Trailing 27-17 and making Utah State quarterback Diondre Borel look like the 1994 version of Steve Young, Fresno State sauntered into the locker room for a nice, easygoing halftime chat.
Yeah, right.
What the Bulldogs got were well-deserved tongue lashings from coach Pat Hill and defensive coordinator Randy Stewart, setting the tone for a second-half comeback that resulted in a 31-27 victory Saturday at Bulldog Stadium.
"We got called out like we've never been called out before," Fresno State strong free Lorne Bell said. "Coach Stew? I'd never seen him like that. But he was just being honest."
Oh, was he honest.
Fresno State's Logan Harrell traps Diondre Borel, Utah State's slippery quarterback, for a loss in the second half. A poor first-half showing by the Bulldogs' defense made their coaches howl at halftime. The oratory apparently worked.
Stewart could've told the Bulldogs that Utah State had 363 yards of total offense in the first half. He could've told them the Aggies were 8 of 10 on third-down conversions. He could've reminded them that Utah State scored on five of six possessions.
(The sixth was a missed field goal.) Or, Stewart could've called out the entire defense using words that can't be printed in a family newspaper. Like he evidently did.
"We needed to match that passion and intensity," Bell said. "He was just so passionate. We had to step it up."
Joked former linebacker Jamal Jones, who now serves as Fresno State's life coach and spiritual adviser: "You either left that locker room highly motivated or extremely discouraged."
Judging by what took place in the second half, you know which route the Bulldogs took. Utah State went scoreless while being held to 140 total yards and converting 3 of 9 first downs.
In other words, a complete turnaround.
While Fresno State made subtle changes to its scheme, playing more man-to-man and bringing the secondary closer to the line of scrimmage, the biggest change came between the ears.
"It wasn't anything we needed to change," linebacker Kyle Knox said. "We just needed to play hard. We came out in the second half and picked up the beat."
Borel, with his quick feet, shifty hips and accurate arm, was the main reason the Bulldogs were so out of sync defensively. The junior quarterback finished with 240 passing yards (on 20 of 31 attempts) while rushing for 105.
Time and time again, the Bulldogs pressured Borel, only to watch the 6-foot, 187-pounder squirm out of harm's way. Especially during the final 5 minutes, 2 seconds of the second quarter when the Aggies scored 17 straight points thanks to two Fresno State turnovers.
"He's so slippery," Hill said of Borel. "He wouldn't get wet moving around in a shower."
The Bulldogs set a different tone in the third quarter when they held Utah State to one first down on each of its first two third-quarter drives. That let Fresno State trim the deficit to 27-24 on Lonyae Miller's 2-yard touchdown run.
After Ryan Mathews' 10-yard touchdown run put Fresno State ahead with 4:53 to go, the Bulldogs forced a quick three-and-out. On first down, Ben Jacobs tackled receiver Xavier Bowman for no gain. On third-and-10, Desia Dunn brought down receiver Eric Moats after 5 yards, forcing the Aggies' fifth punt of the half.
"[Fresno State] did a nice job of coming back and putting us in a position where we were unable to score," Utah State coach Gary Andersen said. "Their guys just made more plays in the second half than ours did."
All it took was a little encouragement.
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Fresno State vs. Utah State
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