Utah State football: Louisiana Tech runs past Aggies 24-6

La. Tech-USU boxscore

RUSTON, La. — Lennon Creer ran for two touchdowns and Louisiana Tech steamed past Utah State 24-6 in a Western Athletic Conference clash Saturday.

Creer, who finished with 120 yards on 18 carries, put the Bulldogs (2-4, 1-1 WAC) ahead 14-0 with 7:30 left in the second quarter.

The Aggies (2-4, 0-2) sputtered offensively and managed just two field goals, and the Aggies couldn't play catch-up with Louisiana Tech, which had 427 yards of offense.

Tim Molton, who scored the Bulldogs' first touchdown on an 11-yard pass from Ross Jenkins, had 93 yards on eight carries. Jenkins finished with 20-of-32 completions for 149 yards and an interception.

Utah State managed just 73 yards passing, with senior Diondre Borel completing 14-of-23 passes, and USU had just 195 yards of total offense. Adrien Cole led the Bulldogs' defense with 12 tackles.

Senior placekicker Peter Caldwell scored all of Utah State's points on a 40-yard field goal late in the second quarter and a 22-yarder late in the third period.

It was a disappointing defeat for the Aggies, coming on the heels of an emotion-charged victory over instate rival BYU a week earlier, as USU lost to the Bulldogs for the fifth time in their last six meetings.

Defensively, USU was led by junior linebacker Bobby Wagner's game-high 15 tackles, while fellow junior linebacker Kyle Gallagher added 11 stops. Sophomore cornerback Quinton Byrd snared an interception, his team-leading third of the season.

After USU took the opening kick and marched down the field, the Aggies' drive stalled and Caldwell's 40-yard field goal attempt was wide left. It was Caldwell's first appearance in a game since he played against Fresno State on Sept. 18, missing the last two games with an injury.

The Bulldogs subsequently drove the field and scored on an 11-yard Jenkins to Molton TD pass for a 7-0 lead, and they never looked back after that. LTU added a 2-yard TD run by Creer to take a 14-0 lead before USU got on the board with a 40-yard field goal by Caldwell. The Bulldogs added a Matt Nelson 38-yard field goal with 36 seconds left in the half for a 17-3 advantage at intermission.

Caldwell split the uprights from 22 yards out to make it a 17-6 margin with 5:35 left in the third quarter, but LTU added a 10-yard run by Creer for the final score with 4:21 to play.