Boxscore

OXFORD, Miss. ? Louisiana Tech?s defense halted the offense of Ole Miss and held the Rebels to 232 yards of total offense, but the Bulldogs could not get their own offense clicking in a 24-0 loss. It was the first time Ole Miss held an opponent scoreless since the Rebels kept Mississippi State off the scoreboard in 2003. The last time Tech was shutout was last season against Nevada 42-0.

Neither team?s offense established itself as a force in the game, but the Rebels were able to best counter after miscues. Tech fumbled on the second play of the game at its own 30-yard line. Ole Miss (2-4) quickly scored in three plays to take an early 7-0 lead over Tech (1-4).

Tech coach Derek Dooley said Saturday?s game was a matter of which team would take advantage of mistakes to get the upper hand and his team failed to do so. A week after Tech was penalized just once for 10 yards, penalties proved to be a major factor for the Bulldogs. Tech was penalized 13 times for 117 yards, more than half the total yards Ole Miss accumulated on its own.

?Frustrated is an understatement, and I told the guys not to get frustrated and they still did,? Dooley said. ?It wasn?t just penalties. It was missed assignments, execution, and we just killed ourselves in the first half. Give credit to Ole Miss they made the plays they had to make, and we?ve gone backwards a little bit on offense.?

Tech?s defense held Ole Miss to just 98 yards of total offense in the first half. The Rebels could not move the ball on the ground as Tech kept Ole Miss to four yards rushing through the first two quarters. The Bulldogs picked off two passes in the first half but thanks to three pass interference calls Ole Miss was able to keep possessions alive.

The Bulldogs could not capitalize on turnovers after the two interceptions in the first half. Tech?s offense was stymied as well in the first half to 128 yards of total offense. Two fumbles by Tech quickly halted drives for the Bulldogs and another was recovered by the offense but pushed Tech back to help prevent a first down.

On Tech?s only two scoring chances of the day, the Bulldogs failed field goal attempts each time. Danny Horwedel missed a 42-yarder in the third quarter and had one blocked late in the fourth. The blocked kick was returned 82 yards for a touchdown by Ole Miss.

?It?s the same problems that have plagued us and it was almost a mirror image of last week ? an inability to execute and an inability to throw and catch,? Dooley said. ?We?re not getting open, we?re not delivering the ball and we?re not catching the ball.?

Tech?s defense continued to slow Ole Miss in the second half allowing just seven points and 134 yards. Weldon Brown intercepted his second pass of the game in the endzone during the third quarter to halt a scoring threat from Ole Miss but it was not enough.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis for Ole Miss ran for 54 yards on 14 carries to lead the Rebels. Quarterback Seth Adams completed 16 of 32 passes for 167 yards and one touchdown. Adams had three interceptions in the game.

The Bulldogs were led offensively on the ground by Daniel Porter with 51 yards on eight carries. Patrick Jackson rushed for 48 yards on 15 carries. The passing game struggled to get going against the Rebels as Zac Champion threw for 144 yards and was 16-of-27 with no interceptions.

Tech returns home next weekend for homecoming against New Mexico State in Western Athletic Conference action. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Joe Aillet Stadium.