Bulldogs bowl eligible after 38-7 blowout at New Mexico, and get another bonus
Fresno State is making it look easy.
First, 21-3 at Nevada. Then, 27-3 against Wyoming. And Saturday, a 38-7 blowout of New Mexico that made the Bulldogs bowl-eligible for a second year in a row.
Two plays stand out at New Mexico, one on offense and one on defense, and both illustrate the edge the Bulldogs are taking into these Mountain West Conference games.
Just seconds after the Lobos had scored the first touchdown against the Bulldogs in nine quarters, Fresno State struck back with Marcus McMaryion hitting a wide-open KeeSean Johnson with a 34-yard touchdown pass. The Bulldogs senior wideout got that way with a double move, out and up against man coverage, slicing it up just like he did last year, just like Josh Harper did in 2014, just like Davante Adams did in 2012 and ‘13.
“They play a lot of man defense,” Johnson said. “When it’s one-on-one, I feel like Marcus can just have trust in me going out there and making a play.”
Before that, safety Mike Bell intercepted New Mexico quarterback Sheriron Jones, a former teammate in high school, reading the play as easily as Green Eggs and Ham; knowing it probably as well as the Lobos after breaking it down through film study. Lined up on the right hash, Bell followed Jones across the field as he rolled to his right and made a beeline to the ball, cutting in front of Elijah Lilly, the intended receiver.
“We’ve been dialed in on that formation all week and once it played out I saw where he was trying to go with the ball and I just tried to make a play on it,” said Bell, who now has a pick in three games in a row; the Bulldogs, five in a row.
Coach Jeff Tedford was a tad more effusive.
“He made a great play on that,” he said. “That comes from preparation during the week and knowing what routes they’re going to run. I thought he read that really, really well and then drove on it well. Our defensive coaches are doing a nice job of putting those guys in position and coaching them up through the week on what to expect.”
Tedford was less effusive when asked about the offense. Some dropped passes, a false start, an illegal snap, an illegal formation were all of concern.
But how about the run game that has been a concern?
“I think it was solid,” Tedford said. “It’s a tough group to run against with all of the movement they have and the things that they do.
“I thought it was consistent, didn’t have many negative plays. We stayed on schedule, which is our goal, to stay in third-and-manageable.”
The Bulldogs allowed only 3.0 tackles for loss and converted 9 of 16 third down plays.
That’s a bonus – in the past two games at Nevada and against Wyoming and really for much of the season the Bulldogs have had difficulty with the run game. It had become a question, if not a concern.
The numbers against the Lobos weren’t great – Fresno State rushed for 153 yards on 44 plays, just 3.5 yards per. But inside those numbers they ran the football well at times, particularly on first down, allowing the offense to stay on schedule.
In the first three quarters, the Bulldogs rushed the ball 18 times on first down for 84 yards including eight runs of 5 or more yards topped by a 16-yard touchdown run in the first quarter by Ronnie Rivers, the first of his two touchdown runs and three scores in the game.
The Bulldogs’ first-down runs in the previous two games:
| Opponent | Plays | Yards | YPP |
| Nevada | 12 | 18 | 1.5 |
| Wyoming | 17 | 30 | 1.8 |
Improvement in that phase could play big as the Bulldogs get toward the back half of their Mountain West schedule, which includes games against Boise State and San Diego State.
To win those games, they might need to control the football on the ground or run some four-minute offense at the end of a half of the game.
They threw in some runs out of a Wildcat formation, blocked well up front. And, they did that against the Lobos, who had allowed an average of 92.5 rushing yards over their past four games.
The Bulldogs were in a third-and-4 or less nine times.
“The bottom line is that we win and we were efficient running the football,” Tedford said. “I thought Kalen DeBoer, our offensive coordinator, mixed it up really well and guys up front blocked well.
“You’re going to have some that are good and some that, you know, they’re hard-earned yards in there. I thought our offensive line did a nice job being physical.”
By the numbers
10 – Tackles for Jeff Allison, the third game in a row he has had 10 or more tackles. Allison had a career-high 17 at Nevada and 13 against Wyoming. He has now led the Bulldogs in tackles in 14 of his 21 starts.
125 – Penalty yards against New Mexico; eight of the Bulldogs’ nine penalties were big ones. There were three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, two personal fouls, two offensive pass interference calls and one pass interference penalty. The ninth was a false start.
4.5 – Yards per play by the Lobos. The Bulldogs have allowed just one of seven opponents to average 5.0 yards or better per play – Toledo, and 176 of its 375 yards came in the fourth quarter after many of the Bulldogs starters had come out of the game.
2 – Rushing touchdowns by Ronnie Rivers, giving the Bulldogs 18 this season. Fresno State is in the bottom half of the Mountain West in rushing, but it also is third in rushing touchdowns, four behind conference leader Utah State.
29 – First downs for Fresno State, a season-high and the most for the Bulldogs in a game since they had 29 in a 42-14 victory at Hawaii in 2015.
174.5 – Average receiving yards for Fresno State (and fellow Palo Alto High graduates) wideouts KeeSean Johnson and Davante Adams in four games against the Lobos. That’s 698 yards and nine touchdowns. The Lobos might want to start recruiting there.
37:42 – Time of possession for the Bulldogs, who ran 74 plays to the Lobos’ 65. Fresno State controlled the ball for more than 10 minutes in the first and third quarters.
21 – Seconds it took Fresno State to answer the Lobos’ lone touchdown. The Bulldogs went 75 yards in three plays, aided by 30 yards in penalties, a personal foul and then an unsportsmanlike conduct on cornerback De’John Rogers.
78 – Point differential in favor of Fresno State in the third quarter, after the offensive and defense staffs have been able to make halftime adjustments. The Bulldogs have scored 92 points and allowed only 14. It is their highest-scoring quarter and also the quarter they have allowed the fewest points.
Next up: Hawaii
Saturday: Hawaii (6-3, 3-1 Mountain West) at Fresno State (6-1, 3-0), 7:30 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium, ESPN Networks
Of note: It’s Homecoming
Fresno State 38, New Mexico 7
Fresno State | 10 | 14 | 14 | 0 | — | 38 |
New Mexico | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 |
First Quarter
FRE—FG Fuller 30, 2:48
FRE—Rivers 16 run (Fuller kick), :18
Second Quarter
FRE—Rivers 1 run (Fuller kick), 3:29
NM—Lilly 16 pass from S.Jones (Shelley kick), :57
FRE—K.Johnson 34 pass from McMaryion (Fuller kick), :36
Third Quarter
FRE—K.Johnson 15 pass from McMaryion (Fuller kick), 8:32
FRE—Rivers 23 pass from McMaryion (Fuller kick), 3:58
A—16,708.
| | FRE | NM |
First downs | 29 | 18 |
Rushes-yards | 44-153 | 33-148 |
Passing | 280 | 132 |
Comp-Att-Int | 20-30-0 | 15-32-1 |
Return Yards | 28 | 28 |
Punts-Avg. | 4-42.5 | 8-41.12 |
Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 1-0 |
Penalties-Yards | 6-35 | 8-110 |
Time of Possession | 37:42 | 22:18 |
RUSHING—Fresno St., Rivers 11-48, Mims 11-41, Hokit 12-35, O’Neal 4-13, McMaryion 4-12, Grim 1-4, (Team) 1-0. New Mexico, Owens 19-83, S.Jones 10-42, Davis 2-20, E.Harris 1-2, Shuler 1-1.
PASSING—Fresno St., McMaryion 20-30-0-280. New Mexico, S.Jones 15-32-1-132.
RECEIVING—Fresno St., K.Johnson 8-149, Rivers 4-69, Ja.Rice 3-22, Jordan 2-26, Hokit 2-9, C.Coleman 1-5. New Mexico, Reed 3-28, Hart-Johnson 3-25, Umeh 2-44, E.Harris 2-15, Griffin 2-(minus 1), Lilly 1-14, M.Williams 1-7, Dickey 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—Fresno St., Fuller 42.
This story was originally published October 21, 2018 at 8:14 AM.