Louisiana Tech put together an 11-play, 97-yard drive late in the fourth quarter that led to the game-winning touchdown, giving the Bulldogs a 14-10 victory over UTEP on Tuesday night inside Joe Aillet Stadium.
LA Tech (3-4, 2-2 CUSA) had great field position all night against UTEP (1-7, 1-4 CUSA), including four drives that started in its opponent's territory. None of those four drives resulted in points though.
The two teams traded touchdowns in the first half with the Miners claiming the first one, going 94 yards on eight plays that was capped off by a 47-yard touchdown pass on their second drive of the game.
After totaling just 42 yards of offense on their first five drives, the Bulldogs finally broke through on a long touchdown pass of their own. Evan Bullock found Solo Lewis, who beat his man in one-on-one coverage, for a 48-yard score with 1:58 remaining in the second quarter.
The first red zone appearance by either team came in the third quarter when LA Tech's Colton Deckard blocked a punt by the Miners, giving the Bulldogs the ball just eight yards from the goal line. However, a false start and a sack was followed by a missed 36-yard field goal, which kept the score tied at 7-7.
UTEP, which had missed a field goal of its own earlier on the contest, retook the lead on a 44-yard field goal with 3:43 to go in the third quarter.
Down three points, LA Tech found itself with its worst field position of the game, backed up on its own 3-yard line with only 11:55 to go in the game. It then became the Evan Bullock-to-Jimmy Holiday show.
The drive opened with Bullock finding Holiday for a 32-yard gain over the middle to get LA Tech out of its own end zone. Then on a 3rd-and-10, Holiday reeled in a 17-yard grab to move the chains. The two connected again, this time on a 3rd-and-13, to get exactly 13 yards for a first down.
On back-to-back plays, Bullock hooked up with Amani Givens and Tru Edwards for gains of 19 and 12 yards, respectively, to put the Bulldogs on the 1-yard line. One play later, Givens rushed the ball up the middle to give LA Tech its first lead of the game, going up 14-10 with 6:28 to play.
The defense stood tall like it did all night. After allowing only one third down conversion the entire game, the Bulldogs had to also come up with two fourth down conversions to hold the lead. That they did.
Mekhi Mason and David Blay stuffed the Miners on a 4th-and-1 rush up the middle and Jakari Foster came up with a tackle that kept UTEP 1-yard shy of keeping its drive alive.
Bullock was 22-of-30 for 248 yards and one touchdown. He completed five of his six attempts on the game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Holiday led the Bulldogs in rushing and receiving, carrying the ball six times for 18 yards while hauling in six receptions for 93 yards.