Louisiana Tech Beats South Alabama 35-20 as Blake Baker Throws Three Touchdowns and Bulldogs Move to 4-0 in Sun Belt

Louisiana Tech showed up in Mobile riding eight straight quarters without allowing a point. That streak lasted another 5 minutes and 27 seconds. South Alabama scored on its opening drive, scored again before the first quarter was over, and for a while it looked like the Bulldogs had finally run into an offense that would not cooperate.

Then Tech stopped worrying about the streak and started worrying about the scoreboard. Louisiana Tech beat South Alabama 35-20 on Halloween afternoon at Hancock Whitney Stadium, scoring 28 of the game's final 34 points and never turning the ball over. The Bulldogs improved to 6-2 and 4-0 in the Sun Belt. South Alabama fell to 4-4 and 2-2.

It was not a pretty win in the box score. Tech was outgained 397-319, picked up eight fewer first downs and held the ball for less than 27 minutes. It did not matter. When the Bulldogs had the ball, they scored. When South Alabama had the ball, it eventually found a way to give it back.

A shootout nobody ordered

The defense that had shut out ULM and Old Dominion on back-to-back weekends opened this one on its heels. Jared Hollins took the Jaguars 51 yards in seven plays on the first possession and found Anthony Eager for a 10-yard touchdown with 9:33 left in the first quarter. Those were the first points Tech had allowed in more than two full games, and they came from a South Alabama offense that had been held to 13 points at Marshall on Oct. 20.

Tech answered in a hurry. The Bulldogs went 91 yards in four plays and 1:12, and Andrew Burnette finished it with a 4-yard run to tie it at 7. South Alabama then went back to work and put together the best drive of the day for either team: 14 plays, 75 yards, 7:33 off the clock, capped by another Hollins to Eager touchdown, this one from 9 yards out with 39 seconds left in the quarter. After 15 minutes, the Jaguars led 14-7 and had held the ball for most of the period.

The second quarter belonged to Blake Baker

If the first quarter was South Alabama's, the second was Blake Baker's. Tech opened the period with an eight-play, 82-yard drive, and Baker capped it by finding Marcus Calwise Jr. for a 22-yard touchdown with 13:03 to go in the half. Tied at 14.

The next Tech score came with a little creativity. Trey Kukuk got a turn throwing the ball and made it count, hitting Jalen Mickens for a 27-yard touchdown to finish a four-play, 53-yard drive with 8:50 left before halftime. Tech led for the first time, 21-14.

South Alabama had a quick answer. Keenan Phillips broke an 11-yard touchdown run to cap a four-play, 75-yard drive with 6:47 left in the half. Then the Jaguars' kicking unit blinked. Davis Little's extra point missed, and South Alabama trailed 21-20 instead of being tied.

That one point turned out to matter less than what Tech did with the rest of the half. Baker led an eight-play, 75-yard drive and dropped a 35-yard touchdown pass into Calwise with 3:12 left. Calwise had only three catches all afternoon. Two of them went for touchdowns. Tech went into the locker room up 28-20.

The turning point: a fumble and a 10-yard field

Neither offense scored for most of the third quarter. Then, late in the period, Phillips put the ball on the ground and linebacker Alonzo Jackson Jr. fell on it.

Tech needed only two plays and 10 yards to cash it in. Baker flipped a 4-yard touchdown pass to Luke Watkins with 39 seconds left in the third, and the lead was 35-20. It was the first turnover of the game, and it produced the only points of the second half.

South Alabama still had chances. The Jaguars drove into Tech territory in the fourth quarter and faced fourth-and-7 at the Tech 31 with under seven minutes left. Hollins went deep for Eager, but Sam Fongang broke it up at the goal line and the Jaguars came away empty. Tech later turned the ball over on downs at the South Alabama 29 with 2:41 left, and the Jaguars drove to the Tech 28 before Hollins was intercepted at the Tech 6 with under two minutes to play. Tech knelt out the rest.

Baker, Calwise and a very efficient afternoon

Baker did not need volume. He completed 10 of 16 passes for 167 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions. A week after throwing 34 passes against Old Dominion, he barely threw half that many and got more out of them. Including Kukuk's strike, Tech completed 11 of 17 passes for 194 yards and four touchdowns.

The biggest single play belonged to running back Rayshun Hurt, who turned his only catch into a 67-yard gain, the longest play of the game. Hurt also ran six times for 40 yards. Mickens finished with three catches for 32 yards and a score, and Watkins made his one catch count.

Burnette, who had been the Bulldogs' steady workhorse, had a tough day on the ground at 16 yards on nine carries, though he did find the end zone. As a team, Tech ran for just over 120 yards. That is not a formula you expect to produce 35 points, which tells you how sharp the passing game was when it mattered.

South Alabama won the stat sheet and lost the game

Hollins completed 14 of 31 passes for 192 yards with two touchdowns, both to Eager, who caught seven passes for 102 yards. PJ Martin ran for 82 yards on 12 carries, Phillips added 62 yards on 11 carries and a score, and South Alabama finished with 205 rushing yards on 44 carries. The Jaguars piled up 24 first downs to Tech's 16.

The problem was everything around the yardage. South Alabama was flagged 12 times for 100 yards. It converted 6 of 14 on third down and 1 of 4 on fourth down. It missed an extra point. And it turned the ball over twice, once on a fumble in a one-score game and once on an interception in the final two minutes, while Tech did not turn it over at all.

On the other side, Tech was flagged only four times for 29 yards. In a game where the Bulldogs were outgained, the cleaner team won. The full numbers are in the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab).

A defense that bent, then held

Tech's defense will not love this tape after two straight shutouts, but it did the important things. Jackson led the way with nine tackles, half a sack and the fumble recovery. Jadon Mayfield added eight tackles, and Taeden Rogers had seven tackles and a sack. After South Alabama's 11-yard Phillips touchdown midway through the second quarter, the Jaguars did not score again. That is roughly 37 minutes of game time without a point, and it is why the shutout talk can continue, just with an asterisk.

For South Alabama, Masey Lewis was the defensive standout with five tackles, a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Xavious Anderson Jr. added a sack and Seidrion Langston made eight tackles. The Jaguars held Tech's run game in check all afternoon. They just could not get off the field when Baker dropped back.

What it means

Tech has now won five straight overall, and the Bulldogs are 4-0 in Sun Belt play in their first season in the league. Reaching six wins on Oct. 31, with four regular-season games still to play, puts them in a very comfortable spot. Last week's 26-0 win over Old Dominion was about the defense, as our recap of that shutout laid out. This one was about an offense that can win a game without much of a running game.

The schedule now gets tougher. Next up for Tech is a trip to Troy on Nov. 7, followed by home games against Southern Miss and Arkansas State.

South Alabama has lost two straight after falling 20-13 at Marshall on Oct. 20, and the Jaguars have now dropped two league games in 11 days. Major Applewhite's team heads to Louisiana on Nov. 7 before hosting Troy in the Battle for the Belt on Nov. 14.

The last word

Streaks are fun. Wins are better. Tech walked into Mobile as a 6-point favorite, gave up two first-quarter touchdowns, trailed by a touchdown after 15 minutes, and still walked out with a 15-point win and an unbeaten conference record. The shutout streak is gone. The Bulldogs will gladly trade it for this.

Sources: ESPN box score, play-by-play and team stats, Louisiana Tech Athletics, South Alabama Athletics. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: LA Tech Athletics/Josh McDaniel.