By Kane McGuire, Louisiana Tech Associate Director Strategic Communications; featured photo by Josh McDaniel
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Louisiana Tech could not overcome a scoreless first half, falling 35-14 to Arkansas on Saturday afternoon at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
LA Tech (4-6) could only muster 43 yards of offense through the first two quarters, unable to take advantage of two turnovers forced by the defense. Meanwhile, Arkansas (6-5) methodically put the game away on the arm and legs of quarterback Taylen Green who had two touchdowns apiece through the air and on the ground.
Miscues was the theme of the contest though in the first quarter, starting with the Razorbacks having an opening 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown negated by a penalty.
For the Bulldogs, it was failing to score after getting into the red zone thanks to an interception by Jacob Fields. After a successful fake field goal, LA Tech had the ball at the 2-yard line but a false start and a snap Evan Bullock was not expecting sent the Bulldogs backwards. The ensuing 42-yard field goal attempt by Buck Buchanan was wide left.
Arkansas would eventually crack the scoring code first, going 80 yards in 13 plays that was capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass (aided by a 4th-and-1 conversion) with 5:49 to go in the second quarter.
After a 3-and-out by the LA Tech offense, Arkansas capitalized on another 4th-down conversion. This one was a quarterback scramble that went 41 yards to the end zone to give the Hogs a 14-0 going into halftime.
The Bulldogs tried to find some 4th-down magic on their own early in the third quarter but got stuffed on their own 27-yard line. The Razorbacks made them pay on the very next play with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Green to Isaac Teslaa.
Down three touchdowns, LA Tech took advantage of a muffed punt and a roughing the passer penalty that negated an interception thrown by Bullock. The quarterback found Eli Finley to convert a 3rd-and-5, and then found him again on the very next play for a 2-yard score with 3:59 left in third quarter.
However, Arkansas’ Green used his legs yet again to give the Razorbacks another touchdown, this time taking it into the end zone from eight yards out.
The Bulldogs were able to find the end zone just one more time, a strike from Bullock to Jimmy Holiday on a post route that resulted in a 20-yard score that came with six minutes remaining in the game.
LA Tech ended up totaling 186 yards of offense in the second half, getting most of that through the air. Bullock ended the game 26-of-43 for 190 yards and two passing TDs. Tru Edwards, quiet for much of the first half, ended with a game-high eight grabs for 53 yards.
Green accounted for 282 yards of Arkansas’ 454 yards of offense. The Razorbacks also got 112 yards on the ground from Rashod Dubinion.
QUOTABLES
Head coach Sonny Cumbie
On the early chances in the first half….
“I think we had a lot of opportunities in that first quarter and the second quarter, and in the first half for our football team to take an advantage of and we failed to do that. In terms of turnovers, we failed to take advantage of turnovers that we created, and we failed to take advantage of short fields and the momentum we created with special teams plays. Against a good team like Arkansas is, it will be hard to overcome that. Those are the plays early in the game that you can potentially create put distance between yourself and a good opponent like that. “
On Sam Pitman after the game and what he said…
“He was very complementary on how our kids played, our kids are a physical group, they are a scrappy group and they fight. He was just very complementary of that.”
On Zach Zimos’ performance….
“I thought he was very focused, just like he is every week. Zach is an extremely focused kid and has meant a lot and done a lot for our program. He played well tonight, made a lot of plays, particularly early, he made a couple tackles for loss and really showed up in a big way.”
On not reaching bowl eligibility….
“I think the way that our kids played today was again reflective of their effort and their buy in and belief. It’s been an uncommon season from the standpoint of how games have ended for us in certain cases. I think they have felt it and have seen the progress and how we’ve played on defense and how much we’ve improved on that side of the football.”
NOTABLES
· With the loss, Arkansas now leads the all-time series over LA Tech, 5-0. This was the first meeting between the Bulldogs and Razorbacks since 2016.
· Evan Bullock threw multiple touchdowns for the third time this season.
· Eli Finley and Jimmy Holiday both registered their second receiving touchdown of the season. For Holiday, it was his sixth overall touchdown (has four on the ground as well).
· The LA Tech defense forced multiple turnovers for the fifth time this season and the fifth time in the last seven games.
· Tru Edwards led the Bulldogs in receiving yards (53) for the seventh time this season. He did so with eight catches, giving him a team-leading 67 on the season. It marked the eighth straight game of at least five receptions for Edwards.
UP NEXT
LA Tech will battle Kennesaw State in the season finale on Saturday, Nov. 30 at Joe Aillet Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+.