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Bulldogs nip LSU’s heels
Published 6:59 pm Sunday, September 23, 2018
Tigers put foot down after letting up
<p class="indent">BATON ROUGE — The scoreboard seemed to be running comfortably according to form for LSU early against Louisiana Tech on Saturday.</p><p class="indent">And even in the end, it looked pretty reasonable for a Tigers team swearing that it will now take on all comers equally after rising to No. 6 in the country.</p><p class="indent">LSU’s 38-21 victory over the quicksilver Bulldogs shouldn’t hurt the newfound ranking much, if at all.</p><p class="indent">Oh, but about that middle portion …</p><p class="indent">LSU’s 24-0 lead midway through the second quarter didn’t take, and Tiger Stadium had a lot of those “Wait … what? … is this really happening?” moments before finally breathing a sigh of relief.</p><p class="indent">The Tigers (4-0) flirted with the mother of all meltdowns before tacking on a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns that let them escape a feisty Louisiana Tech offense that confounded LSU for the final three quarters.</p><p class="indent">That 24-0 lead?</p><p class="indent">“We’ve got to have a killer instinct,” said LSU head coach Ed Orgeron. “You smell blood in the water and go get it.”</p><p class="indent">Instead, the Bulldogs (2-1) cut it to 24-21 by the opening moments of the fourth quarter and, with their small band of fans in the corner of the end zone smelling an upset, had all the momentum.</p><p class="indent">“We put our hands down like a boxer,” Orgeron said. “You put your hands down, you’re going to get hit in the face. That’s what happened.”</p><p class="indent">LSU got its act together for a 70-yard, 12-play drive capped by Nick Brossette’s third touchdown of the game that gave it some breathing room at 31-21 with 8:06 to play.</p><p class="indent">“I thought we played well at times,” said LSU quarterback Joe Burrows, who threw for 191 yards and made the key play on the critical drive when he connected with Dee Anderson on a 28-yard strike to keep it going. “We were up 24-0. The problem was I thought once we got up and in the second half we really took our foot off the gas. We have to play a complete game and play better and I believe we will play better.”</p><p class="indent">Minutes later, LSU stuffed a Tech fourth-down gamble at the Bulldogs’ 46-yard line and removed any doubt on Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s 1-yard scoring run with 2:23 to play.</p><p class="indent">“It was a dumb call on my part,” said Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz, who questioned running up the middle and not the decision to gamble on fourth down with less than a yard to go. “At the end of the day, it wasn’t enough.”</p><p class="indent">Only then did the Tigers breathe easy.</p><p class="indent">“We never thought that we had the game won with an (Tech) explosive offense like that,” Orgeron said. “We get up 24-0, I thought we were playing a good, clean game, but those guys didn’t quit playing.</p><p class="indent">“We didn’t come out the second half like we should.”</p><p class="indent">Louisiana Tech quarterback J’Mar Smith burned LSU for 330 yards passing, two of them to Adrian Hardy, who had 10 catches for 181 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown pass late in the first half that put a different feeling on the once-big lead and 42-yarder with 12:57 to play that shocked the stadium into realizing that the Tigers lead was down to 24-21.</p><p class="indent">“That was a heckuva football game,” Holtz said. “It was 24-21. They did the things they needed to do to win the game. But I couldn’t have been any more proud of our players and coaches for the way they competed.</p><p class="indent">“Tough loss. Great opportunity and great environment.”</p><p class="indent">Orgeron gave the Bulldogs due credit.</p><p class="indent">“They had an excellent plan,” he said. “Their receivers made some plays, and their quarterback was outstanding.</p><p class="indent">But, “We’re not happy. We could have put them away, but we didn’t.”</p><p class="indent">Brossette scored three touchdowns, a pair from 1 yard out and another from 2 yards, while Edwards-Helaire ran for 136 yards on 20 carries.</p><p class="indent">The Tigers outrushed the Bulldogs 218-87.</p><p class="indent">“I thought that was the difference in the game,” Orgeron said.</p><p class="indent">After an impressive early 78-yard drive for a quick 7-0, LSU turned two Tech turnovers into short scoring drives while building the 24-0 lead.</p><p class="indent">“At halftime, there was probably more anger for two turnovers that spotted them 14 points,” Holtz said. “I told them they would have some opportunities come.”</p><p class="indent">And did they ever as the Bulldogs scored 21 unanswered points with Bobby Holly also catching a scoring pass to go along with Hardy’s pair.</p><p class="indent">“They’d throw the slant, they’d throw the deep ball,” Orgeron said. “They kept us off balance. A lot of things that happened, we’ve got to go to the drawing board.</p><p class="indent">“I didn’t like the score right before halftime. We were getting pushed. That was the first time all year we had to talk to the defense — that was not a good defensive performance tonight. We’ve got to play better, starting this week.”</p>
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LSU 38 | Louisiana Tech 21