It wasn’t very beautiful. In fact, it was often ugly. But wins all count the same in the history books, and Louisiana Tech certainly wasn’t complaining Tuesday night after a 14-10 victory over UTEP.
The Bulldogs (3-4, 2-2 CUSA) held the Miners to 1-for-14 on third down and 85 passes and got a shutdown defensive performance from defensive coordinator Jeremiah Johnson and his unit in the win and home run. They improved their ranking with 3 wins and 1 loss. They gained 251 yards of offense and forced seven punts and two turnovers on downs in the win.
“I’m really excited and proud of our football team,” Tech head coach Sonny Cumby said. “The definition of winning is ugly, but we needed it. I think we talked this week with the football team about what we want to accomplish this week as a football team, what we want to accomplish this week with a win. In the games we’ve had so far. , I think we got the win tonight, especially on defense, and then on offense with a 97-yard drive when we needed it most. ”
The biggest stop of the night came when UTEP, trailing 14-10 with 2:33 left, began its final drive with 31 minutes left in its own half. All the technicians needed was a hold. The Bulldogs have been in this scenario before, needing a last-minute defensive stop to preserve the victory. That was the case just last week, when New Mexico State held a three-point lead and closed the game 75 yards to send it into overtime. Tulsa also had a late scoring drive, taking the lead with a nine-play, 48-yard drive that resulted in a walk-off field goal.
But on Tuesday, the Bulldogs were undaunted. UTEP was down to its own 47 with 1:53 left and faced 4th-and-1 with no timeouts. If you pick it up, the drive continues and momentum builds. A stop would be the end of the game as the tech could burn the clock.
The Miners elected to pass, but after an on-field call was overturned, the pass was completed short of the gain line. Bulldogs ball game. Jakari Foster, who led Tech with a tie with Kolbe Fields with 11 total tackles, scored the winning goal.
“We just put our heads down and worked,” Tech defensive back Jacob Fields said. “Everyone can say whatever they want on the internet, social media, etc. But at the end of the day, the offense comes to practice ready to push the defense, and the defense comes to practice ready to push the offense. We just knew we had to keep our heads down and just keep working.”
The dominant defense didn’t exactly match up on offense for most of the night. Tech finished with 7 rushing yards on 30 carries (an average of 0.2 yards per carry) against a UTEP defense that allowed 214 rushing ypg. Tech went 6-17 on third down and entered the fourth quarter with 159 total yards of offense.
But on the night’s decisive drive, Tech quarterback Evan Brock made an accurate and aggressive throw that put Tech in position to score. And at the end of the day, given the level of play on defense, they needed to win.
On the Bulldogs’ first drive of the fourth quarter, they were up 10-7 on their own 3 with 11:55 remaining. With increased pressure from the Miners’ front, Bullock moved Tech to UTEP’s 38 and found Amani Givens at the UTEP 13 for a 22-yard score with 7:12 left. Bullock went 5-6 for 93 yards on the drive, connecting with True Edwards to force Tech to the UTEP 1-yard line, and running back Amani Givens scored from a yard out with 6:28 to go. It gave us our first lead of the night. Take it home.
Bullock completed 22-for-30 passes for 248 yards and one touchdown, a 47-yard strike to Solo Lewis in the second quarter.
“He’s sneaky clutch. He has some playmaking ability,” Camby said of Bullock. “You saw last week on a two-minute drive at New Mexico State he was able to lead us to a field goal attempt. In the first and second quarters, I gave him as much effort as possible. Kindly said, “Oh, don’t wait for the moment to start playing like that.” I think that’s the biggest takeaway from his performance. I think he did a great job from a stat line standpoint. However, I think there were some things I missed in my reading. But in the moment of need, he responded. He got us there with some critical throws. ”
It was a typically ugly first half for the Bulldogs. They went into the locker room tied 7-7 on third-down efforts and had four punts and turnovers on downs offensively in the first half beyond the score. In fact, Tech led 7-0 after the first quarter, marking the fifth time this season that the Bulldogs were held scoreless after the first quarter.
Cumby praised Johnson’s ability to rally the defense and lead Tech to more wins, and praised the DC’s passion for player development.
“You have the stats and you get to see how the kids play on defense and how they fly around and that’s invaluable,” Cumbie said. “Now, what you don’t see is where you get the most value with Coach J.J. and our coaches. What you don’t see when the door opens, the offensive kids, the defensive The kids are in his office, they spend time with him, and he cares about them. What you want most in your program is a coach who cares about people.”
