Louisiana Tech and Navy combined for 93 points in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday evening as the Bulldogs edged the Midshipmen 48-45 to win the Armed Forces Bowl.
Both teams had over 450 total yards of offense in the game and were efficient in the red zone, combining for 11 scores on 12 total trips, including nine touchdowns.
Navy's offense was, per usual, led by the rushing attack as the Midshipmen racked up 300 yards as a team on 49 carries split among eight players. Quarterback Zach Abey led the way with 25 carries for 114 yards and one touchdown before he was knocked out of the game on Navy's final drive.
In his place, fourth-string quarterback Malcolm Perry came in and ripped off a 30-yard touchdown run on his first carry of the game to tie it at 45-45. However, Louisiana Tech was able to drive down the field on Navy to set up the game-winning 30-yard field goal as time expired.
The Bulldogs did their damage in the passing game as Ryan Higgins completed 29-of-40 passes for 409 yards and four touchdowns. Of those 29 completions, 22 went to the wide receiver combination of Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson. Taylor had 12 catches for 233 yards, while Henderson had 10 catches for 129 yards; each scored twice.
Henderson also opened the game with an 82-yard kickoff return that set the Bulldogs up in the red zone, leading to a Higgins rushing touchdown. That and a 51-yard touchdown pass to Taylor gave the Bulldogs two more plays of 50-plus yards on the season, the most in the nation on the season (21). The rest of the Louisiana Tech's scores came from close range as it made eight red zone trips in the game, scoring on seven of those trips for 41 points.
In a bowl season that has otherwise been a bit boring to this point, with high-scoring games being lopsided wins and the close games being low-scoring, the back-and-forth shootout in Fort Worth was a welcome sight and a nice early present for college football fans two days before Christmas.
