of the biggest things you look for. Now, it’s just time for him, and us, to go out and win football games.”
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Turner connected on 84 of 148 throws last season for 1,017 yards with five TDs and five picks. He recorded a season-high 292 yards and a score against Nebraska and came close to leading Tech to a comeback win against North Texas. Beyond him, however, the Bulldogs have plenty more size, but not much collegiate game experience in the rest of the quarterback room.
“Behind him you have Baker and Bullock, two high school kids that we signed in years previous that I think really got better as they went through their redshirt season,” Cumbie said. “Then you have Ty Keyes from East Mississippi Junior College who’s come in and done a nice job picking our offense up. And we added Welch who has been with us this summer and I’m excited about his addition to the quarterback room and to our football team.”
The Bulldogs kick off the 2024 season Aug. 31 at home against Nicholls State.
Jimmy covers Louisiana sports him for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.
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