Louisiana Tech dropped a 39-37 decision to SMU Saturday evening to fall to 1-2 early on in the 2021 season.

The Bulldogs will open Conference USA play this weekend when North Texas travels to Ruston.

Kickoff is set for 6 PM Saturday night.

Three Things We Learned

1 -- The offense continues to stand out

Outside of one Austin Kendall interception on Saturday the Louisiana Tech offense was pretty dang good. The unit as a whole put up 483 yards of total offense, converted 45% of its 3rd downs and scored 37 points. With C-USA play starting up this weekend, the Bulldog offense is poised to put up some gaudy numbers.

2 -- Tre Harris is a DUDE

Tre Harris hauled in 5 passes for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns Saturday night. The Comeaux HS product was Tech's best receiver in the spring, and it has certainly carried over into the fall. In his last two games, Harris has 9 catches for 174 yards and 3 touchdowns.

3 -- The 'Dogs didn't finish

We've addressed this before, haven't we? Louisiana Tech fell behind 23-14 with 12:09 remaining in the 3rd quarter. From that point forward the Bulldogs outscored SMU 23-10 to take a 37-33 lead with 0:36 remaining in the contest. SMU had no timeouts. After pass plays of 11 and 14 yards + a Tanner Mordecai run of 15 yards, SMU had the ball at the Tech 33-yard line with 0:06 remaining. Mordecai hooked up with with Reggie Robertson off a deflection for the walk-off win. There was an obvious hold on the LT, the DBs were there to knock it down and Rashee Rice made an incredible play to tip the ball to Robertson. None of that matters, the Bulldogs didn't finish.

Two Questions Going Forward

1 -- How does the team rebound against North Texas?

LA Tech is an early 12-point favorite against North Texas next Saturday. Is Vegas able to measure the psychological toll that these three weeks could have taken on this Tech team? We all think that the fans have had it rough, just imagine being in that locker room. The blown leads in 2 of the first 3 weeks of the season are obviously tough, but we'll learn a lot about whether or not this team is truly one of C-USA's best this weekend.

2 -- What are we supposed to make of the pass defense?

Through the first three weeks of the season, Mississippi State (6th) and SMU (10th) both rank in the top 10 in terms of passing yards per game nationally. If Southeastern was an FBS school, they'd rank 3rd nationally. Gaudy offensive numbers from all 3 programs. All that said, Louisiana Tech has definitely had some issues defending the pass. Whether it's scheme or personnel, it must improve. With conference play starting, the high powered passing offenses won't be seen on a weekly basis. We are going to learn if the opponents were that good, or if the defense was that bad against the pass over the next few weeks.

One Prediction for Next Week

The LA Tech and North Texas match-up next week will come down to the final two minutes. Will the Bulldogs finish? Buckle up.

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