Today at 2:05 a.m.
by Tom Murphy
FAYETTEVILLE — If anybody can relate to the close-game struggles that have impacted Arkansas football the past few years, it is Louisiana Tech.
The Bulldogs, who will serve as guests for the Razorbacks’ senior day on Saturday at 3 p.m., have a 4-6 record under third-year coach Sonny Cumbie, yet none of those losses has been by more than 10 points. Five of the losses have been one-score outcomes and three have been in overtime.
“Sometimes the wins, they just eluded us by just this much, but man these guys have continued to stay the course and we’re going to continue to do that for these last remaining games,” Cumbie said at his Tuesday news conference.
“Really all year we’ve really played right there with our opponents,” Louisiana Tech quarterback Evan Bullock said. “It was just offense and defense kind of finding a balance.”
The Bulldogs played another close one last week, but this time they prevailed 12-7 at Conference USA co-leader Western Kentucky to improve to 3-5 in one-score games. Kicker Buck Buchanan accounted for all the scoring with four field goals, but the win was not a fluke as Louisiana Tech held the Hilltoppers to 215 total yards and 3 of 11 third-down conversions.
Cumbie, a well-regarded offensive mind who played quarterback at Texas Tech and served as offensive coordinator for the Red Raiders and TCU before landing his first head coaching job, has had to keep his team pushing forward through the chain of difficult losses. He brings a 10-24 record at Louisiana Tech into the game at Arkansas.
Asked about getting the huge road win last week, Cumbie said, “We need to do it more often. That’s the first thing I’ll say.
“But full transparency, I did sit in that visitor locker room a really long time before I decided to get dressed and get back on the bus. Because you want to soak in those moments. I think our team was really excited to win another football game and to get one on the road against a good team.”
Defensive back Jacob Fields said the Bulldogs have taken the field each week knowing the players have had each other’s backs.
“Each week we just attack the game like it’s the last,” he said. “We know we get 12, and we have to earn the rest. We want to earn the respect of other people.
“We know things haven’t really gone our way, but what are we going to do after that? We can’t just fall down and lay down. To us, this is bigger than just football. This is life for us.
“We look at this totally different than other people might, so we just know that each week, as Coach Cumbie would say, we have to be on time. We have to attack each game like it’s our last and know that we’re going to win at the end of it.”
The Bulldogs are 0-4 against the Razorbacks in a series that dates to 1901 with the past three games being played in Arkansas. They know they have to beat the Hogs and win at home against Kennesaw State next week to achieve bowl-eligibility.
“This one’s definitely a big one considering we do want to go bowling and everything like that,” Bullock said. “So, yeah, I mean we focus on that a little bit but I mean at the end of the day we’re just going to focus on our execution and really how we can win this game and take it one week at a time.”
The week before beating the Hilltoppers, they had six-point lead against CUSA co-leader Jacksonville State before the Gamecocks scored on a 49-yard Hail Mary on the final play of regulation. Jacksonville State missed the point after touchdown but won the game 44-37 in overtime.
“Overtime games … when they don’t come your way, they’re pretty brutal,” Bullock said. “It’s just the mindset of flushing it the next week and you have a whole new opponent, a whole new game plan and everything like that. So you’ve just got to reset your mind and go into the next week acting like it’s a whole new game.”
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman pointed out Monday the Bulldogs are playing at their best right now.
“In a nutshell, really, they did to Western Kentucky what they are trying to do to us,” Pittman said. “They have that emotional. ‘Hey, we’re sitting here 3-6. They’re the big dogs.’
“They used that during the week and their kids played extremely well (on) both sides of the ball. Their defense has been playing lights out for the past three (games). I know Jax State scored some points, but they played well in that game as well.”
Jacobs said the unity on defense has been the key for Louisiana Tech fighting through the low points.
“I would say we play together,” Fields said. “The biggest strength of our defense is we’re never going to lay down. We know we’ve got each other’s backs no matter what.
“Somebody might fill the wrong gap, and then the safety will fill the gap for him and make it right. We fly around, we play together and I think that’s the biggest strength that we have.”
The Bulldogs, led by defensive coordinator Jeremiah Johnson, rank 12th in the country in total defense in allowing 302.3 yards per game and 35th in scoring defense while yielding 21.1 points per game.
Louisiana Tech leads the nation in fourth-down defense by allowing a 21.4% conversion rate and the Bulldogs are 15th in red zone defense by allowing points on 74.1% of opponent possessions inside their 20.
Kolbe fields teams with former Razorback Zach Zimos at linebacker. The 6-4, 236-pound Zimos has a big stat line with 53 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, a half sack, 2 quarterback hurries, and a pass breakup.
On offense, Bullock has completed 67.5% of his passes (135 of 200) for 1,518 yards with 12 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He has an efficiency rating of 149.06. Cumbie has also gone with Jack Turner and Blake Baker at quarterback and that pair has combined for 785 passing yards with 3 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.
Omiri Wiggins, with 83 carries for 351 yards and 1 touchdown, and Amani Givens (55-239, 1) are the Bulldogs’ top backs, and receiver Jimmy Holiday has a team-high 4 of their 10 rushing touchdowns.
Tru Edwards, a 6-3 senior and high school teammate of former Razorbacks Jalen Catalon and Taurean Carter at Mansfield (Texas) Legacy, has 59 catches for 760 yards and 6 touchdowns. Holiday (26 catches, 310 yards, 1 TD), tight end Eli Finley (20-264, 1), Jay Wilkerson (12-255, 2) and Marlion Jackson (14-222, 1) all have 200-plus receiving yards.
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