By Stephen Featherston, Louisiana Tech Associate Director of Strategic Communications
Junior kicker Buck Buchanan was named the Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Week, announced by the league office on Monday.
The third-year Bulldog showed no signs of intimidation in front of a sold-out crowd of 56,191 as he had a career day against NC State.
Buchanan tied the program record with a 57-yard field goal to put Tech up 17-6 over NC State just before the half. His kick tied Matt Stover’s kick in 1987 against Texas A&M. It also tied for the fourth longest made field goal in CUSA history and marked the longest since 2012.
His 57-yard field goal was one of two makes on the afternoon, as he would connect from 20 yards out in the third to tie the game at 20 a piece. The Texas native finished with eight of Tech’s 20 points as he connected on both of is extra point attempts. In addition, Buchanan had touchbacks on all five of his kickoffs.
Buchanan is the fifth Bulldog in program history with at least three made FGs of 50+ yards (Josh Scobee, Matt Stover, Jonathan Barnes, and Chris Boniol). He had previous made field goals of 53 and 52 yards before his new career-high if 57 yards.
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LA Tech will be back in Joe Aillet Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 21 to host Tulsa in its annual “Red Out” game. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+.