SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 8, 2014
Louisiana Tech 40, UAB 24: Kenneth Dixon ran for 79 yards and three touchdowns as the visiting Bulldogs escaped the Blazers to remain undefeated in Conference USA.
Cody Sokol went 19-of-33 for 200 yards and two touchdowns as Louisiana Tech (7-3, 6-0 C-USA) earned coach Skip Holtz his 99th win. Trent Taylor and Carlos Henderson each hauled in a touchdown catch for the Bulldogs, who have won their six conference games by an average of 26 points.
Jordan Howard ran for 148 yards and a score for UAB (5-5, 3-3), which has dropped three of its last four games. The Blazers picked up a pair of touchdowns on special teams but could not overcome three turnovers.
Dixon sandwiched TD runs of 12 and 6 yards around a UAB field goal in the first quarter to give Louisiana Tech a 14-3 cushion. Howard capped an 80-yard drive with a 6-yard score to cut it to 14-10, but Dixon tacked on another 6-yard TD and the Bulldogs kicked a field goal at the whistle to make it a 24-10 lead at the break.
Jake Ganus returned a muffed punt 56 yards for a UAB score, but Sokol threw a 10-yard TD pass to Taylor later in the third and a field goal made it 33-17 early in the fourth. Louisiana Tech, which entered the weekend leading the nation in points off turnovers, turned an interception into Sokol’s 11-yard TD pass to Henderson to make it a 23-point gap before Jamarcus Nelson’s 100-yard kickoff return provided the final margin.