R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Recap: Georgia Southern 38, Louisiana Tech 3
NEW ORLEANS – Georgia Southern’s defense kept Louisiana Tech out of the end zone and had four interceptions, while the offense set an R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl record with 322 yards rushing as the Eagles took a 38-3 victory over the Bulldogs in the game’s 20th edition Wednesday afternoon at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Georgia Southern (8-5) set a New Orleans Bowl record for margin of victory and tied the record for fewest points allowed, thanks to an opportunistic defense that turned away Tech five times inside the 30-yard line, including three straight interceptions in the first half.
Eagle quarterback Shai Werts, named the bowl’s most valuable player, tied a bowl record with three touchdown runs and passed for a fourth score as Georgia Southern rolled up 448 yards of offense.
Werts had a 1-yard touchdown run to cap the game’s first possession, a 37-yard jaunt in the second quarter and another 1-yard scoring run in the third quarter. He finished with 71 yards on 15 carries and was 7-of-12 passing for 126 yards and a 65-yard touchdown pass to Khaleb Hood.
The other Eagle touchdown came on a 4-yard fourth-quarter run by Gerald Green, who finished with 108 yards rushing.
Jacob Barnes’ 45-yard field goal just before halftime accounted for the only points for Louisiana Tech (5-5).
Israel Tucker’s 123 rushing yards accounted for more than half of the Bulldogs’ 232 yards of total offense.
Georgia Southern’s win was the fourth straight by the Sun Belt Conference over Conference USA in the New Orleans Bowl.