Bulldogs try to keep bowl hopes alive with trip to first-place WKU

Louisiana Tech’s bowl hopes are now hanging on by a thread with three games left.

It’s the situation Tech has put itself in with late lapses in execution or overall sluggish outings in a season that’s looked pretty much the same as the previous two in the win-loss column with a 3-6 overall record and 2-4 mark in Conference USA play with three games left.

But with a win on Saturday against a strong Western Kentucky (7-2, 5-0 CUSA) team, Tech is still alive. Lose, and it’s four straight years without a bowl game appearance. No pressure.

The Bulldogs, as if they weren’t already, are now truly in mustwin mode to salvage a postseason bowl berth out of a year that’s been filled with heartbreaking defeats and headscratching mistakes, including last week’s 44- 37 overtime loss to Jacksonville State. You probably know how it ended by now.

The Gamecocks, who were trailing by 9 with under 7 minutes left, faced a third and long from Tech’s 49 yard line with four seconds left in the game. The pressure didn’t matter as JSU quarterback Tyler Huff completed a 49-yard Hail Mary into the endzone for a touchdown to tie the game at 37-37. Luckily for Tech, JSU missed the game-winning PAT to send the game into overtime. From there, the Bulldogs had minus- 1 yard of offense while the Gamecocks went 25 yards to win the game.

Bouncing back from that seems daunting from the outside, especially against a good WKU team with a highpowered offense, but Tech head coach Sonny believes the Bulldogs won’t be broken by the shocker of last week.

“I think they showed what they can do against one of the best teams in our conference up to this point. And then we have another opportunity to prove that it is consistency of our performance and to finish against a really good Western Kentucky football team,” Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie said. “I think mindset is everything. And it starts with coaches. It starts with our mindset. It was a punch to the gut, no doubt. But I’m not demoralized when I look at our players. I’m not demoralized when I look at our team when I see them in these position meetings. If anything, that’s where I get a lot of energy from these guys. And it absolutely stinks in terms of the outcome of that game, but it’s over with it. We’ve put that to bed. The mindset for us is to go win a football game this week.”

Saying it is one thing, but the Bulldogs have had tangible struggles in closing games and winning late. Since 2022, Tech is 3-12 in one-possession games and 1-16 on the road. So, how does Cumbie expect this Saturday, and the rest of the season, to be any different than what’s come before? For him, it starts with the Bulldogs believing in themselves more and expecting to finish the job, rather than waiting for the bottom to fall out.

“I think it’s first, expect to be in these types of games because you’re a good football team. And in this conference, everybody is pretty evenly matched. Expect to be in close football games and expect to win them,” Cumbie said. “Expect to make those plays at the end. Expect to do what you’re coached to do, and good things are going to happen. I think that’s what we talk to our kids about. Embrace those moments when you’re in them. Go out there and trust your training and trust yourself and who you are and go out and make a play.”

Tech will need big plays to go blow-for-blow with WKU, the No. 3 scoring offense ( 30.3 points per game), No. 3 total offense (408.8 yards per game), and No. 1 passing offense (280.8) in CUSA. The Hilltoppers have had no trouble scoring points in recent memory, ranking as the top passing offense in each of the last four years in CUSA, including this year led by quarterback Caden Veltkamp.

Veltkamp has 19 touchdown passes — most in CUSA — with only 7 interceptions to go with a league- best 1,950 passing yards and a 70% completion percentage.

In league play, Veltkamp has completed 74% of his passes for 16 TDs and 3 interceptions.

Tech’s offense was able to put up big numbers of its own against JSU, with quarterback Evan Bullock throwing for 266 yards and 3 touchdowns and an interception — putting him at 1,452 yards, 12 TDs, and 2 picks on the season — to lead the Bulldogs to 37 points.

The Bulldogs still are a work in progress offensively but have shown flashes of explosiveness in a handful of games this year. And offensive lineman Bert Hale knows Tech can’t afford a slow start on Saturday against WKU, who’s put up 87 points in the first quarter this year to just 39 for Tech.

It starts by recognizing last week’s mishap is over — done and in the record books. The Bulldogs can only focus on this week’s must-win matchup.

“After the game, it was very hard. We all had hardship,” Hale said. “Just bringing the guys together and just telling them, ‘That’s in the past. You gotta keep moving forward. The past is the past.’ It’s tricky not to go back and think about this or doing this better. The past is the past. You just gotta keep moving forward. You’ll never be successful in life if you keep looking back. You always gotta keep looking forward.”

Tech (3-6, 2-4 CUSA) will take on Western Kentucky at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.