Hoping to snap a nine-game losing streak, the Mustangs (0-10,0-7) fell 41-6 on Saturday against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs(5-5, 3-3) in Ruston, La.

“Being in a 10-game losing streak is the worst feeling inmy whole life, but I’m trying to keep my head up,”defensive end Don Ieremia-Stansbury said. “It’s likepayday has come, but the checks haven’t been cut; we’reputting in a lot of time and effort but getting noresults.”

On the Bulldogs’ fourth play of the game, quarterback LukeMcCown connected with Shawn Piper 63 yards for a touchdown toinitiate a dominant 17-0 first quarter by the Bulldogs.

Led by quarterback Chris Phillips, the Mustang offense’sfirst set of downs produced nothing and forced the Mustangs topunt.

On the Bulldogs’ second possession, just more than threeminutes after their first score, Jonathan Holland rushed for a7-yard touchdown to put the Bulldogs up 14-0.

After another unsuccessful drive, the Mustangs punted again, andthe Bulldogs capitalized by adding a field goal with 22 secondsleft in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, with the Bulldogs on the Mustang 5-yardline, Ryan Moats put the Bulldogs on the board again early with atouchdown run.

Later in the second quarter, McCown threw a 33-yard pass toPiper to put the Bulldogs up 31-0.

Before time ran out in the half, the Mustangs drove 53 yardsdown the field, and Chris McMurtray kicked a 32-yard fieldgoal.

In the second half, with the Mustangs driving, Chris Phillipswas picked off, and the interception was returned by Jerron Whishom33 yards for another Bulldog touchdown.

Later, the Mustangs responded with a McMurtray field goal tonarrow the scoring gap to 38-6.

The Mustangs failed to score in the fourth quarter, while theBulldogs added a field goal to boost the final score to 41-6.

The Mustangs have now lost 10 in a row, a losing streak thatcomes only second to Army’s 12 losses this season.

Louisiana Tech racked up 401 yards of total offense whileallowing the Mustangs just 242 yards of offense. The offensiveoutput is below the Mustangs’ last-ranked offensive yardaverage of 258.3 yards.

Chris Phillips, in his first full game, was just 10-of-19 with80 yards and two interceptions.

Keylon Kincade rushed 25 times for 93 yards and caught threepasses for 17 yards, a total of 110 all-purpose yards.

The Bulldogs’ Piper caught two touchdown passes totaling93 yards from McCown, the nation’s top active passer.

Despite 11 penalties by the Bulldogs for 163 yards, the Mustangscould not capitalize on the penalties.

The Mustangs played a clean game, penalized only four times for20 yards total.

The Mustangs controlled possession, holding the ball for 34:04versus the Bulldogs’ 25:56. For the season, theMustangs’ average time of possession is 33 minutes, whileopponents have held the ball for 27 minutes. Despite controllingthe ball for an average of six minutes more than their opponents,the Mustangs are being outscored an average of 22.4 points agame.

The Mustangs will once again try to snap their 10-game losingstreak when they take on the Rice Owls at 2 p.m. on Saturday inGerald J. Ford Stadium.