RUSTON, La. (AP) _ Tim Rattay completed 16 of 18 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns _ all in the second quarter _ as Louisiana Tech seized a 48-10 halftime lead Saturday night en route to a 55-17 victory over Sam Houston State.

It was Tech's first game of the season against a non-ranked Division I-A opponent and its first victory for new head coach Jack Bicknell. The Bulldogs (1-2) played host to Division I-AA Sam Houston State (0-2) after losses at top-ranked Florida State and Texas A&M in Shreveport.

Tech opened a 20-0 lead in the first quarter on 1-yard touchdown runs by fullback Corey Addision and a 39-yard interception return by Quincy Stewart before Sam Houston made it 20-7 on a 1-yard run by Adrian Thomas with 2:40 left in the opening period.

After Tech opened the second half with a 60-yard drive and a 4-yard touchdown run by Arthur Jefferson to open the second half, Rattay threw his three touchdown passes within 4:41 of the second quarter. He threw 38 yards to Sean Cangelosi, and 12 and 53 yards to Delwyn Daigre to widen Tech's lead to 48-7 with 6:09 left in the first half.

Sam Houston made it 48-10 at halftime on Daniel Chappell's 28-yard field goal with 1:33 remaining.

Each team played mostly reserves in the second half. Tech got its only touchdown when Montoya Gipson blocked and covered a punt just 1:40 seconds into the second half, while Sam Houston scored on Albert Bradley's 32-yard touchdown run midway through the third period.

Tech finished with 467 total yards, while Sam Houston compiled 332 yards. Thomas rushed for 147 yards on 32 carries and Chris Chaloupka completed 10 of 19 passes for 131 yards.

Sophomore quarterback Brian Stallworth, filling in for Rattay in the second half, had 7 completions in 10 attempts for 105 yards.