This year’s schedule isn’t exactly cheesecake for the Louisiana Tech football team, but trying to top last year’s slate in terms of toughness would’ve been a bit cuckoo – and maybe even impossible.

The Bulldogs went 6-6 in 2004, but look at some of the defeats:

¢ A 48-0 pasting at No. 4 Miami.

¢ A 42-17 loss at No. 11 Tennessee.

¢ A 52-7 flogging at No. 6 Auburn.

¢ A 55-14 flattening at No. 13 Boise State.

Those four Louisiana Tech slayers finished with a combined record of 43-7 in 2004.

Certainly, Tech athletic director Jim Oakes meant no disrespect to this year’s opponents, including Kansas University and Florida, when saying “We think this (2005) schedule will be more attractive from a competitive standpoint.”

But will the Bulldogs be as competitive? On paper, maybe not.

Tech lost elusive running back Ryan Moats to the NFL, after the junior rushed for 1,774 yards and 18 touchdowns on 288 carries in 2004. Moats had another touchdown receiving, and accounted for 53 percent of Tech’s scores last season.

Traditionally, though, the Bulldogs have been a team hungry to throw the ball, as alumni like current NFL quarterbacks Luke McCown and Tim Rattay show.

With Moats gone a year early, the winner of the QB battle between Matt Kubik and Donald Allen will probably face more pressure to move the chains.

Nationally, analysts predict another mediocre season in the works, as far as win-loss record goes. The Sporting News has Tech finishing third in the WAC.