Our Post Game Reactions
Evan: At halftime, I felt the doom and gloom of a Tech fan watching his team not go and also die. By the end of the third quarter, I felt totally different. Tech gave me hope. In the end, it didn’t work out. But this wasn’t the same disappointment that I suffered at the cruel alter of Tech losses to SEC team in 2016 and 2017. This wasn’t, “Tech was in control and then died.” This disappointment is more of a, “Damn. If we would’ve played better in the first half, we totally could have won this game.” All in all, I think Tech showed that they’re a pretty good team. That’s not what I wanted from this game, but it’s what we got, so I’ll take it.
Josh: Man, I am depressed, but way less depressed than I was at halftime of the game. Between the few garbage Tech alumni and students wearing LSU gear, the fact that I missed out on tailgating, and the way our team played in the first half, I was angry/sad/annoyed/miserable/etc. But our boys decided to come out strong in the second half and give me hope. By the end of the third quarter I was having a great time. LSU fans around us were getting nervous and the plays J’Mar was making had me hyped up. In the end, we didn’t get the W due to some calls that went LSU’s way (which were correct calls) and some weird play calling in crunch time. I’m proud of the Dawgs for giving their all (especially Ferguson, god damn) and I’m hopeful for the season. My biggest annoyance is that we don’t play this game more often, leading to the few uninformed LSU fans to not take us seriously at all since we never seem to match up with them on our best years (TBD on this year).
Also, I only had one interaction with a shitty LSU fan. Everyone else was down for some light ribbing and didn’t act too superior. But the few of y’all Tech affiliated people who wore LSU stuff are still trash to me.
Nathan: My confidence going in to this game was well documented, but even though Tech wasn’t able to pull out that W, I left Tiger Stadium on Saturday night feeling content. Not happy, but content.
LSU has the more talented team. I know that’s shocking to say about the #5 ranked team in the nation, but like, it’s true. Tech wasn’t going to win this game by being the better team, but by catching the Tigers off guard. This wasn’t going to be North Texas – Arkansas.
And that’s almost what happened. Tech fell behind 24-0 in the first half and LSU began resting on their collective laurels. That’s when Tech could fight back into the game and gain momentum. You know, tortoise and hair and whatnot.
This game was a questionable catch and a fourth down conversion away from a 2012 Tech – Texas A&M situation, where the game came down to the final possession.
But don’t worry; we’ll get them next time.
Daniel A: [Michael Bluth voice] I don’t know what I expected. I know I shouldn’t have expected my beloved bulldogs to waltz into Death Valley and beat a team ranked #6 in the country but yet I find myself disappointed. Even though LSU had beaten two ranked teams already, I felt they were overrated and vulnerable. Joe Burrow is not good!
I was hoping to be able to walk out of an SEC stadium for the first time since 2011 and think something other than “well we put up a good fight but alas we couldn’t get the win” and having the win be over LSU would have been all the more sweeter. But it was not to be. Time to look forward to driving down to Austin next season and hope for better results against UT.
Did Tech Die?
Evan: I don’t think so. Dying would’ve been Tech losing 48-14, as the halftime score suggested we might. The Dogs just didn’t listen to us here at gtpdd. They were supposed to go and then not die. Instead, they almost died and then went but couldn’t go far enough. And that just doesn’t make for a good acronym now, does it?
Josh: No, we didn’t die. It was more like a knife fight and we’re in the hospital after getting stabbed more than the other guy. Hopefully we get stitched up nicely and bounce back next week.
Nathan: Absolutely not. If anything, this team showed it can be kicked down into a 24 point deficit, not give up, and bring the game to within three points in the fourth quarter. Apparently 50,000 LSU fans did die, because I can’t otherwise explain why the stadium was so empty after halftime.
Daniel A: No, but we lost all of our land 🙁
Player of the Game
Evan: There are really three candidates for this, so I’m interested in what my compatriots say here. I’m choosing Adrian Hardy. The dude balled out. 10 receptions for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns against a secondary many consider to be one of the best in the nation? Hell yeah. That catch in double coverage in the 4th quarter was:
Josh: FERG FERG FERG. The man was an absolute dude out there. He caused constant pressure and was responsible for the only turnover LSU has had all year. He also had no missed tackles and kept beating his guy at the snap.
Nathan: J’Mar Smith. I’ve long been a defender of him, but when Tech was in the midst of their comeback, he made the kind of throws many were expecting from him every game. Watching the game live, none impressed me as much as this bullet despite the free rusher:
There was no panic, only throw.
Daniel A: The whole offensive line did a very good job in pass protection against a very good pass rush. They only allowed one sack and that was when the game was just about out of reach. The protection was good enough for J’Mar to show off his pocket presence for some big plays.
Tech Record Predictor
Contest Recap
This week I unfortunately do not have the time to recap as deeply as I usually like to, so I’ll do what I can here. We had 35 players this week, including four first-timers. Welcome everyone!
After three weeks in the contest, we have a top dog rising above everyone else. That dog is Steveyti, who currently sits atop the leaderboard with 49 points, 5 points ahead of the next competitor. Steveyti got his huge lead by tying for first place last week, and again tying for first place this week with Reece Aultman, who won the tiebreaker. The dude’s on fire, averaging more than 16 points per week. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that he is making the questions and cheating. But he’s not, because I am. Wait. I’m not cheating (clearly….just look at my scores…).
Anyway, let’s get into the answers. I originally messed up on question 6’s scoring, so any changes you see are because of that. Also, I apologize to steveyti, who I told was the winner, but he ended up tying with Reece and losing the tiebreaker, so Reece gets the sticker this week. Forgive my brevity if you can, and don’t forget to head over to the Standings Page for more.
Question 1 & 2: Which team will win and by how much?
Answer: LSU, by 17. 21 of 35 participants got this right, and three players got the total exactly correct: Sammy M, Taylor Y, and you guessed it–steveyti.
Question 3: Will Tech have more running or passing plays in the first half?
Answer: Tech had 21 passes and 13 rushes in the first half.
Question 4: How many catches will receivers from both teams have in the game, combined?
Answer: 43 catches. Two players got this exactly right. Brian Smith aaaaaand steveyti.
Question 5: Predict Louisiana Tech’s Yards per Play average, to the first decimal place.
Answer: 5.5 yards per play. Several players got within 0.5 yards and scored five points, but only back-to-back Contest champ Daniel Adams got it exactly right.
Question 6: Will LSU have more first downs in the first half or the second half?
Answer: Originally, I mis-scored this question, so if you checked your score already and it’s changed now; that’s why. For some reason I gave credit to those who said “second half,” even though I had “1st half: 13; 2nd half: 12” in my spreadsheet. Anyway, the correct answer is first half. Sorry for the mistake.
Question 7: At any point in the game, Tech will have at least a 35% chance to win the game, according to ESPN’s FPI Win Probability Chart.
Answer: False. Tech’s best chance to win came after Hardy’s catch in double coverage, and was 22.5%
Bonus: State Fair Corn Dogs take 50 seconds to cook in the microwave. If Skip and Ed Orgeron each cook corndogs while their respective team has the ball and the clock is moving, how many more cooked corndogs will the winning team have than the losing team at the end of the game?
Answer: Ed O would have 39 corndogs, and Skip would have 32. So 7 was the correct answer. Those who answered between 3 and 11 corndogs scored two points here.