Boxscore

FRESNO, Calif. ? The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs struggled to produce any offense in the second half against conference rival Fresno State. The inability to move the ball after halftime coupled with Fresno State?s running attacked aided in Tech falling 17-6 on the road.

Tech?s defense held its opponent scoreless for the first time all season. Fresno State tallied just 126 yards of offense, with over 50 yards coming on its last possession of the half. Fresno State moved the ball affectively in the second half, and Tech head coach Derek Dooley said he was disappointed in how his team came out for the second half.

?I?m very disappointed in the loss,? Dooley said. ?I give credit to Fresno State. They came out in the second half and out-toughed us and out-played us. Part of being a good football team is if the offense can?t score the defense can?t let them score, so it?s a team loss.?

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs controlled the tempo of the first half with its defense and running attack. Tech had possession for more than 10 minutes in the first quarter and nearly 17 minutes for the half.

Running backs Patrick Jackson and Daniel Porter combined to provide the offensive power for Tech. Jackson had 58 yards in the first half on 10 carries, and Porter totaled 26 on six carries.

Fresno State struggled to move the ball on the ground with 72 yards rushing in the first half. The California-based Bulldogs found tight end Bear Pascoe for 23 of the team?s 54 passing yards in the first half as well.

The second half was a different story as Fresno State?s offense took advantage of good field position after the second half kickoff to get on the scoreboard for the first time with a 45-yard field goal. Tech was forced to punt after getting one first down, and Fresno State put the ball in the endzone shortly after on a 27-yard pass to Jason Crawley to pull ahead 10-6.

Tech?s offense sputtered in the second half losing yards on three of its first four possessions. Fresno State?s offense, however, grinded yards out on the ground to eat clock and build a 17-6 lead with 9:51 remaining in the game.

Jackson and Porter finished with 75 and 26 yards respectively while Champion completed 22 of 49 passes for 179 yards. The one positive for Tech?s offense was it did not turn the ball over in the losing effort.
Fresno State had three players rush for more than 40 yards apiece with Lonyae Miller leading the way with 50. Overall Tech out gained Fresno State 282-262 but came up short when it came to putting points on the board.

Dooley said his team needs to find its offensive identity in order to create a rhythm on the field. As long as Tech struggles to find any consistency, it will continue to have trouble scoring enough points to win. Particularly, Tech?s offense has to find a way to find success with the passing game. If the Bulldogs can?t, teams will continue to stack the box and focus on halting Tech?s ground game.

?The same problems we?ve had continue to plague us today,? Dooley said. ?We can?t beat any team we?re going to play if we continue to throw the football that way. When you can?t complete a pass, you can?t run the ball the whole game and win.?

Tech will be in action next against Ole Miss to finish its long stay away from Joe Aillet Stadium. The Bulldogs will take on the Rebels at 1 p.m. Saturday in Oxford, Miss.