The Louisiana Tech offensive line started 2021 as one of the most improved units on the team. After allowing 31 sacks in 10 games a year ago, the Bulldogs only gave up one in each of the first three games this year. But in Game #4 against North Texas, emergency starting QB Aaron Allen was sacked three times. A week later Austin Kendall re-entered the lineup, just to get sacked three times by NC State.
Both of those three-sack games were easy to write off as one-offs. The gameplan for North Texas didn't anticipate the need to swap out quarterbacks at the last minute. And the NC State defense has been a top-tier ACC defense all year.
But the Bulldogs allowed four sacks in El Paso on Saturday. Suddenly, this isn't a couple of isolated incidents. This is a downward trend.
So it's incredibly frustrating to see a Bulldog strength-turned-weakness simply stay a strength for UTSA all season long:
The Roadrunner offensive line has given QB Frank Harris time to throw. And because of those few precious extra seconds, Harris has been able to avoid mistakes.
It’s not that UTSA’s passing game is otherworldly, but we saw in El Paso what happens when a QB is under pressure from the moment he receives the snap - frantic, hurried passes that often find the enemy’s hands. And throwing passes to players on the other team is exactly the kind of thing the Roadrunners have been able to avoid in 2021:
To be ranked as a C-USA school, a team has to be more than just good. With no margin for error, the team also has to avoid mistakes that can easily turn a close win into a loss.
Interceptions are one of those blunders to avoid and penalties are another. But so are penalties, and the Roadrunners have excelled at avoiding costly penalties all season:
Add everything up and you get a team that simply plays sound football. UTSA keeps their QB upright allowing him to make better decisions. Limiting turnovers and penalties makes the Roadroaders a tough team to beat.
Seven schools have tried and failed. But who knows, maybe Tech can be the one to break the streak.
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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.
