Boxscore

FRESNO, Cal. -- Fresno State utilized a swarming defense and the legs of Dwayne Wright Saturday en route to victory over Louisiana Tech.

In a battle of Western Athletic Conference Bulldogs, Fresno State overcame a six-point halftime deficit to take a 16-6 win before a crowd of 38,093 at Bulldog Stadium.

The loss dropped Louisiana Tech to 2-2 while Fresno State also moved to 2-2 in the WAC opener for both teams.

Louisiana Tech led 6-0 at the half on a pair of Josh Scobee field goals, but Fresno State took control in the second half, outscoring Tech 16-0 the rest of the way.

Trailing 16-6 late in the game, Louisiana Tech drove down to the Fresno State 13 yardline before FSU's Manuel Sanchez picked off a Luke McCown pass to end Tech's hopes of a second straight comeback miracle.

Fresno State held McCown to 165 passing yards, which was the Tech senior's fourth lowest total since taking over the starting role in 2000.

McCown hit on 21-of-33 attempted passes in the game with one interception.

FSU pulled within 6-3 of Tech on a 34-yard Brett Visintainer field goal at the 8:34 mark of the third quarter before moving out in front 10-6 on a seven-yard scoring scamper by Wright with 6:35 remaining in the third period.

Wright's 66-yard run down to the Tech seven-yard line on the previous play set up the only touchdown scored in the contest. The FSU sophomore totaled 177 yards on 25 carries on the night while Bryson Sumlin added 79 yards on 11 carries for Fresno State.

Visintainer would add field goals of 31 yards with 13:02 left in the game and 30 yards with 3:21 remaining.

Scobee's 27-yard field goal at the 5:13 mark of the opening quarter put Tech on the scoreboard first with a 3-0 lead.

Running back Ralph Davis did much of the damage on Tech's first scoring drive, rushing for 42 yards on the 9-play, 48-yard drive that chewed 4:32 off of the clock.

Davis finished with 80 yards on 11 carries to lead Tech ballcarriers while Chris Norwood led Tech receivers with five catches for 61 yards.

Tech increased its first-half lead with a last minute drive culminating with a 23-yard field goal. That six-play drive took just 30 seconds with Scobee booting his second field goal as the halftime buzzer sounded.

Fresno State totaled 452 yards (299 rushing, 153 passing) while holding Louisiana Tech to 256 yards (91 rushing, 165 passing).

FSU quarterback Jeff Grady hit on 18-of-32 passes for 153 yards and two interceptions while Marque Davis and Bernard Barrian had four receptions each to lead Fresno State.

The game was unlike the previous four in the series between the two teams, all won by Fresno State. In those games Fresno State scored a combined 165 points for an average of 41 points per game. But a staunch Tech defense held FSU scoreless through the first 30 minutes of this year's matchup. The last time Tech shut out an opponent in the first half came on Nov. 24, 2001 against Tulsa. Tech led 6-0 at the half in that game and won 19-7 to clinch the 2001 WAC title.

Free safety Orlandus Williams and linebacker T.J. Jackson each picked off their second interceptions of the year in the first half for Tech.

Tech is open next week before playing host to Boise State in a 2 p.m. contest on Oct. 4 at Joe Aillet Stadium.