Bulldogs Fall To Bears In Waco

Saturday, September 19

Waco, Texas

3:00 p.m.

Louisiana Tech University

1-2 , 0-0

Baylor

2-1 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Louisiana Tech	7	0	0	12	19
Baylor	7	13	9	7	36

Travel Game Book

Photo by: Josh McDaniel

Bulldogs Fall To Bears In Waco

9/19/2026 7:51:00 PM | Football

Box Score Game Book

Louisiana Tech extended its streak to six consecutive games forcing a turnover on the defensive side of the ball.

By: Drew Parsley

WACO, Texas – Louisiana Tech built an early offensive rhythm and continued to create opportunities defensively, but Baylor pulled away in the second half as the Bulldogs fell 36-19 to the Bears Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium.

LA Tech (1-2) opened the game with its longest opening drive against a Power Four opponent in the 21st century, marching 75 yards on 15 plays over 6:59. Quarterback Trey Kukuk completed his first four passes of the game, including a 31-yard completion to Jalen Mickens, before Andrew Burnette capped the possession with a 2-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7. The Bulldogs converted all three of their third-down attempts on their first possession.

Baylor (2-1) answered with a pair of second-quarter touchdowns to take a 20-7 lead. The Bears' second touchdown came on a 51-yard pass from Nate Bennett to Louis Brown IV, but LA Tech's Kam Franklin blocked the ensuing extra point to keep the deficit at 13 points.

The Bulldogs continued to generate defensive plays before halftime. Kolbe Fields led Louisiana Tech with seven tackles through two quarters and recorded a sack, while Alonzo Jackson Jr., Jadon Mayfield and ZaQwaun Nunn each added tackles for loss. Nunn also forced a fumble late in the second quarter that was recovered by Mayfield.

Baylor extended its advantage to 29-7 in the third quarter, but Louisiana Tech continued to fight. Eli Finley caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Kukuk with 8:18 remaining, and Jalen Mickens added a 2-yard rushing touchdown less than three minutes later to cut the deficit to 29-19.

Baylor answered with another touchdown to put the game away. Bennett finished 21-of-24 for 253 yards and three touchdowns, while Jayden McGowan caught two touchdown passes. Kukuk led the Bulldogs with 75 rushing yards and completed 25 of 44 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown.

Finley posted season-best marks for the season with eight receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown, while Mickens finished with four catches for 63 yards. Marcus Calwise Jr. added four receptions for 36 yards—both new single-game highs as a Bulldog for the Eastern Kentucky transfer.

With the loss, Louisiana Tech falls to 1-6 all-time against Baylor and 1-4 in games played in Waco, with Saturday's game being the first-ever meeting at McLane Stadium. The Bulldogs will enter a bye week before hosting Army at home inside Joe Aillet Stadium on Saturday, October 3 for a rematch from the 2024 Independence Bowl. Kickoff with the Black Knights in Ruston is to be announced at a later date.

FINAL GAME LEADERS

Passing: Trey Kukuk – 25-of-44, 223 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Trey Kukuk – 11 carries, 75 yards
Receiving: Eli Finley – 8 receptions, 65 yards, 1 TD
Receiving: Jalen Mickens – 4 receptions, 63 yards
Tackles: Kolbe Fields – 9
Tackles for Loss: Kolbe Fields – 3
Sacks: Kolbe Fields – 1; Jadon Mayfield – 1; ZaQwaun Nunn – 1
Forced Fumbles: ZaQwaun Nunn – 1
Fumble Recoveries: Jadon Mayfield – 1

NOTABLES

The 15-play touchdown drive on the opening possession against Baylor was the longest opening drive for the Bulldogs against a Power 4 team in the 21st century
Alonzo Jackson Jr., Jadon Mayfield and Za'Qwaun Nunn also have a TFL in first half
Three-straight games forcing a turnover this season and six-straight games forcing a turnover since 2025
New season highs for Eli Finley with eight catches and 65 receiving yards and his second touchdown of the season (most receiving yards for Finley in a game since having 154 receiving yards on six catches vs. Southern Miss in 2025)
Season-high 75 rushing yards for Trey Kukuk (
Season-high 36 yards receiving on a season-high 4 catches for Marcus Calwise Jr. (First game as a Bulldog with multiple catches)
Jalen Mickens finished with 63 receiving yards to give him 297 on the season; leads team in receiving yards and second in catches

QUOTABLES

Head Coach Sonny Cumbie:
Obviously, we're disappointed in the outcome—disappointed with not being able to come in here and to get a win. I think our guys, for the first three games we've played, we have played hard. It's obvious that we play hard, but it's not good enough. We don't execute well enough in certain situations, and we've got to get better. Being in the red zone six times, and you only score three times—we've got to kick field goals better and protect the ball better. It was a miscommunication between Jay and Trey on the interception, and then ball security running on the sideline—Trey has got to have better ball security there. And we can't give up the big plays that we did in the passing game on double moves. Defensively, that's what really killed us. We had penalties to sustain the drive on conversion downs, so there's a lot of things to clean up from the standpoint of this performance. It felt very similar to the LSU game where in the first half, there's a lot of opportunities on the table there. You recovered the fumble, start inside the 35-yard line, then the interception and the missed field goal.

Cumbie on what was keeping the team from capitalizing on opportunities…

"We really have to learn to rise up. Whenever we have a takeaway in a short field—whether it's through a takeaway or a big play on special teams—offensively, we have to be able to answer with points, and we weren't able to do that. We had an opportunity where the drive was sustained for us when they were offsides on the field goal, and then we weren't able to capitalize there. And then missing that chip-shot field goal is pretty inexcusable."

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