Louisiana Tech wins C-USA showdown with FIU, 44-24

Carlos Henderson's 92-yard kickoff return and a big interception by Xavier Woods helped Louisiana Tech blunt Florida International comebacks and take a 44-24 victory Saturday night.

After FIU's Alex McGough hit Thomas Owens for a 6-yard pass to get within 37-24 with 6:14 left, Henderson took the ensuing kickoff the distance. After FIU got within 10 in the third quarter, Woods' 45-yard return to the FIU 2 set up a score.

The Bulldogs (5-3, 3-1) were led by Higgins' 22-of-30 night, 269 yards, two passing TDs and one rushing. Trent Taylormade 11 receptions for 156 yards and a score and went over 1,000 yards receiving for the second straight season.

While the Bulldogs won their fourth straight, the loss was the first for the Panthers (3-6, 3-2) under interim coach Ron Cooper after three victories.

McGough was 25 of 44 for 281 yards and three TDs with an interception.

Henderson's 326 yards receiving, 5 TDs lift Louisiana Tech

Ryan Higgins and wide receiverCarlos Henderson connected 12 times for 326 yards and five touchdowns, and Louisiana Tech beat UMass 56-28 on Saturday in their first all-time meeting.

It was the second most receiving yards for a single game in program history - trailing Troy Edwards' 405-yard performance in 1998. Henderson's scoring plays were from 50, 42, 5, 83 and 6 yards out.

Higgins went 26 of 33 for 484 yards and five touchdowns for his fourth 400-plus game this season for Louisiana Tech (4-3). The Bulldogs came in ranked fifth nationally in passing at 365 yards per game and totaled 690 yards against the Minutemen. Higgins entered with 181 consecutive passes without an interception but he threw a pick with 9:08 left in the third quarter. He sat out the final 7:14 of the game.

Higgins is 59 of 78 for 938 yards and 10 touchdowns in his last two games. Henderson has 20 catches and 558 yards over the same span.

Andrew Ford was 29-of-40 passing for 268 yards and three touchdowns for UMass (1-6).

Higgins, Louisiana Tech hold off Western Kentucky 55-52

 Ryan Higgins passed for 454 yards and five touchdowns and Louisiana Tech held off Western Kentucky 55-52 on Thursday night.

Louisiana Tech (5-5, 2-1 Conference USA) led 49-24 in the middle of the third quarter and Jonathan Barnes' career-long 54-yard field goal with 11 minutes left in the game proved enough to withstand Western Kentucky's rally.

Mike White rallied the Hilltoppers (3-3, 1-1) with TD passes of 31, 8 and 11 yards that made it 55-45 with 7:24 left.

Shaquille Johnson blocked a punt and Kylen Townerrecovered and scored to pull WKU within three with 5:02 left. The Hilltoppers forced a punt, but Louisiana Tech's Aaron Brown strip-sacked White on the next play to secure the win.

Carlos Henderson had eight catches for 232 yards and three touchdowns for Louisiana Tech. White had 340 yards and five touchdowns passing for Western Kentucky.

Higgins totals 3 TDs, Louisiana Tech tops UTEP 28-7

 Ryan Higgins passed for 191 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 42 yards and another score, and Louisiana Tech beat UTEP 28-7 on Saturday night.

Higgins found Jarred Craft for a 17-yard score midway through the first quarter, then took the ball 22 yards to pay dirt later in the period to give Louisiana Tech (2-3, 1-1 Conference USA) a 14-0 lead.

After scoreless second and third quarters, UTEP (1-4, 0-1) got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter with a 10-yard pass from Ryan Metz to Hayden Plinke. Craft went 70 yards two plays later to build Louisiana Tech's lead back to 14, 21-7.

Trent Taylor caught a 9-yard TD pass from Higgins with 1:29 left to round out the scoring.

Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz improved to 7-0 all time vs. UTEP - 4-0 with the Bulldogs, 2-0 at East Carolina and a win in his only game vs. the Miners while at South Florida.

Stockstill lifts Middle Tennessee past Louisiana Tech, 38-34

 Brent Stockstill fired a 23-yard pass to Ty Leewith 2:36 left to rally Middle Tennessee past Louisiana Tech, 38-34 in a Conference USA showdown Saturday night.

Ryan Higgins threw his second TD pass to Trent Taylor early in the third quarter to give the Bulldogs a 27-7 advantage.

Stockstill hit I'Tavius Mathers with a 37-yard scoring strike to start the comeback and Mathers ran for two more scores in the fourth quarter - the second giving the Blue Raiders 31-27 lead.

Kam McKnight capped an eight-play, 82-yard drive with a 1-yard run to give Louisiana Tech a 34-31 lead with 3:56 left, but Stockstill completed the comeback with a five-play, 75-yard drive for the win.

Stockstill finished with 356 yards on 27 of 46 passing for Middle Tennessee (3-1, 1-0).

Higgins was 36 of 59 for 504 yards and three touchdowns for Louisiana Tech (1-3, 0-1).

Mahomes throws 5 TDs, Texas Tech beats Louisiana Tech 59-45

It's rare when pass-happy Texas Tech churns out more plays on the ground than in the air, but that's what happened Saturday night.

Patrick Mahomes threw for five touchdowns, three to Johnathan Giles, and ran for another to lead Texas Tech past Louisiana Tech 59-45.

"That was their defense," Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury said of the 43-36 edge to running plays. "If they're going to give us a run, we're going to take it. We're going to do whatever the defense allows us to do."

Giles, who finished with six catches for 186 yards, said balance with the rush and pass takes pressure off Mahomes.

"I feel like it makes it easier for Pat just so he don't have to throw the ball a whole lot," he said. "And us as a receiver group, just blocking, being physical, if very fun."

Mahomes threw touchdown passes of 64, 36, 9, 42 and 4. The junior, who came into the game leading the nation in total offense, completed 26 of 36 passes for 470 yards.

Demarcus Felton rushed for 123 yards on 16 carries and had two touchdowns.

The Bulldogs fell behind 35-10 and couldn't quell the Red Raiders up-tempo offense enough to pull off a comeback. They got within 11 points twice.

"I thought our defense was a joke," Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz said.

Kingsbury said his team needs to get tougher and put opponents away.

"You can't have guys, particularly their best players, running wide open," he said.

The Red Raiders (2-1) didn't punt through three quarters and scored on six of their first seven possessions.

Jarred Craft had 151 yards on 21 carries and Trent Taylor caught six passes for 166 yards for the Bulldogs (1-2).

"Jarred did a phenomenal job, whether it was to start off a drive or a short play that he'd just bust open, he did a great job getting his holes, almost always making the first defender miss" quarterback Ryan Higgins said. "He kept us alive."

The Red Raiders pulled some razzle dazzle in the second quarter, running a double reverse that ended in Giles hands and brought him one of his three touchdowns - a 42-yarder.

"I stole that from Western Kentucky," Kingsbury said. "It was a great play they ran for a touchdown, so we repped it a ton. We had it but we weren't getting the right looks for it, and it just worked out tonight."

TAKEAWAYS:

LOUISIANA TECH: The Bulldogs' defense came into the game giving up just 295 total yards per game to rank 31st in the nation . Texas Tech moved the ball at will and had almost 100 yards more of offense than that (392), and led 35-17 at halftime.

TEXAS TECH: Ranked 117th in total defense coming into the game, Texas Tech showed improvement. The Bulldogs tallied 572 total yards, fewer than the 652 the Red Raiders gave up in their 68-55 loss at Arizona State last week. "I thought offensively we handled the situation better," Kingsbury said. "Everybody executed at a much higher level."

Holtz lauded Texas Tech's defense. "They ran a lot of coverages, they ran a lot of fronts," he said. "They do as much as any defense I've ever seen. They ran I don't know how many coverages tonight, but you couldn't attack what they were doing."

UP NEXT:

LOUISIANA TECH: The Bulldogs continue their road games when they travel to Middle Tennessee.

TEXAS TECH: The Red Raiders have a bye next week before hosting Kansas on Sept. 29. It will be the first Thursday night home game for Texas Tech since beating then-No. 24 TCU 20-10 on Sept. 12, 2013, Kliff Kingsbury's first season with the Red Raiders.

POINTS GALORE:

It was the eighth home game in a row that the Red Raiders scored at least 50 points

Allen's late TD pass lifts Arkansas past La. Tech, 21-20

Trailing midway through the fourth quarter, Arkansas coach Bret Bielema wasn't all that concerned about style points or margin of victory.

Not with another shocking loss like less than a year ago to Toledo still fresh on his mind.

Behind a pair of fourth-down conversions in the fourth quarter, the Razorbacks (1-0) managed to avoid another early season disappointment to a non-Power 5 conference team on Saturday - rallying for a 21-20 victory over Louisiana Tech (0-1).

"I know everybody would have, including myself at the end of the day, would have liked to come out of here with a larger margin of victory," Bielema said. "But ... I knew (the Bulldogs) were going to be a good football team, very well coached."

The Razorbacks rallied thanks to a pair of nerve-wracking calls by Bielema, particularly with first-time starter Austin Allen under center for Arkansas.

Bielema's faith in his junior starter was rewarded, especially after Allen connected with tight end Jeremy Sprinklefrom four yards out on fourth down to give Arkansas the 21-20 with 6:37 remaining in the game.

"I'm glad (Bielema) called it," Allen said. "We'd been practicing that play all week, everybody knew what they were doing and we did it perfectly. It worked out for us."

Despite the go-ahead touchdown, the Razorbacks didn't secure the win for good until another fourth-down call by Bielema with just over a minute remaining.

Facing fourth-and-inches at its own 37, Arkansas converted a first down with a power run by 240-pound running backKody Walker - allowing the Razorbacks to run out the clock and exhale a welcomed sigh of relief following last year's early stumbles.

"You make the fourth-down decision looking to have success," Bielema said. "The last one, it's just a gut feel. I just had a feeling we were going to have a nice push, and it ended up sealing the game."

With 18 wins over the last two seasons, including a pair of bowl victories, Louisiana Tech didn't expect to enter Saturday as the usual kind of early season cupcake for the Razorbacks.

And the Bulldogs didn't play like it, either.

Freshman J'Mar Smith, playing in place of suspended starter Ryan Higgins, finished 19 of 31 for 212 yards passing for Louisiana Tech - helping the Conference USA school take a 20-14 lead in the third quarter after a 20-yard field goal by kicker Jonathan Barnes.

However, Barnes missed another kick off the left upright from 39 yards that would have put the Bulldogs up 23-14 in the fourth quarter.

That gave hope to Arkansas, which responded with a 13-play, 77-yard touchdown drive - capped by Allen finding Sprinkle on a throwback to the left side of the end zone.

Allen finished 20-of-29 passing for 191 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his debut as the Razorbacks starter, but he also threw a pair of first-half interceptions that led to Louisiana Tech touchdowns.

Rawleigh Williams led Arkansas with 96 yards rushing on 24 carries, including a touchdown.

THE TAKEAWAY

LA. TECH: Minus 13 starters from a year ago, and with Higgins on the bench, the Bulldogs looked every bit as good as its teams that have won nine games in each of the last two seasons. Smith had little problem picking apart Arkansas' defense, with wide receiver Trent Taylor leading the Bulldogs with eight catches for 78 yards.

"I think we have an awful lot of positive things to build on, but I don't think this a game we wanted to be close," Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz said. "We don't want to be close, we want to win."

ARKANSAS: The Razorbacks entered the season with three new starting offensive linemen, and their inexperience showed on Saturday. Arkansas allowed four sacks of Allen in the close victory, and it managed only 106 yards rushing on 40 carries - a significant concern moving forward into Southeastern Conference play.

UP NEXT

LA. TECH: The Bulldogs take a break from Power 5 conference competition when they face South Carolina State in their home opener, a week before traveling to face Big 12 Conference member Texas Tech.

ARKANSAS: Life doesn't get any easier for the Razorbacks, who travel to Texas to take on No. 13 TCU.

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Season Preview

The Bulldogs won the West Division title, played in their first C-USA Championship Game and won the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl last season, defeating Illinois, 35-18. 

Senior RB Kenneth Dixon, finished with 28 touchdowns last season (22 rushing, six receiving), the second-most in a single season in CUSA history. He broke the school record for career rushing yards after finishing the season with 1,299 rushing yards and 3,410 for his career. Additionally, Dixon’s 366 points scored in his career is a new school record, eclipsing Matt Nelson’s 360 points scored from 2009-12. The tailback has also scored 61 touchdowns in his career, topping the old school record of 57 scored by Troy Edwards from 1996-98. 

Former Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel joined the LA Tech program in January and is expected to be eligible to play during the 2015 season. One of the nation’s top quarterbacks coming out of high school, Driskel spent four years at Florida where he threw for 3,411 yards, 23 touchdowns, 20 interceptions and completed 59.4 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 644 yards and nine touchdowns. 

LA Tech was among the nation’s leaders in most improved scoring based on points per game compared to the previous year. LA Tech finished the 2014 season ranked fifth in most improved scoring of- fense with a 94.8 percent improvement, going from an average of 19.2 points per game in 2013 to 37.4 points per game last season. 

The Louisiana Tech defense finished the year leading the FBS in in- terceptions (26) and turnovers forced (42). The Bulldogs scored 176 points off turnovers.