‘Dogs suffocate ‘Canes

SHREVEPORT – In front of a crowd of 33,129 fans, mostly clad in red, white and blue, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs won their sixth straight bowl game in a row by taking down Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) representative the Miami Hurricanes 14-0 in the 2019 Walk-On’s Independence Bowl Thursday afternoon.
The Bulldog win, their tenth of the year, set a school record for the most wins in a season. La. Tech finished the season with an overall record of 10-3.
The Hurricane’s loss sealed the first losing season for Miami (6-7) since 2014. It also snapped a four game win streak for the ACC in this bowl game.
There were several records set Thursday afternoon. It was the first shut-out and it tied the record for the second lowest point total in Independence Bowl history.
The two teams combined for 18 punts, the most in bowl history and both punters tied the record for most punts by a single player.
Despite the fact that La. Tech came into the game averaging points per game on offense, it was the Bulldog defense that stole the show, holding Miami to 227 total yards and created three turnovers, one of which led to a touchdown.
After the game, La. Tech head coach Skip Holtz gave credit where credit was due for the win.
“I commend our defensive coaching staff for the job they’ve done,” stated Holtz. “You watch this defense and the way it’s grown over the season, I told the team, the one thing missing from this senior class’ resume was a Power Five win. We still scored 14 points, but the difference tonight was they didn’t score.”
Miami received the football to begin the game and was able to secure a first down up to their 36-yard line. A great defensive play by the La. Tech secondary three plays later forced the Hurricanes to punt the ball away.
Louisiana Tech’s first possession of the game looked really promising as quarterback J’Mar Smith threaded a ball in to wide receiver Malik Stanley’s hands on the left sideline with the very first play of the game, who promptly took it 39 yards down to the Miami 32-yard line. But, a sack, and a personal foul pushed the ball back to the La. Tech 47-yard line. The very next play, Smith was sacked again, forcing a Bulldog punt, thus ending the drive.
The rest of the opening quarter became a field position battle, as both La. Tech and Miami were unable to make much headway on the offensive side of the ball. The deepest that any one of the teams got came on the last drive of the period when the Hurricanes found themselves on the Bulldog 31-yard line, but a huge 15-yard penalty pushed the ball back deep enough to force a Miami punt.
The second quarter began with a bang for La. Tech. Following a Miami punt on the first play of the period, the Bulldogs mounted a 13 play, 91 yard drive, consuming 5:18, that was capped off by a 26 yard touchdown pass from Smith to junior running back Israel Tucker, who found himself alone on the left sideline. The extra point was good off of the foot of Bailey Hale, giving La. Tech the early 7-0 lead.
The rest of the half was a wash, with neither team being able to mount much more on the offensive side of the ball. Only the Bulldogs were able to penetrate into their opponent’s territory, making it to the Miami 42-yard line on the fourth drive of the quarter. As the teams headed into the locker room, the score remained La. Tech 7, Miami 0.
Defense continued to be the name of the game in the third quarter. Both teams combined for five punts, bringing the total to 16 punts, breaking the all-time combined punt record of 15 that occurred between Indiana and Virginia Tech in 1993. The only team to cross mid-field were the Bulldogs, who reached the Hurricane 38-yard line on the second to last possession of the period.
On the last play of the third quarter, La. Tech’s Trey Baldwin intercepted a Jarren Williams pass at the Miami 30-yard line. The Bulldogs reached the Hurricanes 18-yard line but turned the ball back over when Miami’s Gilbert Frierson stepped in front of an attempted Smith pass and returned it to the La. Tech 29-yard line.
On the interception return, Frierson tried to pitch it to Te’Cory Couch, but was flagged for an illegal forward pass. The penalty brought the ball back to mid-field, where the Hurricanes started their next possession. The drive did not last long, as Miami was forced to punt after seven plays and 11 total yards gained.
La. Tech took over the ball at their 10-yard line following a Miami punt. The Bulldogs reached the Hurricane 42-yard line in eight plays but had to kick the ball back to the Hurricanes after failing to keep the drive alive.
Beginning at their 20-yard line with 3:35 remaining on the clock and following the Bulldog punt, Miami took the ball to mid-field in seven plays. On first down and 10, Hurricane quarterback N’Koski Perry tried a pass down the right sideline that was picked off by Aaron Roberson.
La. Tech took full advantage of the turnover, scoring their second touchdown of the game just 3:32 seconds later when Smith busted in from eight yards out. Hale’s extra point was good, giving the Bulldogs the 14-0 lead with 1:15 left in the game.
Miami tried to mount one last drive, however, a last ditched pass into the end zone fell innocently to the ground on the final play of the contest.