Louisiana Tech defeated Rice 28-13 Saturday night inside Joe Aillet Stadium. The win moved Tech to 7-3 overall and 5-1 in Conference USA play.
Three Things We Learned:
Five in a Row: With the win, the Bulldogs won a seventh game for a fifth consecutive season which clinched a bowl for a fifth straight season. The Bulldogs are the only Conference USA program to do so. While winning a conference championship is now out of the question after UAB’s win last night, the Bulldogs can still win 10 games for the first time since Tech went to Division One.
Hardy Shines: Adrian Hardy showcased his talent throughout the evening with 10 catches for 160 yards. No catch was bigger than his 49-yard catch in the third quarter to set up a 1-yard Jaqwis Dancy touchdown run to give Tech the lead for good. Hardy now has 49 catches for 817 yards and five touchdowns in 2018.
Dancy Carries Scoring Load: Jaqwis Dancy had 91 total yards and three touchdowns in the win. The junior running back continues to prove his importance to the Tech offense week in and week out. Dancy now has 688 total yards and nine touchdowns for the Bulldogs in 2018.
Two Questions Going Forward:
Can Tech win at Southern Miss? The Bulldogs have had all sorts of issues with the Golden Eagles in recent years. Tech is 7-3 overall while Southern Miss is 4-5 and fighting for their bowl lives. If Tech wants to win 10 games in 2018 they must win next week.
Will the offense open up? After struggling through two quarters against Rice, the Bulldogs opened the offense up in the second half and found success. J’Mar Smith completed 12/17 throws for 196 yards and a touchdown in the second half. Smith connected on two deep balls of 49 and 44 yards to Hardy and Wayne Toussant as well. With Southern Miss possessing one of the better run defenses in the conference, the Bulldogs must be able to throw the football with success.
One Prediction for Next Week:
Jaylon Ferguson collects two sacks in a low scoring Tech win at Southern Miss next week.
Join us at BleedTechBlue.com for only $9.95 a month. We are your #1 source for Louisiana Tech Athletics!
