LOUISIANA TECH DEFEATS ARKANSAS STATE 47-28 TO WIN 15TH ANNUAL R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL
NEW ORLEANS (Dec. 19, 2015) – In a game full of great offensive performances, no performance was as prominent as Louisiana Tech’s Kenneth Dixon in the Bulldogs’ 47-28 win over Arkansas State in the 15th Annual R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Saturday night, Dec. 19, 2015, in front of 32,847 attendees in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Dixon, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, scored a New Orleans Bowl-record four touchdowns to become the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision’s career touchdown leader with 87. He passed current Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds on his third touchdown of the night, an eight-yard run in the final minute of the third quarter.
In addition to his scoring mark, which came on two rushing touchdowns and two receiving scores, Dixon topped the 100-yard mark, both rushing and receiving, with 102 yards rushing and 113 yards receiving.
The Bulldogs’ offense set a New Orleans Bowl record with 687 total yards, the fifth-highest total in NCAA bowl history and the second-most in the last 25 seasons.
Tech quarterback Jeff Driskel passed for 458 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bulldogs set two other New Orleans Bowl records and tied another as wide receiver Trent Taylor caught 10 passes and kicker Jonathan Barnes hit four field goals, including a record-tying 50-yarder.
In the first quarter, the Bulldogs jumped ahead to a 10-3 lead on a 9-yard pass by Driskel to Dixon, who made an acrobatic catch along the sideline, and extended the lead to 17-3 on a 13-yard pass from Driskel to Taylor in the second quarter.
The Red Wolves came back to pull into a halftime tie on touchdown runs by running back Warren Wand and quarterback Fredi Knighten, the last of which came with 18 seconds left in the half.
After the teams exchanged early field goals to start the third quarter, Louisiana Tech put the game out of reach with 24 unanswered points.
Driskel’s 59-yard touchdown pass to Dixon, which tied the FBS career touchdown record, put the Bulldogs ahead to stay at 27-20 with 5:09 left in the third quarter. Less than five minutes later, Dixon had the mark to himself.
Dixon’s fourth touchdown of the night, a four-yard run with 10:52 left, made it a 44-20 game.
Arkansas State’s only touchdown of the second half came on a 98-yard kickoff return by Blaise Taylor – the first kick return for a touchdown in New Orleans Bowl history.
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