By Malcolm Butler
Louisiana Tech’s lack of offensive execution in the red zone ultimately cost the Bulldogs, falling 9-3 to Sam Houston State Tuesday night at Bower Stadium.
Tech (3-5, 2-3 CUSA) had four possessions inside the Sam Houston State six-yard line and three more on the Bearkats side of the field, but only managed three points in the loss.
Four turnovers in the game, including three fumbles and an interception, were too much to overcome.
“It’s so disappointing because of the effort our kids made (on defense),” said head coach Sonny Cumbie. “And our kids on offense gave effort too. Execution is the problem there in those critical moments inside the red zone.
“We did move the football inside the 20s, but our inefficiency in the redzone was the difference tonight.”
Tech opened the game with a methodical drive down the field and faced a fourth down and one on the Sam Houston six-yard line. However, the hand-off from Evan Bullock to Fred Robertson was mishandled and fumbled with the Bearkats recovering.
One possession later, Tech marched down to the Bearkats six-yard line again. On third and five, Bullock’s pass to Eli Findley on the goal line wasn’t caught, forcing a 24-yard field goal by Buck Buchanan. Tech led 3-0.
Sam Houston recorded a safety on the final play of the first quarter to make the score 3-2 after 15 minutes of play.
The other story of the night was the Tech defense.
The Bulldogs were stellar all night long, allowing just one scoring drive and holding one of the top rushing offenses in CUSA to only 105 yards on 33 carries. The only chunk play came on the 40-yard TD run early in the third quarter by Jay Ducker for the only TD of the night.
“Our defense did an unbelievable job,” said Cumbie. “We eliminated the run game and took their quarterback run game out of it. I was just really proud of our defense. We got a takeaway in the end zone. We got a takeaway on the plus side of the field.
“But we weren’t able to capitalize on it and that was the difference.”
After Tech only generated seven yards of offense in the third quarter, the Bulldogs made a switch at quarterback as Jack Turner came on for the final 15 minutes.
“I thought we needed a spark on offense,” said Cumbie. “Watching Evan I thought he was not seeing the field well in the second half in particular. I think he was seeing the rush and getting his eyes off his progressions. I thought it was the right moment to bring Jack in and give him a chance.”
Bullock completed 16-of-25 passes for 148 yards and one interception in the game while Turner completed 8-of-15 for 59 yards.
“We needed to try to get a spark somehow and I thought Jack was ready and did a nice job.”
Following a fumble recovery by the Bulldogs on the Sam Houston 32-yard line early in the final quarter, Tech drove inside the Bearkats five-yard line. However, on second down and goal from the two, the jet sweep hand-off to Jimmy Holiday was fumbled and Sam Houston recovered.
After the Bulldog defense forced a punt after a three-and-out, Tech took over on the Sam Houston 36-yard line. Once again, Tech drove inside the Bearkats five-yard line. And on fourth down and goal from the three, opted to go for the TD with just over four minutes to play.
“If we didn’t get any closer on the third down call then we were going to kick the field goal,” said Cumbie. “Once we got to fourth and goal (from the three) we decided to go for it. Our defense was playing really well. We expected the play call to score a touchdown. Had it not, which it did not, I felt really good about our defense getting another stop and giving us a chance to have a short field.”
However, Turner overthrew Tru Edwards on fade route in the endzone, as the Bulldogs once again came up empty. Edwards led Tech with eight receptions for 80 yards.
“That was the first progression versus the look that we had,” said Cumbie. “Tru came across in motion. They didn’t run with him. They just passed him off to their safety. They played man and played it over the top. I think the throw … if we had given him more of a chance to make a play on the ball, we possibly had a chance at a pass interference call.”
Tech had one final opportunity, taking over the football on its own 45 with 2:04 to play. After picking up one first down and moving to the Bearkats 35-yard line, the Bulldogs were unable to march any further as three incompletions, including one on fourth down and nine, turned the football over with a minute to play.
The Bulldogs held Sam Houston QB Hunter Watson to just 16 yards on 11 carries before knocking him out of the game in the fourth quarter. The Bearkats recorded just 268 yards of total offense in the win.
Tech has lost five games by a total of 29 points this season, including four one-score losses.
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