Bulldogs fall to New Mexico State in 2OT

Louisiana Tech still has to learn how to handle success.

That was the assessment of Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie after his Bulldogs fell 33-30 in double overtime to New Mexico State (2-5, 1-3 CUSA) early Wednesday morning in Las Cruces, New Mexico - dropping the Bulldogs to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in Conference USA action. The success, last week's 48-21 win over Middle Tennessee, the program's first over an FBS opponent since Sept. 29, 2023, gave the Bulldogs a brief spark after dropping their previous three. But after the road loss to the Aggies, it was clear to Cumbie that Tech struggled to put the win in the past and come out ready to seize an opportunity ready for the taking.

"From me on down, I don't know if we gathered out kids' attention on a short week like we should have in terms of us being able to start the game fast and execute really on all three sides of the football. We had chances there to make plays, we had chances there are the end really on all three sides of the football. And in the times we needed to make the plays, and the times they were on the table to be made, we didn't make them. And that's disappointing," Cumbie said. "Our team has gotta be able to handle success and handle the night we had just five days ago and put it behind them and understand everybody in this league can win a football game."

The Aggies, who came in allowing 38.2 points per game, 473 total yards per game, and 250 rushing yards per game, shut down the same Tech offensive personnel that just scored 48 points and seven touchdowns last week to 44 rushes for 135 yards - a 3.1 ypc average - along with three touchdowns, broken up by six punts, a turnover on downs, and a missed field goal at the end of regulation.

For as bad of a start as Tech had, -10 yards of offense, a turnover on downs, and two punts after three drives and 0 points in the first quarter, the Bulldogs seemed poised to steal a win over NMS as kicker Buck Buchanan lined up for a 27-yard field goal with three seconds left. Tech got to the 12-yard line with a timeout to spare but Cumbie chose to call the timeout after the 3-yard rush by Amani Givens, only to then come out of the stoppage with another running play for 3 yards. The Bulldogs, now at the 9-yard line of NMS, then waited to spike the ball to stop the clock with three seconds to go.

Buchanan, who finished with a season-high three field goals on the night, missed the most important one as NMS defender Malaki Ta'ase blocked the kick, sending the game into overtime.

“It looked low from the field. I know the snap was a little high, and I think that’s what threw Buck’s rhythm off and created a little bit of hesitation," Cumbie said of the field goal. "And on that operation, a slight bit of hesitation is going to throw everything off. And I think that’s what happened on that last second field goal. Gosh, I just knew we were going to nail it and walk it off and it didn’t happen.”

As for the decision to call a timeout when he did, Cumbie said, "The thought process was we’re going to end up with a field goal attempt anyways, most likely. We had one timeout left. And so, there was 20 seconds, and it was running and we were in the midst of getting a play and getting ourselves lined up. And so, instead of running anywhere from eight to 10 seconds from the standpoint of running the football and then you call timeout with three seconds left to gather our thoughts on the sideline from the standpoint of running the football.

"And they were in a situation where were they going to try and call a timeout or not. But we ran the football, and then we knew we were going to clock it like we did, spot the ball in the middle of the field with three seconds left. I think from that standpoint, you couldn’t have probably asked for a better setup in terms of the ending of the football game.”

In overtime, the teams traded field goals in the first period, followed up with Tech kicking a field on in the second overtime period. On the Aggies' final possession of the night, Mike Washington scored a touchdown from 4 yards out to snap New Mexico State's five game losing streak.

Tech started about as bad as you can get in the first half, punting on three of its first four drives for Tech averaging -0.2 yards per play after four drive with -3 total yards. Quarterback Evan Bullock was 1-4 passing in the first quarter for 2 yards as the offense had the ball for less than four minutes of game clock.

LA Tech opened its offense in the second quarter with a 15-play, 75-yard drive as Bullock hit Tru Edwards for a 7-yard touchdown. And on the following drive, Omiri Wiggins punched in a 1-yard score to cap a 40-yard drive. Edwards finished his night with 9 catches for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns - his second straight game over 100 yards. The Bulldogs put up 104 yards in the second quarter but the -10 yards in the opening period and 44 in the third quarter held Tech back from sustaining explosiveness.

Edwards caught the go-ahead TD with 4:54 left in regulation - a 15-yard strike from Bullock, who finished 22-41 for 225 yards and 2 TDs, but the offense managed just one other player over 50 scrimmage yards (Omiri Wiggins 70 total yards). The Bulldogs managed 136 yards at halftime and entered the fourth with just 180 yards against a NMS squad that gave up at least 50 points in its previous two games.

Cumbie said Bullock's performance was a mixed bag, featuring highlight plays on third down but also saw missed opportunities and struggles to manage pressure in the pocket.

“I thought Evan had probably not his best performance," Cumbie said. "I think it took him a little while to get settled. And some of that is guys creating space and making plays around him and getting the protection he needs. But I thought he made plays in clutch, clutch moments. I think he was clutch. We had a couple throws there in the last drive on a third and long; I mean how many third and longs did he throw over the middle of the field to Tru Edwards and was able to keep us in the game and to answer when we needed answers. Lot of lessons to learn.”

Bullock has put up 782 yards, 8 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions through his five appearances this season.

Defensively, the Bulldogs had their chance to stop the Aggies in their tracks after Edwards' go-ahead score with under five minutes left but instead let NMS go 75 yards on 11 plays. NMS faced 3rd and 8 and 3rd and 5 on the drive and converted both chances. NMS also got a gift when Tech defensive back Pig Cage was called for targeting to set the Aggies up inside Tech's 13. Two plays later, Brandon Nunez rushed in for a TD as the game got back to its 24-24 tie.

The Aggies' defense proved to be more disruptive than Tech, putting up 5 sacks and 8 TFL to the Bulldogs' 0 sacks and 2 TFL.

As Tech comes out of the loss - putting Tech at 1-15 on the road under Cumbie - charting a path forward gets tougher. Tech would have to win four of its final six games of the season to earn bowl eligibility, with matchups against UTEP, Western Kentucky, Sam Houston, Jacksonville State, Arkansas, and Kennesaw State still to be played.

Cumbie said his message to players after the loss was not one of anger. But he did let his team know they aren't at a point to where a single win over MTSU means they can ease up in their focus and attention to detail that produces winning.

“It’s on us to lead our kids in the right way in terms of how you handle success and how you handle hard things. We’ll have an opportunity to do that with this football team. I think this football team loves to play. I think they play very fast, and I still think we have an explosive football team," Cumbie said. "More opportunities, four of the last six [to become bowl eligible], and really all of them are winnable football games if we play like we’re capable of. It starts in terms of us.

“We’re all frustrated. We all feel rotten in the core. We’re all feeling very sick in our stomach because you put yourself out there as players and as coaches. The message was a very calm message, and the message was, ‘You have to respect everybody that you play.’ The message is there’s really two words that we talk about in our program and that’s owning our performance and when we watch this, it all starts with us individually. And again, you have to handle success and you have to be able to put together performances to create momentum to continue playing at a high level. We weren’t able to do that.”

LA Tech (2-4, 1-2 CUSA) returns to action on Tuesday, Oct. 22, to host UTEP (0-6, 0-3 CUSA) at Joe Aillet Stadium.