Back in 2014, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette was still trying to claim that they were better than Tech at football. Never mind that Tech had beaten the Cajuns six times in a row dating back to 1997. Never mind that the Cajuns were cheating to put players on the field under Coach Mark Hudspeth. The ‘lil peppers were determined to prove that they were superior on the field, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.
They were so convinced of their superiority that they invited several Tech commits to watch as ULL guests when the Bulldogs came to town on September 6, 2014. I guess they thought that when they beat Tech, the commits would be so enraged at the prospect of going to a U.S. News and World Report Tier 1 university on full scholarship that they would magically turn into angry Cajuns (dramatization below).
So, the Cajuns had hatched their plan. They invited Tech commits Brandon Durman, Rhashid Bonnette, and La’Dante Davenport to the game. Unfortunately for Lafayette, these future Tech players couldn’t suit up that day to help them out.
It didn’t take long for the future Bulldogs to know they had made the right choice. Kenneth Dixon broke off his epic 99 yard touchdown run, prompting future Tech LB Brandon Durman to tweet:
https://twitter.com/BrandonDurman/status/508367261561024512
The Dawgs ended up winning the game 48-20, with two ULL touchdowns coming in garbage time. Needless to say, the Tech commits were not shaken in their decision. Even though Coach Hudspeth probably offered to fake their ACT scores for them as they left the stadium.
Now that three years have passed, where are those once and future Bulldogs?
Former 3 star WR recruit Rhashid Bonnette redshirted the 2015 season and then served as a backup to Carlos Henderson in 2016. He put up a modest 19 catches for 183 yards, with an impressive performance against MTSU (8 for 94 yards). This year, he’ll be competing with newcomers Adrian Hardy and Teddy Veal as well as returning WRs for looks from J’Mar Smith. In week one against NSU, he had 2 catches for 45 yards and 1 touchdown, this absolute beaut from J’Mar Smith:
Brandon Durman played in 12 games in 2016 as a Linebacker. His best performance came against uMass, when he recorded 8 tackles and 1 sack. This year he’s transitioning to a starting role. In the season opener against Northwestern State, he logged 4 tackles. Against Mississippi State, Durman led the team in tackles with 8, including one tackle for loss. Coach Holtz said that Durman is starting to emerge as a leader in the linebacker position.
La’Dante Davenport is a redshirt sophomore defensive tackle. After sitting out the 2015 season, he saw action in two games last season. He has not yet recorded any stats during his time as a Bulldog.