LA Tech Runs Past UMass, 69-21

Saturday, October 12

Ruston, La.

6 p.m.

Louisiana Tech University

5-1

UMass

1-6

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
UMass	0	14	7	0	21
Louisiana Tech	28	24	10	7	69

Photo by: Darrell James

LA Tech Runs Past UMass, 69-21

10/12/2019 10:16:00 PM | Football

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By: Malcolm Butler

RUSTON, La. – On a night where members of the 1969 Louisiana Tech team were honored at halftime, the current version of the Bulldogs hung 69 on the scoreboard.

Justin Henderson rushed for 137 yards and three scores to pace a Tech (5-1) rushing attack that totaled 385 yards in the game – the sixth most all-time – and the Bulldogs amassed 689 total yards in a 69-21 non-conference win over UMass at Joe Aillet Stadium Saturday night.

The 689 yards of offense were the sixth most in program history and the most since totaling 698 against Toledo in October of 1996.

"I'm really pleased with the leadership from the players, with the way we focused," head coach Skip Holtz remarked. "We talked about everything we've learned through five games, and we found out when we played at Texas that we can be pretty competitive, but we can't turn the ball over and make some of the mistakes that'll get you beat. We played really smart football for about four weeks and have done a really nice job with the turnover battle, but we also learned when we played Grambling and Rice that no matter how big a favorite you are - no matter what the opponent's record is - you can't turn the dial to what you think it's going to take. You have to go out with it turned all the way up every time you go play the game, and I thought they did just that."

Tech scored early and often as Amik Robertson returned an interception 42 yards for the first score of the game as the Bulldogs led 7-0 less than 60 seconds into the contest. Henderson then scored on runs of 74, 4 and 3 yards – all three coming in the opening quarter – to give Tech a 28-0 advantage at the end of one.

Henderson became the first Bulldog since Kenneth Dixon to rush for three TDs in one quarter. Dixon accomplished the feat in the second quarter of a 62-55 win over Texas State in San Marcos in 2012.

J'Mar Smith tossed a pair of scores, covering 17 yards to Griffin Hebert and 1 yard to Henderson in the opening five minutes of the second quarter. The Bulldogs lead ballooned to 42-0.

UMass finally found the endzone, scoring back-to-back TDs over a three-minute span in the second quarter and cutting the Tech lead to 42-14.

Cee Jay Powell caught a two-yard TD pass from Smith and Bailey Hale added a 42 yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter, giving Tech a 52-14 halftime advantage.

Hale opened the third quarter with a 23-yard field goal as Tech pulled the majority of its starters for the rest of the game. Redshirt freshman DeAndre Marcus scored his first career touchdown on a 30-yard run with 6:49 to play in the third quarter and Aaron Allen hit Tahj Magee on a 13-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter for the final points of the game.

Marcus added a career-high 99 yards rushing on eight carries while Smith added 69 yards on the ground. Tech averaged 10.1 yards per carry in the game.
Smith completed 16-of-28 passes for 239 yards and three scores while Allen completed both of his passes for 49 yards and the one score.

Powell led the Tech receiving corps with four grabs for 70 yards and a TD.

Trey Baldwin led Tech in tackles with 10, including two tackles for loss. Willie Baker added six stops, including three tackles for loss, as Tech recorded 11 tackles for loss in the game. Connor Taylor registered his first career interception for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs host Southern Miss next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in a showdown of the top two teams in the West Division of the Conference USA standings. Southern Miss defeated North Texas 45-27 Saturday in Hattiesburg.