Nov. 29, 2008

Final Stats

RUSTON -- Louisiana Tech head coach Derek Dooley knew his team had been playing with fire the last few weeks as the Bulldogs had twice given up big leads in the fourth quarter before making plays to win the games.

On Saturday in the regular season finale at Joe Aillet Stadium, the Bulldogs finally got burned as Nevada overcame a 17-point deficit to down Tech 35-31 before 17,254 fans.

"We have to learn to finish teams off when we get ahead," Dooley said. "We let them back into the game. When you play good teams, they are going to finish you off (if you give them a chance) and that's what happened today. Hopefully, this will be a learning experience for our team."

Despite the disappointing loss, Tech (7-5, 5-3) finished in a two-way tie with the Wolf Pack for second place in the Western Athletic Conference standings and will participate in its first post-season bowl since 2001.

"I am proud of this team," Dooley said. "It has been a great season. We had a lot of injuries and we are young. When we were flying home from Army, I don't think anyone would have thought that we would be sitting here in this position except our players and coaches.

"We are going to go to a bowl, something that's only been done here twice in the last 20 years. I appreciate all the hard work the players and coaches have put in to accomplish this."

Tech built a 17-7 halftime lead and increased the advantage to three scores before Nevada rallied and took its first and only lead of the game on a 22-yard touchdown run by Vai Taua with 3:15 to play in the game.

"More than anything, I feel bad for the seniors with this being their last home game and us letting it slip away," said Tech sophomore quarterback Ross Jenkins, who had a career day with 258 yards passing and two scores. "We really wanted to win it for them especially. I guess it does help a little that we are still going to a bowl game. This gives the seniors something to look forward to; this team still has another game to redeem itself."

Jenkins 26-yard touchdown pass to senior wide out with 6:34 to play in the opening quarter gave the Bulldogs an early 7-0 advantage. After Nevada tied the game on a nine-yard pass from Colin Kaepernick to Chris Wellington early in the second quarter, Daniel Porter hit paydirt with a 20-yard scamper to give Tech a 14-7 lead.

Porter ended the day with 50 yards rushing on 16 carries -- it snapped his four-game streak of 100-yard performances -- while teammate Patrick Jackson added 79 yards and one score on 10 carries. As a team, the Bulldogs rushed for 185 yards against the nation's second ranked rush defense.

Tech increased its lead to 17-7 on a 22-yard field goal by senior Brad Oestriecher before the half.

Nevada opened the second half with an impressive 85-yard drive that was capped with a 62-yard touchdown pass from Kaepernick to Marko Mitchell, cutting the Tech advantage to 31-14.

However, a 44-yard touchdown pass from Jenkins to Phillip Livas and a four-yard TD run by Jackson gave the Bulldogs an 31-14 lead.

The Wolf Pack wouldn't go away. Mitchell struck again late in the third quarter on an 18-yard scoring pass from Kaepernick and then Mike McCoy cut the lead to 31-28 on a 27-yard pass play with 11:42 to play in the game.

Kaepernick ended the day with 397 yards passing and four scores on 24-of-42 passing. The sophomore signal caller was forced to produce through the air as the Bulldog defense held the Wolf Pack running game in check as Nevada recorded only 103 yards on the ground on 42 carries, a 2.5 average per rush.

Tech appeared ready to push its three-point advantage back out to two scores when the Bulldogs drove down inside the Wolf Pack five-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. However, Jackson's fourth down rush attempt from the two-yard line was stuff and Nevada took over.

The Bulldog defense stiffened again in the fourth as safety Deon Young intercepted a Kaepernick pass at midfield with 6:31 to play.

After a 14-yard pickup by Jenkins on first down, Tech lost nine yards on its next two plays forcing a punt.

Nevada took over at its own 20-yard line with 4:24 to play and marched 80 yards in four plays as Taua gave the Pack the lead with his run.

Tech was unable to drive past the Nevada 47-yard line on its final possession as the Bulldogs fell for the first time at home this year.