Bulldogs blown out in season finale

Sonny Cumbie came into Louisiana Tech’s season finale against Jacksonville State believing it would reveal something.

Whether it be who on the struggling Bulldogs still had fight left in them, what coaches could still put together a detailed gameplan or who just flat out cared with all postseason opportunities off the table, Cumbie and his players saw Saturday as Tech’s last chance to prove to itself what makeup runs through the program.

The answer was cut and dry on the scoreboard Saturday as the Gamecocks defeated LA Tech 56-17, dropping the Bulldogs to 3-9 overall and 2-6 in Conference USA for a third-straight season.

It’s the first time since the 1919, 1917, and 1916 seasons Louisiana Tech has finished with less than four wins for three-straight seasons. The 1918 season was canceled due to the Spanish Flu.

Jacksonville State rushed for 522 yards on the day - a new Conference USA record for a single game

“It’s just very disappointing and very embarrassing,” Cumbie said postgame. “We didn’t really come out to play on any side of the football. Jacksonville State dominated us and we did not answer the bell. Any type of momentum we tried to create whenever we had things go our way, we didn’t capitalize on it and it was a long day for us and we’ve got a lot of work to do as we head into this offseason.”

Outside of a 31-yard touchdown pass from Hank Bachmeier to Cyrus Allen and a 33-yard field goal in the first half and a punt block for a touchdown by Michael Richard, Tech didn’t put make much noise against JSU (8-3, 6-1 CUSA) - trailing 42-10 at the break with the home squad rolling up 398 yards of offense on seven drives. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, punted four times and turned the ball over on downs twice across its nine series in the first half.

And it only got worse from there, with the Gamecocks rushing their way into the record books with the likes of Zion Webb, Malik Jackson and Anwar Lewis steamrolling the Bulldogs on the ground all afternoon. Webb and Jackson went untouched on a handful of plays for the Gamecocks, including the first play from scrimmage as Jackson sprinted up field for a 68-yard on the opening drive for the Gamecocks to take a 7-0 less than three minutes in.

Jackson had 7 carries for 126 yards and 2 scores at halftime before ending his day with 193 yards for the game. Webb finished with 10 rushes for 122 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Lewis stacked up 122 yards and a score.

Tech’s offense stumbled and ran off the field more than not, going 1-9 on third down in first half and 2-15 for the game.

For a brief moment, some semblance of momentum appeared to be going Tech’s way after Richard’s special teams touchdown parlayed into the Gamecocks fumbling the ball on their next drive after a high snap. With some chance to claw back in it, Tech's offense came back on the field. But in matter of moments, Bachmeier threw wide with pressure in his face and was picked off. From there, JSU went down and scored again to make it 42-17 and ice what Cumbie called an embarrassing finish to the season.

The Bulldogs had a bowl game streak from 2014-2020 (7 seasons) and have now gone three straight seasons without one.

Before he was benched midway through the third quarter, Bachmeier’s final line ended at 24-37 passing for 198 yards and touchdown. Tech backup quarterback Jack Turner and true freshman Evan Bullock also played in the final stages.

When asked what direction the program takes in the offseason, Cumbie said the Bulldogs have to reevaluate their overall mission. Bottom line, it’s not pretty.

“As we move forward in the offseason, we’ll just look at how we’re doing things and we’ve got to improve our roster and improve on how we do some things," Cumbie said. "We have a lot of pride in this place. I know there’s a lot of people that have a lot of pride in Louisiana Tech and this football program and this is not where it needs to be. And I take full responsibility for it. And I got to do things to help get us out of a hole and to get this program to where we’re playing close to meaningful games and winning those games in November. This is in no way acceptable at all, so we’ve got to have a plan of action and get ourselves better as a football program.”