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STARKVILLE, Miss. -

Mississippi State 45, Louisiana Tech 20

Oct. 17, 2015

Davis Wade Stadium

POST-GAME NOTES

• LA Tech captains were Kentrell Brice, Vernon Butler, Jeff Driskel and Kenneth Dixon.
• Today's announced attendance at Davis Wade Stadium: 61,651. That is the largest crowd to ever watch LA Tech and Mississippi State play in 12 meetings.
• Mississippi State leads the all-time series, 9-3, over Louisiana Tech.
• Louisiana Tech won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. It was the fifth time this season the Bulldogs have won the opening coin toss.

OFFENSE

• LA Tech totaled 413 yards of offense, eclipsing 400 for the seventh time this season which remains a program record to open a season.
• The 20 points LA Tech scored is the most points allowed by Mississippi State in the regular season against a non-conference opponent since a 47-34 win over UAB on Sept. 6, 2014.
• Jeff Driskel's 21-yard touchdown pass to put LA Tech ahead in the first quarter was his 12th of the season, tying a career-high for touchdowns in a season for the transfer from Florida. He also threw 12 touchdowns in 12 games in 2012 for the Gators.
• Driskel followed up with his 13th touchdown pass of the season with a 16-yard reception by Trent Taylor with 4:27 left in the first quarter. That is a new personal best for touchdowns in a season for the quarterback from Florida.
• Jeff Driskel was 25-of-41 for 303 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. It marked his fourth game this season with 300+ yards passing.
• Jarred Craft got the start in place of an injured Kenneth Dixon and finished with a 14 carries for 40 yards. Craft had a career day through the air as the sophomore running back caught a career-high five passes for 56 yards.
• Trent Taylor pulled in 10 receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown. He came into the game ranked eighth in the country in receptions per game (8.2). It marks Taylor's sixth career 100-yard receiving game and his fourth of the 2015 season.
• Boston Scott carried the ball a career-high 10 times and recorded a new personal best with 55 yards rushing against Mississippi State.
• Paul Turner caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Driskel with 10:52 left in the first quarter to give LA Tech a 7-0 lead over Mississippi State on its first drive of the game. The touchdown reception was Turner's third of the season and the fifth of his career. It was Driskel's 12th touchdown pass of the season.
• Trent Taylor made an acrobatic 16-yard touchdown catch with 4:27 remaining in the first quarter to put LA Tech up 14-0 over Mississippi State. The touchdown capped off a 10 play, 73 yard drive by the Bulldogs and took 3:51 off the clock.

DEFENSE

• LA Tech ended up with eight tackles-for-loss, which is the second most of the season for the Bulldogs. LA Tech recorded 12 tackles-for-loss last week at UTSA.
• The defense only allowed 93 rushing yards with an average of 3.1 yards per carry. It is the fourth time this season the Bulldogs have not allowed more than 100.
• Xavier Woods and Nick Thomason and Beau Fitte each had a team-high 10 tackles in the game. Woods recorded six solo tackles, one tackle-for-loss and one pass break-up, while Thomason had four solo tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
• Vontarrius Dora recorded his third sack of the season for a loss of 12 yards. He has now totaled 8.5 sacks in his career for a loss of 67 yards.
• Jaylon Ferguson also recorded a sack to give him three career sacks in two starts. He had two sacks last weekend against UTSA.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Jonathan Barnes went 2-for-2 on field goals after connecting on a 33-yard field goal and a 27-yard field goal against Mississippi State. The sophomore is now 15-of-17 on the season.
• Jonathan Barnes was a perfect 2-for-2 on extra point attempts. He remains 100 percent on the season, having converted all 30 attempts this season.
• Gerald Shouse had three punts go for 143 yards with an average of 47.7 yards per punt. He had one pinned inside the 20 and a 55-yard punt in the game.
• Gerald Shouse's punt was blocked with 1:03 left in the first half, making it the first time LA Tech has allowed a blocked punt since Nov. 9, 2013 against Southern Miss.
• Logan McPherson punted the ball once for 24 yards in the first half vs. Mississippi State.