RUSTON, La. — Louisiana Tech rallied from a 10-6 deficit with a 21-point third quarter and the Bulldogs held on to defeat UTSA by a score of 27-20 on Saturday at Joe Alliet Stadium.
Louisiana Tech (4-3, 3-0 C-USA) picked off three passes and recovered a fumble and it turned those takeaways into 24 points in beating the Roadrunners (2-5, 1-2 C-USA) for the second time in three all-time meetings between the programs.
Cody Sokol completed just 14-of-31 passes for 157 yards, but Kenneth Dixon ran for 121 on 28 carries and he surpassed the century mark for a school-record 14th time during his career.
Meanwhile, Terrell Pinson spearheaded the turnover barrage for the Bulldogs. The senior linebacker returned a fumbled shotgun snap two yards for a touchdown at the 11:33 mark after halftime and then registered back-to-back interceptions, which also were converted into scores during the decisive third quarter.
Austin Robinson connected on 18-of-29 throws to nine different pass catchers for 138 yards and he added another 49 on the ground, including a 53-yard touchdown that put UTSA up 10-3 with 3:44 to go before intermission.
Meanwhile, Jarveon Williams carried the ball 10 times for a team-leading 73 yards and also caught a pair of passes for 35 yards.
UTSA got on the board on its first drive of the day when Sean Ianno capped a 13-play, 73-yard drive with a 23-yard field goal. The possession chewed up the opening seven minutes and three seconds of the contest, which was the Roadrunners' second-longest scoring march of the campaign.
The Bulldogs took advantage of Robinson's first interception of the season early in the second quarter to tie things up.
After Nick Thomason returned the pick to the Roadrunners 18, Dixon rushed three times for 17 yards to set up 3rd-and-goal from the 1-yard line. However, Nic Johnston dropped the junior running back for a 3-yard loss and LA Tech settled for a 21-yard field goal by Jonathan Barnes.
Following Robinson's big run, the Bulldogs were able to pull to within four right before halftime with a nine-play, 54-yard drive that culminated with Barnes' second three-pointer of the half from 33 yards out.
Pinson's fumble return gave Louisiana Tech its first lead of the game at 13-10 three-and-a-half minutes into the second half.
Sokol then connected with Sterling Griffin for 19 yards at the 9:10 mark and Dixon's 3-yard plunge two minutes later made it 27-10.
Ianno's second field goal of the day, a 27-yarder, cut the deficit to 14 and Kam Jones hooked up with Kenny Harrison on a 35-yard scoring toss three-and-half-minutes later to make it 27-20.
However, the Roadrunners were unable to tie things up on their final two possessions.
UTSA will host UTEP (3-3, 1-1 C-USA) next Saturday, Oct. 25, at the Alamodome. The second all-time meeting between the two programs is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m.