NEW ORLEANS -- Louisiana Tech running back Kenneth Dixon shredded his No. 28 jersey on Saturday night in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, and his four touchdowns shredded Arkansas State 47-28 as well as the NCAA record book.

In compiling 203 all-purpose yards and leading the Bulldogs to a 24-point second-half explosion that broke open a 20-20 tie, Dixon caught touchdown passes of 9 and 59 yards from quarterback Jeff Driskel and ran for two scores, giving him 87 touchdowns in his collegiate career, the most in NCAA history.

For the moment, Dixon's 87 touchdowns are two more than Navy's Keenan Reynolds, who has 85 entering the Midshipmen's Dec. 28 game against Pittsburgh in the Military Bowl.

"I told Kenneth he should've played without a nametag today," Louisiana Tech coach Skip Holtz said of Dixon, who scored his first two touchdowns as No. 28, his third with the No. 28 ripped from the front of his jersey and his final score as No. 1 after having borrowed the jersey of injured receiver Carlos Henderson.

Holtz said Dixon's numberless jersey epitomized a played who had fought through the adversity of a high ankle sprain and played unselfishly all season. Dixon finished with 26 touchdowns in the Bulldogs' 9-4 season.

"It's definitely symbolic of his unselfish attitude," Holtz said. "I told the players they're lucky I give them numbers. I'd rather just give them QB or LB. Kenneth Dixon is just as excited when somebody else scores as when he does. I would have loved to have seen what this season could have been had he played the whole season healthy."

Dixon said he will be watching Reynolds play in the Military Bowl to see if his scoring record will stand.

"It's good just to have two people chasing that record at same time," Dixon said. "It's remarkable. If he wins it, I'd feel great for him."

Driskel said, "(Reynolds) seems like a great guy, but I'm rooting against him."

Driskel, a fifth-year senior transfer from Florida, completed 26 of 37 passes for 457 yards and three touchdowns in slicing up Arkansas State's heavy man-to-man defensive scheme. He had four completions of at least 45 yards: 71 to Paul Turner, 59 to Dixon, 53 to Henderson and 45 to Trent Taylor, who caught 10 passes for 149 yards.

The Bulldogs rolled up 687 yards in total offense, the fifth-highest total in bowl history and the second highest in the last 25 seasons. Kicker Jonathan Barnes added field goals of 50, 20, 28 and 22 yards.

"Our guys were just winning in the one-on-one battles down the field," Driskel said. "We talked all week that through the year we had missed some guys barely by an inch or so. Coach Holtz did a really good job of getting the playmakers the ball."

Arkansas State (9-4) battled back from a 17-3 deficit to tie the score at halftime, and it was still anyone's game early in the third quarter when Barnes and Arkansas State's J.D. Houston exchanged field goals to make it 20-20.

But then Louisiana Teach ran off the next 24 points. Arkansas State coach Blake Anderson said his team might have run out of gas, and the Red Wolves certainly were affected by losing leading rusher Michael Gordon to a knee injury on the first series.

"Maybe at times we got a little fatigued," Anderson said. "The balance that Louisiana Tech was able to have all night allowed them to sustain drives."

Arkansas State (9-4) scored on a 98-yard kickoff return by Blaise Taylor midway through the fourth quarter, but it was too late. Quarterback Fredi Knighten scrambled for 40 yards but completed just 14 of 28 passes for 137 yards and two interceptions.

Louisiana Tech (13-154) and Arkansas State (11-109) combined for 263 yards in penalty yardage, and several other penalties were declined.

"The officials got paid by the yard tonight," Holtz said.

NOTES: Since the 1991 season, the only team to compile more yardage in a bowl game than Louisiana Tech was Baylor's NCAA bowl-record 777 total yards in the 2011 Alamo Bowl. ... Arkansas State suffered a significant blow on its first possession when leading rusher Michael Gordon went down with a right knee injury. Gordon ran for 836 yards in the Red Wolves' final eight games, all victories.