The blue-helmet Bulldogs got the better of the Blue Raiders as Louisiana Tech registered a 48-21 blowout victory on Thursday night inside Joe Aillet Stadium.
LA Tech (2-3, 1-1 CUSA) racked up a season-high 551 total yards of offense, scoring seven touchdowns including ones on its first five drives of the game. Starting quarterback Evan Bullock was responsible for six of those TDs, throwing for five while rushing for one.
The Bulldogs came into the game having not scored in the first quarter in their last three games. That was not the case against Middle Tennessee (1-5, 0-2 CUSA) as LA Tech put up 20 in the first stanza, followed by 14 in both the second and third quarters.
The Blue Raiders came out firing as well on offense, going 75 yards on each of their first two possessions to grab a 7-point lead. The 'Dogs would get to within one point after Jimmy Holiday was the recipient of a 15-yard touchdown (extra point was missed).
LA Tech took its first lead of the game with 34 seconds left in the first quarter when Bullock connected with Omiri Wiggins on a screen pass that went 16 yards for the score (was the second time they hooked up for a TD). The touchdown came following a recovered fumble by the defense.
The defense followed that forced turnover by forcing back-to-back three-and-outs. The offense returned the favor by scoring two more touchdowns – Bullock found Jay Wilkerson for a 20-yard score up the left sideline and then Bullock kept it himself for a 1-yard score at the goal line – to make it 34-14 at halftime.
The momentum did not stall at the midway point. On the third play of the second half, Bullock went deep to Tru Edwards that resulted in a 75-yard touchdown (longest play of the season). It was 34 unanswered points by LA Tech before Middle Tennessee put points on the board again.
The Bulldogs capped off their offensive explosion when running back Marquis Crosby did his best Bullock impression, tossing a 19-yard touchdown to Solo Lewis.
Bullock went 18-of-25 for 290 passing yards to go along with his six TDs. Edwards registered his second 100-yard receiving game this season, accounting for 127 yards while Wiggins had a game-high 49 yards on the ground plus his two receiving TDs.
Defensively, Isaiah Mcelvane was responsible for both turnovers for the Bulldogs, forcing the fumble and registering a key interception in the second quarter. Jayden Gray was credited with both sacks for LA Tech.
