Bulldogs knock off WKU, keep bowl hops alive

Louisiana Tech's defense once again delivered a masterclass in keeping an opponent from their strengths, holding Western Kentucky (7-3, 5-1 CUSA) to five punts, two turnovers on downs, and a single touchdown, in the Bulldogs' 12-7 road win on Saturday. The victory keep's Tech bowl hopes alive with a 4-6 overall record and a 3-4 mark in CUSA action.

Tech held WKU, the No. 1 ranked passing offense in CUSA (280 YPG) and the No. 3 scoring offense (30.3 ppg), to just a single scoring drive - a 14-play, 97-yard series that wrapped up with 14:46 left in the second quarter. Outside of the long drive, the Hilltoppers were rolling over themselves with three punts and two turnovers on downs the rest of the way.

The biggest stop of the afternoon came on 4th and 1 from Tech's 5, with WKU choosing to go for it, rather than taking a field goal to go up 10-9. The Hilltoppers kept the ball in the hands of quarterback Caden Veltkamp but J'Dan Burnett, Jacob Fields, and Tech's defense held and forced a turnover on downs.

LA Tech's defense ranks top 15 nationally in total defense - allowing just 302 yards per game.

It's the biggest win of the Sonny Cumbie era - now 10-24 overall - to knock WKU out of first place in the standings while keeping the postseason alive. And it also gets Tech off the mat after a disaster ending a week ago to Jacksonville State. It would have been easy to roll over and believe the season was over. The Bulldogs have had too much heartbreak to count.

But on Saturday, Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie watched his team rally like he hasn't seen before - unwilling to accept defeat.

“The thing we talked about to our football team all week was just being uncommon," Cumbie said. "People are drawn to uncommon things. It’s very common in the season we’ve had to blame. It’s very common in a season we’ve had for guys to shut it down and for people to exit stage left and to quit. That’s common. And I talked to our players about being uncommon and I truly believe they are. I believe they have an uncommon fight about them. They have uncommon grit about themselves.”

The Bulldogs kicked four field goals to win, with Buck Buchanan hitting from 35, 28, 24, and 42-yards out, despite moving inside the WKU 25 four times.

Tech started strong with moving the football in the first half but once again could not sustain drives into the red-zone as the Bulldogs came away with three field goals - connecting on 35, 42, and 28-yard boots - despite moving inside WKU’s 25-yard line three times in the first half. The Bulldogs started 0-5 on third down against the eighth worse third down defense in the country coming in, with the Hilltoppers allowing opponents to convert on 47.7% of third down tries.

Tech moved to the WKU 7-yard line after a 34-yard run from Omiri Wiggins and then lost 4 yards on its next three plays to force Buchanan’s third FG of the half.

It was the sixth time in 10 games that Tech walked into halftime with more punts than touchdowns in the first half.

But the key in the game was Tech's ability to finally run the ball - rushing 49 times for 209 yards at 4.3 YPC. The Bulldogs came in as a bottom 10 rushing offense in the country, but it didn't matter on saturday as Amani Givens led with 103 yards on 17 carries, while Omiri Wiggins had 70 yards.

Tech won the time of possession battle 39:38 to 20:22.

"Coach Young and our offensive staff put together a great plan to run the football. We felt like we were going to be able to do that just from a coverage standpoint. They were daring us to win the game running the ball and they were going to take Tru [Edwards] away. We were able to run the ball.

"Amani has done a phenomenal job. He's been patient. He's continually got better and better and better. A kid from Louisiana that went to Junior College in California, and we signed him this summer. He's a kid that breaks tackle. He runs physical. He's a little bowling ball. We call him tank. He runs behind his pads."

Tech’s defense started and stayed strong, forcing WKU into four three-and-outs in the first half - limiting the Hilltoppers’ No. 1 ranked passing offense to just 80 passing yards through two quarters, attacking downhill and bringing linebackers and safeties up to wrap up YAC opportunities. The Hilltoppers’ lone success in the first half came on a 14-play, 97-yard touchdown drive that started on their own 3-yard line and ended a 7-yard TD run by Elijah Young.

It was the first time since week one against Alabama that the Hilltoppers had four punts in the first half.

WKU's decision to go for it inside the 5 late in the third quarter signaled a lack of faith in the offense's ability to get down in the red-zone again - wise, considering Tech held WKU to just 3-11 on third down, only 152 passing yards and sacked Veltkamp 3 times to go with 7 TFL. WKU put up 47 yards of offense after turning it over on downs.

“They come out in a big personnel grouping, and we talked about this week that they’re going to run Caden Veltkamp on quarterback power in short yardage. And that’s the sign of a good offense that you believe what you do but you know what, our defense executed better. They won the line of scrimmage with our front," Cumbie said. "They were able to get knock-back on their offensive line and really that was the story of the game as well. Great job by our secondary. They were tested by a really good offense, really good receivers, a really good quarterback and a really good scheme and a team that’s led our conference in passing.”

Jacob Fields led Tech with 6 tackles and 1.5 TFL, while Kolbe Fields and Demarcus Griffin-Taylor each had 4 tackles. J'Dan Burnett, Jessie Evans, and David Blay each had a sack as well.

WKU had one last chance to win the game with the ball at its own 30 with 1:55 after blocking Buchanan's fifth attempt of the day, but the Hilltoppers turned the ball over on downs after a 5-play series.

Can Tech use this momentum to truly make a final push and win both of its final two games to make the program's first bowl game since 2020?

Cumbie believes so but it starts with getting back to work and focusing on the details that allowed Saturday's win to be possible.

"I think it's just capitalize on the momentum of who we are. I talk a lot to our kids about this is a team that's uncommon. We've had a lot of bounces go against us and they continue to fight. We've got a good challenge next week. I just want to celebrate this game and embrace it with our players."

Louisiana Tech (4-6, 3-4 CUSA) travels to Fayetteville, Arkansas, next Saturday to face Arkansas (5-5, 3-4 SEC).