Louisiana Tech 48, Utah St. 35

10/21/2006 10:44 PM

RUSTON, La. (AP) -Louisiana Tech rushed for a season-high 344 yards in a 48-35 victory over Utah State Saturday night.

Tech (2-5, 1-2 WAC) bounced back after a disappointing loss last week to Idaho and dominated against the Aggies (1-7, 1-3) statistically. The Bulldogs tallied a season-high 570 yards of offense to Utah State's 373.

Freshman running back Daniel Porter, making his first career start, ran for a career-high 178 yards on 24 carries and scored his second career touchdown - a 5-yarder for Tech's final score of the night. Running back Patrick Jackson added 91 yards and one score on seven carries and true freshman William Griffin had 37 yards on nine carries.

Quarterback Zac Champion set a career mark with four touchdown passes in the game, completing 13-of-18 for 226 yards.

Utah State quarterback Riley Nelson was 12-of-28 for 249 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Tech jumped on top of Utah State early with a field goal by Danny Horwedel and touchdown passes to Johnathan Holland and Brian Jackson. The Bulldogs opened up a 17-0 lead after the first quarter.

Tech led 24-14 at the half and Utah State never got closer than 13 points the rest of the game.

Kevin Robinson led the Aggies' receiving, getting 141 yards and two touchdowns on six catches, while Marcus Cross led the ground game with 70 yards on 16 carries. Cross also had two touchdowns.

Defensively, Tech forced two turnovers, including an interception on the Aggies' first play from scrimmage. Antonio Baker got the first pick of his career on the play, which set up Horwedel's first field goal.