Turnovers Help Louisiana Tech Take Bowl Win In Dallas

Call it a bad game and great victory for Louisiana Tech.

The Bulldogs used big plays to make up for an uneven overall effort to take a 35-18 victory over Illinois at the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Dec. 26. Louisiana Tech finished the season 9-5 overall, while the Fighting Illini dropped to 6-7.

Bulldogs running back Kenneth Dixon, expected by many to dominate the game on offense, made his biggest play of the game on defense. With Louisiana Tech holding the ball near midfield and leading 21-18 lead in the fourth quarter, Illinois linebacker LaKeith Walls sacked quarterback Cody Sokol. The ball popped loose and was gathered up by Illini lineman Jihad Ward, who returned the fumble to the Bulldogs’ 16.

But on the same play, Dixon forced Ward to drop the football, which was fallen on by Sokol. Three plays later, Sokol connected with receiver Carlos Henderson on a 70-yard pass that set up a touchdown to keep Louisiana Tech in control of the game.

“I’m just not giving up on the play,” Dixon said of his effort. The junior tailback finished 13-67 rushing and 4-79 receiving, with one touchdown each on the ground and in the air.

Bulldogs coach Skip Holtz said after the game that Dixon’s salvaging of what could have been a disastrous play was consistent with the effort shown by Dixon all season.

“I saw Kenneth coming and what went through my head? ‘Get 'im Kenneth, get 'im Kenneth, get 'im!” Holtz said.

The Bulldogs' comfortable margin in the final score did not reflect the tone of the game, during which Illinois often stifled the vaunted Louisiana Tech offense. The Illini limited Louisiana Tech to 114 yards rushing and 247 yards passing, with much of those numbers coming late in the game after the outcome had been determined. Illinois held the ball for 10 minutes longer than Tech and outgained the Bulldogs 451-361 overall.

The best numbers of the day were tallied by senior defensive end Houston Bates, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Bates recorded the most tackles for loss (5.5-35 yards) in Cotton Bowl Stadium history. Bates’ 4.5 sacks for a loss of 32 total yards brought his 2014 totals to 10 sacks for 79 yards.

Louisiana Tech led 14-3 after the first quarter and 21-9 at halftime. The biggest play of the first half was also an Illinois turnover. Midway through the second quarter, with the Illini trailing 14-9 and advancing into Bulldogs territory, quarterback Reilly O’Toole was intercepted by defensive back Xavier Woods, who returned the pickoff 69 yards for a touchdown. Some on the Illinois bench protested what seemed to them one or two missed penalty calls on the play, but the pick-six seemed to typify the snakebit quality that frustrated Illinois’ effort during the game.

O’Toole (24-39-1, 239, 1 TD) turned in a generally solid effort for the Illini in the senior’s last collegiate game. Malik Turner (6-84) and Mike Dudek (7-73) led Illinois receivers.

Game notes: The Heart of Dallas Bowl completed its fifth year at the Cotton Bowl Stadium. The bowl’s history began after the Cotton Bowl game was moved to Cowboys Stadium, now AT&T Stadium. The game features a team from Conference USA versus a Big 10 team. The Big 10 representative has yet to win a game in the series … The game was televised on ESPN … By forcing two Illinois turnovers, Louisiana Tech finished the season ranked No. 1 in the nation in turnovers gained (42) with 16 fumble recoveries and 26 interceptions … Paid attendance was 31,297.