Louisiana Tech quickly turned Joe Aillet Stadium into a house of horrors Friday for Sam Houston.
The Bulldogs (5-3, 3-2) scored a pair of touchdowns in every quarter to celebrate their Halloween homecoming with a 55-14 rout of the Bearkats (0-8, 0-5) for their fifth win of the season, moving just one more victory shy of bowl eligibility.
“I’m just really excited about our football team,” Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Cumbie said. “I thought the student section and the crowd in the first half was unbelievable. There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm that our kids fed off of, and so I’m really appreciative of the turnout from that standpoint. I hope the alumni, fans and former players here saw a team that they were proud of in terms of how hard they played and how well they executed, and obviously also getting the win.”
The margin marked the Bulldogs’ most dominant victory since Oct. 12, 2019, and the Bearkats’ most lopsided loss of the season outside of a 55-0 shutout at then-No. 8 Texas on Sept. 20.
Louisiana Tech’s 55 points was its most since Sept. 26, 2020, and and its most in a Conference USA game since Nov. 12, 2016.
Sam Houston had won the teams’ first two meetings since it joined the league in 2023.
But the Bulldogs wasted little time showing Friday would be a much different story.
Louisiana Tech drove its first four possessions for touchdowns — even a 95-yard second-quarter march after starting backed up — en route to a 27-0 lead by halftime.
“I thought we played our best first quarter all season, and possibly the best first half we’ve played this season,” Cumbie said. “I think there were a lot of parties involved. When it comes to that in terms of the offense — when you rush the ball like we were able to do it tonight, especially with a really good plan — our players made that happen tonight. Our offensive line, tight ends, obviously our backs ran extremely well. Receivers blocked well down field. I was just proud of how we were able to move the football, and the turnover was the only time tonight that we stopped ourselves.”
The teams traded a pair of scores each in the third quarter, before the Bulldogs returned to shutout form in the fourth, including an 85-yard pick-six by Jacob Fields, the program’s longest defensive score since 2009.
The junior defensive back credited defensive coordinator Luke Olson and redshirt sophomore defensive back Kenyatta McNeese for their consistent support and encouragement.
“Before the pick, I messed up on a couple of plays and both of those dudes came and talked to me and lifted me up,” Fields said. “I knew I was going to have to make a play after that. Then, I performed my job and executed and after that I just took off.”
Louisiana Tech racked up 646 total yards — its third-most ever in a CUSA game — and faced just six third downs all night and converted four.
The Bulldogs’ 425 rushing yards were their third-highest total all time and most since 1991 with sophomore Clay Thevenin and junior Omiri Wiggins (Acadiana) leading a ground game that was consistent, explosive and balanced.
Thevenin ran 11 times for 143 yards and three touchdowns, and Wiggins carried 14 times for another 136 yards and a score.
The career-highs for both backs provided Louisiana Tech its first game with two rushers surpassing the 100-yard mark in the same game since Nov. 18, 2017.
Senior Andrew Burnette popped a 66-yard touchdown — the team’s longest of the season — to highlight his three-carry, 72-yard night, and quarterback Blake Baker chipped in 42 yards and a score on seven attempts.
“Give credit to the offensive line, of course,” Thevenin said. It’s just a testament of the hard work we’ve been putting in. We came up short the last two games and we wanted to make a statement on the ground, for sure, and we came out tonight and did that… Whatever we wanted to do, I felt like we were able to do it. In the game of football, to win games I feel like you have to run the ball. So, we went out there and showed that we’re fully capable of doing that.”
Baker finished 17-for-21 (81.0%) for 221 yards and a 42-yard touchdown to senior receiver Devin Gandy, who led the Bulldogs with 78 yards on two catches.
Gandy, Dedrick Latulas (Westgate) and Marques Singleton Jr. all averaged at least 20 yards per return on special teams: Gandy with 68 yards on three kick returns, Latulas with 45 yards on two punt returns and Singleton with one punt return for 20 yards.
Sophomore kicker Drew Henderson made seven of his eight extra-point attempts, and John Hoyet Chance (Captain Shreve) boomed his lone punt 51 yards.
Fields led the defense with seven tackles, and veteran defensive back Cedric Woods (Carroll) and junioe linebacker Mekhi Mason added six each.
“We talked about it all week — nameless, faceless opponents, it doesn’t matter who it is,” Fields said. “We’re just going to go on that field and do our job, execute, and do what we’re supposed to do no matter who we’re going against.”
Louisiana Tech’s five wins matches 2020 and 2024 for its most in a season since its run of six straight years of winning seasons and bowl victories from 2014 to 2019.
The Bulldogs visit Delaware (4-4, 2-3) next week, then Washington State on Nov. 15 before returning home Nov. 22 against Liberty (4-4, 3-1) and wrapping up the regular season Nov. 29 on the road at Missouri State (5-3, 3-1).
Louisiana Tech needs one more win to reach bowl eligibility after finished last season 5-7, but being selected to the Independence Bowl as a replacement for a transfer-depleted Marshall.
“I feel like we always have that confidence,” Thevenin said. “Those last two games — they don’t define us. We come in and put in the work, day in and day out, and still have a close brotherhood. I feel like those losses don’t do anything but just make us better.”
