CLEMSON, S.C. – The Louisiana Tech Football team continued to produce explosive plays offensively, but four turnovers was too much to overcome as the Bulldogs fell, 48-20, to the No. 5-ranked Clemson Tigers on Saturday night inside Memorial Stadium.
 
LA Tech (1-2) had seven plays of 20+ yards, all through the air by Parker McNeil who finished with 311 passing yards.  And the Bulldogs found themselves down just one score, 13-6, at halftime, but the game shifted in the third quarter because of turnovers.
 
The 'Dogs first three possessions of the second half resulted in two interceptions (one in the red zone) and a turnover on downs that was turned into three touchdowns by Clemson (3-0) to quickly make it a 34-6 deficit for the visitors.
 
LA Tech refused to go away quietly though.  After being limited to two made field goals by Jacob Barnes (35 and 36 yards) in the first half, the Bulldogs found the end zone on back-to-back drives to get to within 14 with still 11:05 to play in the game.
 
The first TD was an 8-play, 79-yard drive that was capped off by a 3-yard rushing touchdown (the first allowed by the Tigers this season) from Marquis Crosby.  The second TD took only five plays, set up by a 20-yard reception by Griffin Hebert and then finished off with a 13-yard pass play to Tre Harris for the score.
 
Clemson put an end to LA Tech's upset hopes though as DJ Uiagelelei connected with Antonio Williams for a touchdown on the following possession.  The Tigers tacked on another score late after recovering a fumble, LA Tech's fourth turnover of the game.
 
The Bulldog wide receivers had a good night with Hebert registering a career-high 122 receiving yards, Julien Lewis having a career game with seven receptions for 76 yards, Tre Harris catching five balls for 56 yards and Smoke Harris cracking into the top 10 in program history for career receptions.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Sonny Cumbie
 
"We were happy with where we were at halftime.  We withstood the early rush by Clemson.  The second half was the same thing that happened at Missouri.  The turnovers really got the game out of hand for us.  Overall, I am proud of the resiliency of our team and proud of how we fought.  I think we have gotten better week-by-week.  Our players are fighting.  We just have to be smarter with taking care of the football.  Parker did a nice job of finding some holes in their zone coverage.  He battled and competed very well." 
 
NOTABLES

• The 20 points scored by LA Tech was the most Clemson has allowed by a non-conference opponent since 2018 (regular season only).
• The Bulldogs had seven plays of 20+ passing yards (came into the game with five total).
• Smoke Harris now has 171 career receptions, which is tied for 10th most in program history.
• LA Tech had two scoring drives of 70+ yards.Clemson had not allowed any scoring drives of 70+ yards this season.
• Julien Lewis came into the game with just three total receptions for 31 yards (had a game-high seven receptions for 76 yards).
• Bulldogs scored the first rushing touchdown against the Tigers.Clemson had not allowed a rushing TD in their last five games.
• Tyler Grubbs recorded 15 tackles, one shy of his career-high of 16 he set in Southern Miss.

UP NEXT
LA Tech closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule on Saturday, Sept. 24 at South Alabama.  Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
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