The 3-2-1: La Tech Beats Southern Miss in Dramatic Fashion

The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 17 points in the game, but Luke Anthony found Griffin Hebert for a 5-yard TD with only 14 seconds remaining to tie the game. Jacob Barnes converted the extra point and Louisiana Tech prevailed.

Three things we learned this week

1 – Holtz’s 2020 Squad has some guts

It wasn’t always pretty at times, but Louisiana Tech found a way to win Saturday night. Sure, Tech turned it over once, committed seven penalties, allowed USM to convert 58% on third down, allowed 30 points, and played nine true freshman, but the Bulldogs overcame all of that to win. Isn’t that the goal? Luke Anthony stepped up late at quarterback, Griffin Hebert made a HUGE catch in crunch time, and Tyler Grubbs was all over the field with 16 tackles in his first career game. We always hear the coaching cliché of “next man up”, well this team played with that mentality Saturday night and earned itself a win.

2 – Henderson, Tucker, and Garner are going to be a problem

Tech has a three-headed monster at running back in 2020. We know Justin Henderson is an all-conference type of RB, but Israel Tucker showed great burst Saturday night and Greg Garner came in late and provided 40 yards on six carries on the GW drive. The trio combined for 174 yards on 35 carries against the Golden Eagles.

3 – The defense is a work in progress

Entering 2020, we knew Tech had to replace a tremendous amount of production from a 2019 unit that finished 30th nationally in points allowed. On top of that, Tech was missing three starters in the season opener. How did the unit respond? Tyler Grubbs stepped up and had 16 tackles in his first career start. Cedric Woods, playing in his first game at cornerback, did allow two touchdowns but also had two nice pass break-ups and improved as the game went on. Milton Williams was a force on the defensive line with 1.5 TFL and one sack. Eric Kendzior provided a sack as well in his first action since 2017. As the Bulldogs get more comfortable in David Blackwell’s defensive scheme we’ll find out just how good they can be.

Two questions going forward

1 – Who is the starting quarterback?

Aaron Allen made his third career start Saturday night and certainly showed improvement from 2019 to 2020. Allen led the Bulldogs to scoring drives on each of his first two possessions. However, he struggled to find a rhythm after those first two drives and did have a costly turnover on the first possession of the second half. For the game, Allen finished 11/14 for 65 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Luke Anthony came off the bench, had some struggles early, but did lead the Bulldogs to three crucial touchdown drives in the second half. With Tech trailing 30-24 with 5:02 remaining in the game, Anthony led Tech on a 17-play, 74 yard drive that resulted in a game-winning TD throw to Griffin Hebert. Anthony finished 13/21 for 149 yards and three touchdowns. Is there a clear cut starting quarterback after week one? We’ll find out this Saturday against Houston Baptist.

2 – How will Tech respond this week after such an emotional win?

With so many guys in and out of the lineup throughout fall camp and into week one against Southern Miss, it was fair to question how Tech would look both physically and emotionally against the Golden Eagles. The Bulldogs responded with a dramatic win, one of the most dramatic Tech wins in recent years. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Tech is still going to have a number of young players playing in key positions heading into week two against Houston Baptist. The Huskies might be 0-2, but they are averaging 585 yards of total offense and 32 points per game thus far. The Bulldogs can’t overlook a talented offensive football team this week.

One prediction going forward

1 – Henderson, Tucker, and Garner combine for 300 yards against HBU

Yes, you read that right. Justin Henderson, Israel Tucker, and Greg Garner will combine for 300 yards on the ground against Houston Baptist on Saturday. The Huskies have allowed 277 yards per game on the ground through two games. With Tech having some issues in the secondary, look for the Bulldogs to lean on its veteran offensive line in this one and let the running backs EAT. The Huskies are allowing 46 points per game and 677 total yards per game. The Bulldog offense could be in for a HUGE day.

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