Louisiana Tech Athletic Communications
Third-down conversions were a crucial part on Tuesday night at Floyd Stadium as Louisiana Tech fell, 31-23, to Middle Tennessee.
Louisiana Tech was not able to move the chains, going 3-of-13 on third down, while Middle Tennessee managed to move the football on numerous drives after converting 10 of its 16 third-down plays.
Despite the big discrepancy in that area, for a second straight week LA Tech (3-5, 2-2 CUSA) had a chance late to tie the game up. However, the Bulldogs were faced with a 4th-and-4 that was broken up by the Blue Raiders with less than one minute left in the game.
Hank Bachmeier was a big reason for LA Tech having a chance to win its second straight road game. After missing the last three games, he came on midway through the third quarter with the ‘Dogs trailing 24-9.
On his first offensive possession, he drove the team into the red zone, a place where they had not had much success this game – two false starts inside the 2-yard line resulted in a 23-yard field goal by Jacob Barnes and an interception in the end zone thrown by starter Jack Turner.
On 4th-and-1, MTSU (2-5, 1-2 CUSA) collapsed the middle expecting a run up the gut. Instead, Bachmeier pitched the toss to Dakota Williams who took it outside for the touchdown, making it 16-24 with 1:39 to go in the third quarter.
That momentum was doused by the Blue Raiders though. With the Bulldogs poised to get the ball back, the home faced a 3rd-and-6 and converted, connecting on a big 60-yard passing touchdown to go back up by 15 points early in the fourth.
Bachmeier would put together another long drive, a 13-play, 76-yarder that ended with him scrambling out of pressure and finding Charvis Thornton on a 10-yard score on fourth down.
The LA Tech defense then got the 3-and-out it needed, giving the ball back to their offense with still 1:59 to go in the game. After picking up one first down on passes to Smoke Harris and Cyrus Allen, the duo combined for 18 catches and 232 receiving yards, Bachmeier was sacked which forced the team back to a 2nd-and-19. They got 15 of those yards back, but could not convert the fourth down, turning the ball over at the MTSU 46-yard line.
LA Tech only managed nine points in the first half, getting a 19-yard touchdown from Turner to Kyle Maxwell (extra-point attempt was no good) and a chip-shot field goal by Barnes. Meanwhile, MTSU recorded a field goal and two touchdowns, one of those coming with 38 seconds remaining before halftime.
QUOTABLES
Head coach Sonny Cumbie
On Hank Bachmeier coming into the game in the second half…
“He did a great job giving our guys a spark. I thought he saw the field well and was proud of how he competed all the way up until the end.”
On the red zone opportunities…
“Until we decide to focus and concentrate when we don’t false start, it is going to make it hard to score. They were heavy up front. We knew it was going to be hard to run the football. We were not focused in those situations. Those were not the end-all-be-all plays, but it was not winning football. We did not play well enough. When you are knocking on the door for a touchdown and you throw an interception or settle for a field goal. We were not good enough in the goal line area.”
NOTABLES
- With the loss, LA Tech now leads the all-time series with Middle Tennessee, 5-3. The Bulldogs are just 1-3 versus the Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro.
- Smoke Harris extended his streak of games with at least one reception to 40, the first Bulldog to do so since Trent Taylor (2013-16).
- Smoke Harris tied his career high with 11 receptions.He has now recorded at least 10 catches three times this season. He now has 284 career receptions, the second most in program history (jumped ahead of Troy Edwards).
- Smoke Harris had a game-high 123 receiving yards, the third time this season and the fifth time in his career with 100+ in a single game. He has now 2,720 career receiving, seventh most in program history.
- Cyrus Allen had 103 receiving yards, the second time this season and the fourth time in his career with 100+ in a single game.
- The Bulldogs had multiple wide receivers with 100+ receiving yards for the first time this season. They did it twice last season.
- Charvis Thornton registered his first career receiving touchdown.
- Kyle Maxwell tallied a receiving touchdown for a second straight game.
- Jack Hunter and Hank Bachmeiercombined to throw for 340 passing yards, the most in a single game this season.
- Zach Zimos registered a game-high and career-high 14 tackles.
- Deshon Hall Jr. recorded 1.5 sacks.
UP NEXT
It will be two weeks before LA Tech returns to action, hosting New Mexico State on Tuesday, Oct. 24 inside Joe Aillet Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.