The 10 ten things you need to know about the Georgia Southern win over Louisiana Tech in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Georgia Southern 38, Louisiana Tech 3. The 10 ten things you need to know about the Georgia Southern win over Louisiana Tech in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
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Georgia Southern 38, Louisiana Tech 3: R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
10. The Louisiana Tech offense could never get going. The Georgia Southern offense had something to do with that, a whole slew of mistakes had something to do with that, and this was over fast. Georgia Southern got up 7-0 just over five minutes in, and that was it.
9. Skip Holtz finally lost a bowl game at Louisiana Tech. It’s a far cry from shutting out Miami 14-0 in last year’s Independence, but he got the program to its seventh bowl game in a row after winning the first six. This was a rebuilding year, and all things considered, 5-5 and this bowl trip wasn’t bad.
8. Georgia Southern was totally dominant from the start. Louisiana Tech couldn’t stop the option, it got behind too fast after too many mistakes, and it didn’t have the passing game to keep up. All year long it’s been a struggle for the Bulldogs, they needed to get out to a hot start, and they did anything but.
7. Starting quarterback Luke Anthony couldn’t go for the Bulldogs, Aaron Allen stepped in and gave it a try against one of the nation’s best teams at taking the ball away, and it was a disaster from there. Four interceptions – three on Allen – no takeaways – and no downfield passing game – nothing worked.
6. Don’t put this on Louisiana Tech not showing up. It had issues all year long with its consistency, it was coming off a 52-10 blasting against TCU, and it just couldn’t get anything going. The momentum carries Georgia Southern, but it all started because …
5. Shai Werts was able to go. The Georgia Southern quarterback was questionable at best with a shoulder injury. It seemed like the Eagles would be down to a third-string option, but Werts played, there didn’t appear to be a problem looking and playing like normal, and the offense rolled.
4. The Eagle offense did exactly what it was supposed to. It ran for 322 yards with its option attack, Werts hit on his deep throws when they were available, and it had the ball for way over 34 minutes. Louisiana Tech was never able to get into any sort of a groove because …
3. Those turnovers were devastating. It looked like Louisiana Tech was going to be able to move the ball a little bit early on. It came up with a few nice plays, it seemed like it would take just a little bit to warm up, and then … interception. Interception. And then another – including a key one in the red zone. Georgia Southern only scored seven points on the first three picks, but they were enough to stall the Bulldogs.
2. The Georgia Southern defense generated pressure throughout the game. It came up with three sacks, and more than that, it was able to get to knock around Austin Allen enough to limit him to 41 passing yards on a 10-of-24 passes with no touchdowns and three picks. Israel Tucker was able to run for 123 yards, but it wasn’t nearly enough to carry the offense.
1. Shai Werts closed out his career as one of the most ultra-productive option quarterbacks ever. During his time, he ran for 3,072 yards, 34 touchdowns, and unlike a slew of triple-option quarterbacks over the decades, he threw well, pitching 34 touchdown passes in his four seasons with just 12 interceptions.
So he wasn’t supposed to be healthy? 7-of-12, 126 yards, one touchdown, and 71 rushing yards with three touchdowns, and with this, he won two bowl games in three tries.
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