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RUSTON, La. - Louisiana Tech scored the most points it ever has against a conference opponent and tallied 677 total yards as the Bulldogs clinched the Conference USA West Division in a 76-31 rout over defending C-USA Champion Rice Saturday in front of 18,029 at Joe Aillet Stadium.

The win secures a spot in the Conference USA Championship Game for Louisiana Tech (8-4, 7-1 C-USA) opposite Marshall (11-1, 7-1) on Dec. 6 with the game location still to be determined by the league office. The win also marked career win No. 100 for LA Tech head coach Skip Holtz.

"One hundred wins is huge," Holtz said of his milestone. "This football team is really special to me because I do not know that I have had a football team that has had to overcome so much, with the schedule, new faces, new coaches and everything to make this year work. This group of guys is really special. They will always have a special place in my heart."

The win was secured when the Bulldogs scored 41 unanswered points after Rice (7-5, 5-3) cut the Tech lead to four 36 seconds into the second half off a Mario Hull touchdown catch. Tech put away Rice during that 41-point stretch that included two fumble recoveries for scores, two rushing touchdowns and two of Cody Sokol's four touchdown passes on the day.

Sokol threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns with one interception and found three different receivers - Paul Turner (122), Trent Taylor (120) and Carlos Henderson (114) - for over 100 yards each. The redshirt senior quarterback's 29 touchdown passes this season ties Luke McCown (2001) for sixth in the school's single season charts.

"We had a lot of guys step up and have big games," Sokol said. "We have a lot of playmakers on this offense. It is my job to get it in their hands and be the facilitator of the offense and get K.D. [Kenneth Dixon] the ball, get the ball to receivers like Carlos Henderson, Trent Taylor, Paul Turner and those guys and create opportunities to score. I think as an offense, we excelled at that today."

Sokol completed 20 passes on 32 attempts to six different receivers and did not take a sack in the game. Of his 20 completions, five were for 35 yards or more as Tech's offense capitalized on big plays.

"I cannot say enough positive things about Cody Sokol," Holtz said of Tech's signal caller. "He never ceases to amaze me with what he has been able to do in such a short period of time. He has a great grasp of the offense and sits back there and operates."

Kenneth Dixon ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns and surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the year. He is only the third running back in school history (Ryan Moats, Daniel Porter) to tally multiple 1,000-yard seasons in his career after running for 1,194 in 2012.

"It is a good feeling, but we are just focused on the next one and that is Marshall," said Dixon of the win and the chance to play 14 games this season, the most Louisiana Tech has ever played as a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision. "The celebration is for Coach Holtz because he is such a great coach. He got to his 100th win this week. That is a great celebration and we were also celebrating the West [Division] Conference Championship. You know we were turnt up."

Louisiana Tech's defense forced four turnovers against a Rice team that had only committed three through seven conference games this season. Colby Brown, Le'Vander Liggins and Terrell Pinson each recorded an interception while Beau Fitte's fumble recovery was returned for a touchdown.

"Defensively, we had four turnovers against a team that had three turnovers in seven conference games," Holtz said. "For the defense to go out there and get those turnovers and give us the opportunity to take some big play shots was the difference in this football game. I thought the defense played an excellent football game."

After scoring 20 points off of three of Rice's four turnovers, Louisiana Tech increased its national lead with 150 points off turnovers this season.

The 677 yards of total offense Louisiana Tech racked up Saturday ranks seventh in school history while the 76 points is the second-most ever scored by a Conference USA team.

The Bulldogs only trailed once, 3-0, after Rice's James Hairston hit a 35-yard field goal just over five minutes into the game but Dixon would score the first of his three rushing touchdowns on the day on the next possession and Tech would not relent the lead for the remainder of the game.

LA Tech had a 21-3 lead after the first quarter behind Henderson's 72-yard touchdown catch and Turner's 35-yard touchdown catch. Tech would head to the locker room with a 28-17 advantage after Dixon scored again after Rice reached the end zone twice in the second quarter. Then Hull would bring the Owls within four less than a minute into the second half on a three-play, 60-yard drive before the Bulldogs offense exploded.

Overall, the Bulldogs outscored Rice 48-14 in the second half. The 45-point margin marks the first time since 1910 a Louisiana Tech team has beaten three opponents by at least 45 points with all three wins this season coming against conference opponents.

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