A national talk show was talking WAC not long ago and talked about the improvement in the Louisiana Tech program.

There's something about getting to .500 in league play and actually having a shot at being bowl eligible heading into the final game of the season that can do that.

Derek Dooley's first year on the job restored some order to the program; and produced a 5-7 record that included a pair of one-point losses (one of them in overtime against Hawaii) and a pair of late road wins in the league.

Now, it's time for the next step.

Year 2 of the Dooley era started off with a question mark at quarterback, where three are vying to succeed Zac Champion, who was good but never great. Two of the quarterbacks -- Steve Ensminger and Taylor Bennett -- have played major college ball in other places. The third -- Ross Jenkins -- is a sophomore who played some last year. When fall camp opened, it was clearly a case of let the best man win.

The offense needs a leader. But the team itself represents a program that appears to be headed in the right direction under Dooley, the only man in D-I who is both the coach and athletic director.

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