Louisiana Tech dropped its second consecutive game with 31-23 loss Middle Tennessee last Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs will get a 13 days off before returning to action at home against New Mexico State on Tuesday, October 24th.
Three Things We Learned
1 — Bachmeier returns
Hank Bachmeier returned for Louisiana Tech when he relieved Jack Turner in the third quarter of the loss on Tuesday night.
In Bachmeier's 1.5 quarters of play, Tech totaled 200 yards of offense and scored touchdowns on 2 of 4 drives.
The transfer from Boise State finished 16/24 (67%) for 178 yards and 1 TD.
2 — Red Zone Issues
Louisiana Tech had issues scoring touchdowns in the red zone against the Blue Raiders.
The 'Dogs had two possessions where they were inside the 5 on Tuesday night and only came away with 3 points.
Whether it was penalties or turnovers, Sonny Cumbie said it best postgame when he mentioned that its just not winning football.
3 — Run game struggles
Louisiana Tech had rushed for 182 yards per game in its preview five games, so it was odd to see the ground game struggle against Middle Tennessee.
Tech only ran for 79 yards on 26 carries in the game.
Tyre Shelton also left the game early after 75 total yards on 13 touches. That will be something to monitor for the New Mexico State game.
Two Questions Going Forward
1 — How will rest impact the final four games?
The Bulldogs opened the season with eight games in 45 days.
Sonny Cumbie's squad will now play one game in the next 24 days.
Will that help revitalize a team that needs to win three of its final four games to make a bowl game? We'll find out.
2 — Can Smoke Harris get to 100 catches in 2023?
The senior from West Feliciana HS is an all-timer when it comes to Tech receivers, but he's not done yet.
Harris needs 41 catches over the final four games to get to 100. Smoke would be the first Bulldog to reach the 100-catch mark since Trent Taylor did so in 2016.
Smoke has at least 10 catches in four games this season.
One Prediction for Next Week
Bye week, fam. Stay tuned for NMSU predictions next Sunday.
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