RUSTON — Everything Louisiana Tech’s Bulldogs did wrong in their September 1 season opener, a 52-24 loss at Missouri, they did right in the first half of Saturday’s 52-17 win over Stephen F. Austin.
Tech won it in that first half. The Dogs led 21-7 after a quarter and 38-7 at the break, and there was little for the Joe Aillet Stadium crowd of 16,094 not to like on a calm, 80-degrees September evening.
In that first half, fateful for the FCS Lumberjacks of the WAC, Tech had just one penalty, one turnover, and — here’s the biggie — rushed for 254 yards.
At Missouri, the Bulldogs had six penalties, several of them pre-snap or silly personal fouls. Tech turned it over three times and rushed for just 8 yards.
Also against Missouri, two Bulldogs punted a combined 7 times for a 34.9 yards-per-kick average. Against SFA, Austin McCready punted 5 times for a 43.8 yards-per-kick average. Almost 10 yards better, and it’s not because the air is thinner in Ruston than in Columbia, Missouri.
What a difference a week and an opponent make.
The biggest improvement between Week 1 and Week 2 was in run blocking and rushing. The season opener was a closed door for Tech runners. Not so against SFA, which fell to 1-2. Tech racked up 299 yards on the ground and won the battle up front all night long.
Center Abraham Delfin, guards Joshua Mote and Isaac Ellis, and tackles Dakota White and Carson Bruno did big-man work and Marquis Crosby, the 5-10, 201-pound redshirt freshman out of Presbyterian Christian in Hattiesburg, Miss., took advantage of it. He carried the ball 16 times for 196 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half, including a blast up the middle that he broke to the left; the play was good for a 42-yard touchdown run that made it 35-7 with 4:37 to go in the first half.
“I think up front last week, we just got beat,” said Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie, who picked up his first win as a college head coach. “I thought we created a lot of space tonight and we played on their side of the line of scrimmage.
“(Crosby) ran extremely hard north and south, broke tackles … I think you saw all our backs do that tonight.”
After coming off the bench last week, quarterback Parker McNeil started and was 11-for-22 for 197 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception; Tech’s only turnover came at the Bulldogs’ 1-yard line and set up SFA’s lone first-half score.
“I’m proud of how he played,” Cumbie said of the senior from Austin and transfer from Texas Tech. “He did exactly what he needed to do, put the ball in the places where it needed to be and let those guys make plays. You know the interception wasn’t a great decision but he overcame it, and it didn’t rattle him.”
Tre Harris had eight catches, Smoke Harris had five, and Julien Lewis (who got on scholarship just this week) and Praise Okorie each had three. Senior Griffin Hebert had just one, but it was on a skinny post and was good for a 63-yard touchdown, the same play that resulted in a 75-yard score last week in Missouri.
“We just have to continue to do that at a higher level each week,” Cumbie said.
This week would be a good time to repeat Saturday night’s improvements. SFA was ranked as high as No. 10 in a preseason FCS poll, but the Lumberjacks aren’t Clemson, Tech’s opponent in South Carolina next Saturday night at 7 p.m. CST.
“Each week it’s about us and our improvement and our execution, about us taking a game plan and executing at a high level,” Cumbie said. “We did that tonight and it’ll be a greater challenge next week, but we’ll worry about that tomorrow.”
Now, tomorrow is today.
Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu