LA Tech’s goals haven’t changed in final stretch

Before the season began, Louisiana Tech saw itself as a contender in Conference USA and in line to make a bowl game.

A few things have gone down since then.

Coming out its bye week with four games left, the Bulldogs are 3-5 overall and 2-2 in league play, losers of two straight and four of their last five. A quarterback battle continues between Hank Bachmeier and Jack Turner and injuries continue to deplete key positions with running back Tyre Shelton, safety Myles Heard, and defensive lineman J’Dan Burnett – three regular starters – all in question for Tuesday against New Mexico State.

Despite those realities and the team slipping into the middle of the pack of CUSA with just four games left, Tech isn’t backing away from what it believed in mid-August.

“No, they haven’t,” LA Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie said when asked Friday about his team’s goals needing to change. “You see how this league is so wide open and I think it’ll continue to be wide open as we play out these last four games and the players and the teams that are on our schedule, they can impact where we’re playing and what we’re doing come late November, early December. And so, we still have that in front of us. The main thing for us is a focus on this week and focus on getting this win against a challenging, really good New Mexico State team.”

The road ahead over the next month isn’t the easiest on paper, starting Tuesday with a matchup against a surging New Mexico State team that’s won three straight. The Aggies have one of the top offenses in the country at 29.8 ppg and 439.6 ypg – both top three in CUSA.

From there, the Bulldogs travel to undefeated Liberty (7-0, 5-0 CUSA) before returning to Joe Aillet Stadium for the home finale against Sam Houston (0-7, 0-4 CUSA), capped off with the season wrapping up at Jacksonville State (6-2, 4-1 CUSA) on Nov. 18.

LA Tech enters its mid-week contest with the Aggies fifth in the conference standings, trailing Liberty and Jacksonville State, among others.

Cumbie said after Tech’s 31-23 loss to Middle Tennessee he wanted his team to think of how to properly respond the rest of the way. What does that look like to the second-year coach? Wins, obviously. But above all, it’s playing clean, tough football – not the penalized and slow style of play that’s come out the last two games.

“Our guys, when challenged, have done a nice job of responding,” Cumbie said. “I think our guys play really hard. You watch them play, there’s no quit in them. They fight and they plate extremely hard. I think our execution has been what’s been lacking and so we’ve got to do a better job of executing on defense, offense, and on special teams. And I think sometimes when you catch your breath a little bit and you can get outside the forest and look at the trees a little bit, I think you realize some of the things that attributes to those types of mistakes can be fatigue, whether it be mental or physical. Hopefully we’ve had the chance to clear our minds from a player’s standpoint. The response we’re looking for as a team is to play tough, tenacious, and together and do that for four quarters.”

Willie Roberts, a fifth-year senior cornerback for the Bulldogs, said New Mexico State is the first opportunity to turn the narrative of how the season will be remembered. Will Tech fade away like some expect or fight back into the CUSA race when its back is against the wall?

Roberts said the strong finish and the hope of reaching preseason goals, starts with players. And it starts Tuesday night.

“Just to finish strong,” Roberts said. “No one cares how you start the race, it’s how you finish. That’s really where our focus is. This week we have New Mexico State and that’s where the focus is.”

LA Tech (3-5, 2-2 CUSA) takes on New Mexico State (5-3, 3-1 CUSA) Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Joe Aillet Stadium. The game will be broadcast CBS Sports Network.