Southern falls apart in second half at Louisiana Tech

RUSTON, Louisiana — For a brief moment, it looked like the impossible had a chance.

And then came halftime.

Before the game devolved into a 54-17 blowout, Southern came out swinging against Louisiana Tech, at one point in the second quarter closing to 21-14 after coming into the game 0-11 against FBS opponents in program history.

The Jaguars were rolling. They were 2 for 2 on fourth downs, calling trick plays for deep gains and not letting Bulldogs quarterback J’Mar Smith get too comfortable in the pocket.

But the inevitable deterioration of momentum and the physical wearing down of both Southern's offense and defense spelled doom for the FCS vs. FBS upset bid.

Louisiana Tech (2-0) pushed its advantage to 31-14 by halftime, and Southern was outscored 23-3 in the second half with the closest it ever came to sniffing the end zone a 22-yard field goal from kicker Cesar Barajas.

The once promising day of quarterback John Lampley fell stagnant under the crushing speed and depth of the Bulldogs, limiting him to seven completions after the break — far behind what would be needed to keep pace with Smith and the surging Tech offense.



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