Even after a win over Charlotte, there are still plenty of criticisms to be made of this 2021 Bulldog football team. The offense, while respectable against the 49ers, has struggled to put together consecutive games of good play. And the Tech defense can sometimes start a game strong, just to completely run out of steam down the stretch.
So yes, even outside of the 3-7 record, there is plenty to be upset with in Ruston.
But we can thank the heavens that we aren’t Southern Miss this year.
This whole piece could be devoted to just how bad the Golden Eagle offense has been in 2021. Dead last in college football in yards per rush and yards per pass. Unsurprisingly, that results in the lowest total yards per game in the nation with 224 yards per game against FBS opponents.
Outside of UMass in the pandemic-related-oddity-filled 2020 season, a team hasn’t averaged less than 225 yards per game since Wake Forest in 2014.
The pain doesn’t end there for the USM fans. The Golden Eagles turn the ball over 2.7 times per game, half a turnover per game worse than the second-to-worst team.
I could probably honestly do this all day.
And while it sounds fun to continue to dunk on the Southern Miss offense (and it has been), it’s the defense that almost pulled the upset of UTSA this past Saturday.
The USM defense forced two three-and-outs in the first half and even intercepted the fourth pass of the game. That interception resulted in a missed field goal (another issue that plagues Southern Miss), but the interception that opened the second half was returned for a touchdown that gave the Golden Eagles a 17-10 lead over the 23rd ranked Roadrunners.
The Southern Miss defense continued to keep the team in the game, but ultimately the offense turned the ball over on each of their last three drives to hand UTSA their 13th consecutive regular-season victory.
Now, this isn’t to say that USM’s defense is great, or even good really.
But while the offense has no bright spots to speak of, the Golden Eagle defense does. They play extraordinarily well with their backs to the wall:
If we back up to the 40-yard line instead of the 20, it looks even better for USM. The Golden Eagles are allowing only 3.1 points per scoring opportunity, the lowest of any team Tech has faced this year.
The Tech defense, as bad as it has looked at times, should not have much difficulty keeping Southern Miss off the scoreboard. But if the offense struggles when they get into scoring range (like they occasionally have this year), then the Bulldogs could very well fall on their face Friday night.
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Nathan is also a contributor to gtpdd.dog, a lighthearted Louisiana Tech blog. Be sure to check out @gotechplsdntdie on Twitter.
