Casey Pachall threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Skye Dawson with 4:26 remaining to break a tie and No. 15 Texas Christian scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to defeat Louisiana Tech 31-24 in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego on Wednesday.

On third-and-6, Pachall rolled to his left and lobbed a pass deep toward Dawson, who had beaten the coverage to escape for the decisive score.

Ed Wesley, Matthew Tucker and Luke Shivers all had rushing touchdowns for the Horned Frogs (11-2), who reached the 11-win mark for the sixth time in the last seven seasons and ended 2011 on an eight-game winning streak.

Louisiana Tech (8-5) had one final chance to tie the game but went three-and-out, and the Horned Frogs got enough first downs to run out the clock.

Colby Cameron threw two touchdowns for the Bulldogs, who were the surprise champions of the WAC but had their seven-game winning streak snapped.

Louisiana Tech dominated most of the first half until TCU cornerback Greg McCoy stepped in front of a quick slant for an interception and returned it 25 yards, setting up the Horned Frogs inside the 30-yard line. Four plays later, Wesley rumbled in from the 7 to tie the game 10-10 heading into halftime.

The game was tied four times, including 24-24 early in the fourth quarter after Shivers capped an 18-play, 72-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge.

TCU was playing without senior wide receiver Antoine Hicks, who was suspended for the game after violating an undisclosed school policy.

Lennon Creer, Louisiana Tech’s leading rusher, missed his third straight game to end his career. The senior was ruled academically ineligible, finishing with more than 2,000 career rushing yards.

Earlier Wednesday, the Bulldogs extended WAC Coach of the Year Sonny Dykes through the 2017 season.