RUSTON - Rodney Davis rushed for a career-high 221 yards and Paul Pinegar passed for 321 yards and three touchdowns as Fresno State won the Battle of the Bulldogs downing Louisiana Tech 45-13 at Joe Aillet Stadium Thursday night.

As a team Fresno State totaled 581 yards and dominated the football, recording 37:13 time of possession, including an incredible 22:49 in a second half that saw the Silicon Valley Bowl-bound Bulldogs outscore Louisiana Tech 24-0.

"We played well for a while but we just didn't finish it off," said Tech head coach Jack Bicknell. "The No. 1 problem was we just didn't seem to be able to stop them. They ran the ball and we didn't tackle very well all night. Then, we just didn't make plays on offense. Truthfully, we didn't get very many opportunities in the second half because they just ran the ball down our throats."

After a scoreless first quarter, both teams ignited offensively in the second quarter as Fresno State grabbed a 21-13 lead heading into the halftime locker room. Tech's lone touchdowns of the game came on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Luke McCown to Chris Norwood and a 5-yard strike to D.J. Curry.

Trailing by eight points entering the third quarter, Tech was never able to organize any type of offensive drives the remainder of the game. Of the six offensive possessions in the second half, the Tech Bulldogs ran 22 plays for a total of 22 yards.

Meanwhile, Fresno State ran 42 plays for 233 yards, including three touchdowns drives.

Senior running back Joe Smith ended his Tech career recording his 10th 100-yard rushing performance as the Cleveland, Texas, native recorded 123 yards on 20 carries. Smith ended his Tech career with 2,148 rushing yards, good for eighth place in the program's record book.

Tech, which was picked to finish second in the WAC in the preseason coach's poll, ended the year 4-8, 3-5 in the league.

"The season has been pretty disappointing because I thought we were a better football team," Bicknell said. "The bottom line is we have to examine every phase of the program. We just have to go back to work. It is never as bad as it seems after a loss."

The game was the final contest for 20 Louisiana Tech seniors.