NEWARK, Del. – Louisiana Tech's furious fourth-quarter comeback fell just short Saturday afternoon as Delaware connected on a 51-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining to hand the Bulldogs a heartbreaking 25-24 loss at Delaware Stadium.
 
Trailing 16-7 entering the final period, LA Tech (5-4, 3-3 CUSA) erupted for 17 unanswered points in a six-minute stretch to seize momentum late.  Drew Henderson's 38-yard field goal cut the deficit to 16-10 with just over nine minutes remaining.  On Tech's next possession, Clay Thevenin capped a quick eight-play, 39-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to put the Bulldogs ahead 17-16 with 3:09 on the clock.
 
Moments later, the Bulldog defense delivered what appeared to be the game-sealing play when Jacob Fields jumped a route and returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown, extending the lead to 24-16 with just 2:23 to play.
 
However, Delaware (5-4, 3-3 CUSA) refused to go quietly.  Taking advantage of a pair of penalties by the Bulldogs, quarterback Nick Minicucci engineered an eight-play, 75-yard march, finding Elijah Sessoms for a three-yard score with 34 seconds remaining to make it 24-22.  
 
The two-point conversion attempt failed thanks to a breakup by Jhamal Shelby Jr. on a fade route, keeping LA Tech in front – briefly.
 
The Blue Hens recovered an onside kick, giving the home team a chance to win the game.  While the LA Tech defense did its job by not allowing a first down, a 6-yard completion was just enough to put Delaware in field-goal range setting up kicker Nate Reed, who drilled a 51-yarder through the uprights with 12 seconds left to snatch the victory for the Blue Hens.
 
Thevenin led LA Tech with 106 all-purpose yards and two rushing touchdowns, including a 37-yarder in the first quarter.  The Bulldogs, who played three different quarterbacks, were outgained Delaware 333-399 and missed out on two other scoring chances in the first half with two missed field goals.
 
Tech's defense forced two interceptions – Jakari Foster picked off Minicucci on their opening drive of the game – and limited Delaware's ground game to under 100 yards, but Minicucci's 304 passing yards and Reed's four field goals ultimately made the difference.
 
Quotables

Head Coach Sonny Cumbie's opening statement:
"I'm just disappointed in the outcome. Our guys--I thought they really battled back. They handled adversity throughout the course of the game. Any time your starting quarterback goes down--it happened to us at Kennesaw State--I think our guys responded well from the standpoint of continuing to battle and execute. There were probably three or four areas where we did not execute in a winning manner and that's the difference in the football game for us. I was as pleased with how our guys were able to create takeaways on defense. It's the highest of highs and lowest of lows, really, throughout the course of this game. We talked on the headset when it was 24-16 with all of the coaches as far as keeping a clear mind because we knew that it could come down to a touchdown and a two-point conversion. And if they didn't get the two-point conversion then we needed a good plan for hands team. They executed the onside kick, we weren't able to get it, and then their kicker made the field goal at the end of the game. Just a heartbreaker for our players, for how much they prepared and put into it and how much they put themselves out there for our staff. The thing we have to control is our response in terms of how we get back up and show back up and continue to play winning football, becuase it doesn't get any easier next week with a trip to Washington State."

UP NEXT
LA Tech will now head to the west coast as the Bulldogs take on Washington State in a non-conference matchup.  Kickoff is set for 9 p.m. CT on the CW.
 
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