By Malcolm Butler
For much of Saturday night’s Sun Belt Conference opener, Louisiana Tech appeared determined to give away its opportunity to knock off in-state rival UL-Lafayette.
Turnovers. Penalties. A missed field goal and extra point. More than enough self-inflicted wounds to leave the Bulldogs staring at a 12-point deficit with less than four minutes remaining.
But when it mattered most, Sonny Cumbie’s team found a way.
Quarterback Blake Baker threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, including a 7-yard strike to Eli Finley with 46 seconds remaining, as Louisiana Tech rallied for a dramatic 32-31 victory over the Ragin’ Cajuns in front of 20,035 fans at Joe Aillet Stadium.
The win marked the second straight for the Bulldogs (3-2, 1-0 Sun Belt), who opened conference play with a victory over a Louisiana-Lafayette team that entered the contest with a 4-1 record. It was also the ninth straight victory by Tech over UL-Lafayette.
“What I’m proud about our kids is we played about as bad as we can play at times,” said Cumbie. “And we beat a really good team that was 4-1, that plays really good football. It was ugly, but it’s a great win for our team.”
Tech committed three turnovers, was penalized eight times for 81 yards and missed a 50-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half. The Bulldogs also missed an extra point and dropped a shotgun snap on a two-point conversion attempt.
The Bulldogs watched a 13-10 halftime lead disappear as the Cajuns scored three second-half touchdowns to build a 31-19 advantage with 11:34 remaining thanks to the play of UL-Lafayette quarterback Lunch Winfield.
But the final four minutes belonged to Baker and the Bulldogs.
Trailing by 12, Baker directed an eight-play, 63-yard scoring drive, capping it with a 12-yard touchdown run on fourth down that pulled Tech within 31-26 with 3:58 remaining. On the scoring play, the Cajuns appeared to have Baker sacked but the 6-foot-5 Bulldog signal caller escaped the grasp and raced to the endzone.
It was at that moment that the Cajuns literally let the win slip out of their hands.
The Bulldog defense then forced a three-and-out, giving Baker and the offense one final opportunity.
Starting at their own 34-yard line with 2:41 remaining, the Bulldogs marched 66 yards in eight plays, with Baker finding Finley for the winning score. The two-point conversion attempt failed, but Tech had its first lead since early in the third quarter.
“I think you’ve got to give a lot of credit to Coach Young and our offense, how they handled that last drive,” said Cumbie. “Calm, confident, calculated. Knew what we were doing, knew what we were gonna do, and they went out and did it.”
The Tech defense then provided the final exclamation point when Jordan McRae intercepted Winfield on the Cajuns’ final possession.
Baker finished an impressive night completing 32 of 42 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. He also rushed for 35 yards and a score.
“We trust in the process, we trust in ourselves, and we just came together at the end of that game and did whatever we had to do,” said Baker. “It wasn’t pretty for sure, but we got the win, and I think it just proves we can compete with anybody at the end of the night.”
Finley caught nine passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns, while Jalen Mickens added nine receptions for 92 yards and a score. Talyn Shettron contributed eight catches for 102 yards as the Bulldogs rolled up 485 yards of total offense.
The game was scoreless after one quarter before Baker connected with Finley on a 10-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter.
Louisiana-Lafayette answered with 10 straight points before Baker found Mickens on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 1:48 remaining in the half, giving Tech a 13-10 lead at intermission.
The Cajuns took control in the third quarter behind touchdown runs of 20 yards by JJ Garner and 25 yards by Trenton Chaney, building a 24-13 advantage.
Tech answered early in the fourth quarter when Mickens scored on a 3-yard run to trim the deficit to five.
However, Winfield connected with KeDarius Wade on a 45-yard touchdown pass with 11:34 remaining, pushing the Cajun’s lead to 31-19 and setting the stage for Tech’s comeback.
Winfield finished with 239 yards passing, while the Cajuns totaled 388 yards of offense.
Defensively, Sam Fongang led Tech with nine tackles, while Alonzo Jackson Jr. added seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Kameron Carter also recorded an interception.
For Cumbie, the fourth-quarter performance was especially satisfying after expressing disappointment with the way his team finished the previous week’s 31-29 win over Army.
“We just finished,” Cumbie said. “It was ugly at times, not in terms of our effort. What I meant by ugly is the penalties, all the self-inflicted wounds during the course of the game. Our guys certainly finished, and they finished strong, and it’s a great win.”
The Bulldogs will now turn their attention to another in-state Sun Belt rival, ULM, next weekend.
“It’s huge to get off to the right start in conference,” Cumbie said. “It just so happens that it was UL-Lafayette, and we were able to get it going tonight. And then ULM next week is gonna be a freaking slobberknocker, knock-down, drag-out, too. So we’re gonna celebrate this one tonight, and then we’re gonna get ready to go out there.”
