No. 20 Louisiana Tech 62, Texas State 55: Kenneth Dixon scored five touchdowns – including four in the first half – to set an NCAA rushing record for a freshman as the visiting Bulldogs outlasted the Bobcats.

Dixon ran for 144 yards and four touchdowns – giving him an NCAA-record 24 rushing scores this season – and Colby Cameron threw for 337 yards for Louisiana Tech (9-1, 4-0 WAC), which will host co-conference leader Utah State next Saturday in a game that likely will decide the conference champion.

In a contest that featured 69 first downs and 1,204 yards of total offense, the heavily favored Bulldogs could not pull away from Texas State (3-6, 1-3), which had scored more than 21 points only once over its previous five games.

After Dixon scored his final rushing touchdown to give Louisiana Tech its biggest lead at 48-34 with 11:17 left in the third quarter, Terrence Franks cut the deficit in half with a 22-yard scoring run and Shaun Rutherford threw a touchdown pass 3:16 later as the Bobcats knotted the game at 48 early in the fourth.

However, the Bulldogs’ quick-strike offense needed just over two minutes to retake the lead on a Ray Holley 6-yard run and Cameron added an insurance score with 3:23 left.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The teams combined for 77 points and 763 total yards – including 340 yards on the ground – in the first half. … In addition to recording the first receiving touchdown of his career, Dixon's second touchdown run broke the old record of 21 rushing scores by a freshman by San Diego State’s Marshall Faulk (1991) and Virginia Tech’s Ryan Williams (2009). … Cameron, who already held the NCAA record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception in one season, broke the record for the most interception-free attempts over multiple seasons held by Russell Wilson on a completion to Myles White midway through the first quarter.