FRISCO, Texas (AP) — J’mar Smith threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score, Louisiana Tech’s defense scored twice and the Bulldogs rolled to a 51-10 victory over sloppy SMU on Wednesday night in the Frisco Bowl.
Smith completed 15 of 23 passes for 216 yards, and Teddy Veal caught four passes for 84 yards for Louisiana Tech (7-6). The Bulldogs led 42-10 at the half.
SMU (7-6) fumbled on its first offensive snap and turned it over on its first three drives and six times overall.
It was a disappointing debut for SMU coach Sonny Dykes against his former school. Dykes was 22-15 at Louisiana Tech from 2010 to 2012 before leaving for California in 2013. SMU hired him to replace Chad Morris on Dec. 11.
With most of the staff joining Morris at Arkansas, Dykes elected to coach the bowl game and installed graduate assistant G.J. Kinne as offensive coordinator for the bowl game.
Smith gave the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard sneak with 7:43 remaining in the first quarter. Louisiana Tech had a short field to work with after Secdrick Cooper returned an interception 31 yards to the SMU 30.
Amik Robertson returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown less than a minute later, pushing the lead to 14-0.
