Frisco Bowl 2017: Louisiana Tech vs. SMU TV Schedule, Time, Odds

The Frisco Bowl may not have the glamour or glory of the College Football Playoffs or any of the New Year's Six games, but this event in Frisco, Texas, has more than just a bit of offensive firepower associated with it.

SMU will show off its high-powered offense when it takes on Louisiana Tech. The Mustangs (7-5) have a 3,000-yard passer in Ben Hicks, a 1,000-yard rusher in Xavier Jones and two 1,000-yard receivers in Trey Quinn and Courtland Sutton.

The Bulldogs come into this game with a 6-6 record, but three of their losses came by one point. Louisiana Tech does not have the same kind of firepower as the Mustangs, but quarterback J'Mar Smith is capable of taking over a game and delivering a victory. He completed 214 of 386 passes for 2,758 yards with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Running back Boston Scott has rushed for 937 yards with a 5.7 yards per carry average and eight touchdowns. Teddy Veal is the Bulldogs' leading receiver with 69 catches for 832 yards and five touchdowns.

The two teams will kickoff at Toyota Stadium on December 20 at 8 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised by ESPN. The Mustangs are five-point favorites, according to OddsShark, and the game has a total of 70 points.

This game figures to be a back-and-forth one, with both teams exchanging touchdowns regularly. While the Mustangs have the better offensive side, the Bulldogs have the more dependable defense.

Quinn and Sutton have not only exceeded the 1,000-yard mark, both have 12 TD receptions. They are the only pair of teammates to have at least 1,000 yards and 10 TD catches in the FBS. Louisiana Tech will try to counter that with a pass defense that allowed just 16 TD receptions this year.

The Mustangs will be playing their first game for head coach Sonny Dykes, who was hired when Chad Morris took an offer to become the head coach at Arkansas.

Dykes was on the staff at Texas Christian University working as an offensive analyst and was previously the head coach of California.

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Louisiana Tech was enduring a difficult season at 4-6 until they won their final two games to become bowl-eligible. If the Bulldogs are successful here, they will avoid their first losing season since 2013.

Dykes is known for his attacking and high-powered offense, and it's a different system than the Mustangs played under Morris. The coach knows he can't ask his team to learn a new plan of attack prior to the bowl game, so he is learning the team's offense. 

He said he was meeting with Hicks to learn the offense from the quarterback's perspective. 

"I'm going to sit down with Ben (Hicks) today, and he's going to teach me the offense," Dykes said shortly after he was hired December 11, per Dylan Edwards of the official SMU website. "He may be the only player-coach in college football right now. We're going to learn and keep the terminology the same to put our players in the best position they can be in to be successful."

Louisana Tech defensive coordinator Blake Baker knows his team will have to be at its best to slow down the Mustangs.

"This will be the biggest challenge to date," he said, per Cory Diaz of the News-Star. "Everyone talks about (Quinn) and (Sutton), but they're solid as a unit. (James Proche) goes in there, I think he's got 40 catches. Their quarterback does a nice job of taking what the defense gives him and their running back has over 1,000 yards. They're extremely explosive, we've got to be on top of our game and we expect to have a great challenge."