Joe Aillet Stadium Joe Aillet Stadium ( formerly Louisiana Tech Stadium ) is a college football stadium in Ruston , Louisiana . It is the home field of the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs football team . Originally called Louisiana Tech Stadium , the facility opened in 1968 and was renamed for retired head football coach Joe Aillet in 1972 . History . The stadium , originally named Louisiana Tech Stadium , opened on September 28 , 1968 when quarterback Terry Bradshaw led the Bulldogs to a 35 - 7 victory over the East Carolina University Pirates . It was renamed Joe Aillet Stadium on November 11 , 1972 in honor of Joe Aillet , who had coached the football team at the school from 1940 to 1966 . The 1997 season saw the largest crowd in school history of 28 , 714 for a 17 - 16 victory by the Bulldogs over the University of Louisiana at Monroe Warhawks . Future professional quarterback Tim Rattay was involved in the first - ever matchup of future pro quarterbacks at the stadium , facing off against UCF ' s Daunte Culpepper in 1998 . The first nationally - televised game at the stadium came in 2002 against the Fresno State Bulldogs . In an October 2004 rematch , the team achieved an upset victory by defeating the 17th - ranked Bulldogs . In 2008 , the team defeated the Mississippi State University Bulldogs 22 - 14 in its season opener . It was the first - ever visit by a school from a BCS conference to Joe Aillet Stadium . Features . Joe Aillet Stadium originally sat 23 , 000 , but in 1985 , the school added luxury boxes to the stadium ' s press box , and in 1989 the stadium ' s capacity was raised by 7 , 600 seats to its current capacity of 30 , 600 . The stadium ' s FieldTurf playing surface was installed in 2008 . The seating is made of the two large bowed grandstands on either side of the field , built into a natural bowl . The press box and skybox are on the west side . The facility also includes Spirit of ' 88 , a bronze bulldog statue which commemorates the school ' s first season in Division I - A . During games , it is ceremonially guarded by the university ' s Air Force ROTC Valkyrie Honor Guard . A field house is located behind the south hill . There are scoreboards behind both end zone berms , and the stadium features eight banks of lights surrounding the field above the playing surface . In 2009 , the school ' s athletic department unveiled " Dawgzilla " , a high definition video scoreboard which sits in the north end zone . It is the largest videoboard in the Western Athletic Conference . In the fall of 2010 , the university announced a $ 20 million fundraising campaign to build a facility at the southern end of the facility . The stadium has already used some donations for a brick fence on the west side of the stadium , renovations to restrooms , new shrubs and plants in the stadium , and a tunnel leading from the player ' s locker rooms to the field . Other uses . The Louisiana Tech Lady Techster soccer team has used Joe Aillet Stadium as its home facility between the program ' s inception in 2004 to 2009 . The first Lady Techster soccer game in the stadium was on August 28 , 2005 , a 2 - 0 win over the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils . Tech soccer moved into the stadium permanently beginning with the 2006 season , and has an overall record of 9 - 9 - 3 through the 2007 season in games played at the stadium . In 2009 , the Lady Techsters soccer team moved to their new home field located across the street from the stadium .