SMU rolls over Tech

DALLAS - Shades of the Pony Express were out in full force in Dallas on Saturday, and Louisiana Tech was under the tracks.

The Bulldogs continued their three-year road losing streak with a 38-7 defeat at the hands of SMU, with the Mustangs showing off their high-flying offense by outgaining Tech 457 to 269 in a blowout victory to drop Tech to 1-1 overall.

Forget the pregame questions about Preston Stone being able to lead the SMU offense for the first time – with the sophomore throwing for a career high 248 yards and career best three touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Tech’s offense started and stayed cold for much of the game, not scoring until the 13:52 mark of the third quarter on a 53-yard touchdown from Hank Bachmeier to Koby Duru.

Up until the score, the Bulldogs had no bite offensively, punting five of its seven drives in the first half, with an interception and missed field goal making up the other lost series.

LA Tech head coach Sonny Cumbie expressed disappointment in his team’s performance on a steamy day in Dallas.

“Just disappointed with how we played,” Cumbie said postgame. “We didn’t play well enough on offense. I think defensively, our guys really played physical and they did a nice job of getting off the field in certain situations, and also on special teams from a coaching standpoint did a pitiful job coaching on special teams from the standpoint of myself, I’m talking myself in terms of having the 12 guys on the field and being able to see that, call timeout, get our guys off the field. Our defense did exactly what you wanted whenever you stopped them backed up and they’re going to punt the football and we’re going to have the ball at midfield and it’s a 17-0 game.”

What went bad did in the first half on Saturday.

Tech trailed 14-0 after the first quarter and 17-0 three plays into the second quarter after errors rolled and kept rolling onto one another to sink the Bulldogs early.

The day began with a 67-yard touchdown from Preston Stone to Jordan Hudson and then less a minute later, Bachmeier’s pass was batted down and returned for a touchdown for a 14-0 deficit. Three plays into the second quarter, the Mustangs kept it rolling with a 34-yard field goal with less than a minute gone by.

For as bad as the first 15 minutes were, Cumbie mentioned the turning point for the game might have come with 8 minutes to go in the second quarter, with the Bulldogs’ defense getting a three and out stop to force an SMU punt inside its 15-yard line. Instead, Tech was penalized for 12 men on the field and three minutes later Stone threw a 9-yard strike for a 24-0 lead.

With Tech thinking the alarming start would meet its merciful end down 24-0, SMU kept the express going in the final seconds of the half, with a 67-yard run from LJ Johnson setting up an eventual 25-yard touchdown pass from Stone with 2 seconds left before halftime.

After 30 minutes: SMU 31, Tech 0.

It was the first time since Dec. 12, 2020 Tech was shutout in the first half.

“I feel like we just needed to start a little faster,” Tech linebacker Jeslord Boateng said. “I think they caught us off guard a little bit with the tempo. We didn’t think they’d go that fast. Just gotta do a better job of cleaning that up. Second half, I feel like we improved on that aspect.”

Tech’s defense locked in to better affect in the second half, giving up one final touchdown to give the Mustangs their 38 points with 2:32 left in the ballgame.

But for as poor as the defense played in the first half, the story of Saturday likely came down to another anemic start offensively that didn’t seem to turn until it was too late.

The Bulldogs managed 78 yards in the first half as SMU built its big lead, feeling too familiar to the start of the 22-17 comeback win over FIU August. 26 where Tech trailed 14-0 after the first quarter.

For wide receiver Kyle Maxwell, who finished with two catches for 55 yards Saturday, it’s about building a stronger mentality within the offense. The air-raid may have a repuation of scoring whenever it wants, but a scheme can’t work if players come out slow.

Maxwell wants himself and his offensive teammates to recognize starting slow could be the nail in the coffin.

“We gotta come out more explosive, come out and make sure you’re ready for execution,” Maxwell said. “It starts with a mindset. Come out here and make sure you’re ready and being confident in what we do.”

Freshman running back Keith Willis gave the Bulldogs their second score of the contest on a 2-yard score with 26 seconds left – not enough to mask another poor performance in the run game.

Two games without returning starter Marquis Crosby and second-string Tyre Shelton has impacted the room’s ability to shine, no doubt, but even Cumbie acknowledged running the ball has to become a real option for this offense.

Through two games, the Bulldogs have rushed the ball 63 times for 142 yards. That’s good for 2.3 yards per carry.

“I think just being a little bit more patient with the run,” Cumbie said. “Jacob and Keith, there were some cuts early in the game that they missed and I think would have been big plays. I think that’s just them being able to see that and understanding to be a little more patient and trust the read. There’s no doubt we have to have more production in the run game.

“We’re still in the infancy stages of our season and there’s lot of newness and figuring what good guys are good with and what guys are comfortable with. We have a lot of learning to do from this football game and we have a lot to learn from the last football game and I think there’s some areas where we did carry it over.”

Louisiana Tech will return home and host Northwestern State on Sept. 9.