Louisiana Tech drops shootout at Liberty

LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Louisiana Tech Football team fell to Liberty 56-30 on Saturday night at Williams Stadium in the inaugural meeting between the two programs.

In a game that featured no shortage of offense, with both teams combining for 990 yards from scrimmage. LA Tech (3-7, 2-4 CUSA) could not muster enough stops defensively against the high-powered Liberty offense as the Flames scored touchdowns on eight of their ten drives while converting seven of eight third-down attempts.

Freshman Keith Willis Jr. was impressive, scoring a pair of rushing touchdowns in his first game action since Sept. 9. Quarterback Hank Bachmeier finished with 304 yards through the air. Tru Edwards led the receivers with a career-high 85 years and one touchdown.

Louisiana Tech scored on the opening drive for the fourth time this season. Demarcus Griffin-Taylor’s 28 yard kickoff return combined with a Liberty clipping penalty gave Tech great field position as they started their drive on their own 43-yard line. An 11-play 48-yard drive capped by a 26-yard Jacob Barnes field goal gave the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead with 11:21 on the clock in the first quarter.

Liberty struck back just over a minute later with a three-play 75-yard drive capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kaiden Salter to Bentley Henshaw gave the Flames a 7-3 lead.

On the ensuing Liberty drive, defensive lineman Zion Nason pounced on a fumble by the Flames’ Quinton Cooley to give the ball back to the Dogs. Offensively the Bulldogs could not capitalize though as Liberty forced the second-consecutive three and out by the LA Tech offense.

Liberty extended it’s lead with a 24-yard strike from Salter to C.J. Daniels to make it 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.

A questionable offensive pass interference call against the Bulldogs inside the Liberty 20-yard line took away an opportunity to put more points on the board and forced the Bulldogs to punt on the first drive of the second quarter. The Flames then drove 92 yards, finding the endzone on an Aaron Bedgood rushing touchdown from five yards out to make it 21-7 in favor of the hosts.

The Bulldogs answered on a four-yard rushing touchdown from freshman Keith Willis Jr. to make it 21-10 with 1:51 left in the first half. The touchdown was Willis Jr.’s fourth of the season as the Houston, Texas product made his return after suffering an injury during the 51-21 win over Northwestern State back on Sept. 9.

Liberty took a 28-10 lead into intermission with a Salter connecting with Bedgood on a four-yard touchdown pass with just six seconds on the clock.

The Flames added another touchdown on the opening drive of the second half when Salter found Noah Frith on a 55-yard touchdown pass.

Keith Willis Jr. found the end zone again on a two-yard rush with 9:01 left in the third quarter. Tech then converted a two-point conversion, bringing the Bulldogs within 17.

Both squads traded scoring touchdowns on the ensuing drives. Quinton Cooley scored a touchdown on a 29-yard rush with 2:31 left in the stanza. LA Tech answered with a five-play 75-yard drive that was capped by one-yard touchdown on a screen pass from Bachmeier to Smoke Harris.

Cooley added another rushing touchdown on the ensuing drive before the Bulldogs fought back with a touchdown of their own on a nine-yard pass from Bachmeier to Tru Edwards. LA Tech then went for two but the attempt failed as Jacob Fields’ halfback pass was intercepted in the endzone, leaving the score at 49-30 with 10:48 remaining.

On the ensuing possession, Liberty would be stopped on third down for the first time all game, giving the Bulldogs an opportunity with 8:14 left on the clock. LA Tech would gain one first down before turning the ball over on downs near midfield.

The Flames would close out the game with one more touchdown with 2:17 left to play.

QUOTABLES

Head coach Sonny Cumbie
Opening Statement…
” We didn’t stop them. We knew they were really good on offense. Their Quarterback, running back are really good, their offensive line did a great job. We didn’t do a good enough job on defense or offense. Our goal on deffense is to hold them to less than us and on offense to get one more. Credit Liberty, they kicked our tails. They are an undefeated team for a reason. I will be surprised if anyone beats them.”

“When you play a team like Liberty, if you have a margin for error at all, it is razor thin. You hope they do something on third downs to give you a break. You hope they give you a break on early downs to put you into positions to give you a stop. We did that, third and three, penalty, third and long and we get two penalties. We have to get it cleaned up and get ready to play Sam Houston State.”

NOTABLES
With the loss, Liberty now leads the all-time series with Louisiana Tech, 1-0.
Louisiana Tech is now 82-73-9 all-time against first-time opponents
Jacob Barnes made his 53rd career field goal, tying Matt Nelson (2009-12) for the fourth-most in program history.
Smoke Harris extended his streak of games with at least one reception to 42, the second-longest in program history.
Keith Willis Jr. recorded his second multi-rushing touchdown game this season, finding the end zone in the second and third quarters respectively.
Smoke Harris recorded his 23rd career receiving touchdown to move him into sole possession of the No. 5 spot in the Bulldog record books.
Tru Edwards had six receptions for a career-high 85 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Demarcus Griffin-Taylor finished with a season high 109 kick return yards, the most by any Bulldog all season.
Smoke Harris extended his streak of games with at least one reception to 42.
UP NEXT
LA Tech returns to Joe Aillet Stadium for its home finale against Sam Houston on Nov. 11. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+

SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in Bulldog Football, follow us on Twitter (@LATechFB), Instagram (@LATechFB), and Facebook (LATechFootball).