Fresno State’s DeBoer wins first game as head coach as Rivers, Haener, defense shines
FINAL: FRESNO STATE 38, COLORADO STATE 10
Fresno State coach Kalen DeBoer won his first game at the helm of the Bulldogs’ program, and Ronnie Rivers, Jake Haener and a suddenly revitalized defense made it look very, very easy.
The Bulldogs ripped Colorado State 38-17 on Thursday at Bulldog Stadium with Rivers scoring three times, Haener passing for 311 yards and three touchdowns and the defense keeping the Rams off the scoreboard on eight consecutive drives from the second to the fourth quarter.
Colorado State scored on its last possession, the game out of reach with 41 seconds to go.
But just five days after a rough season-opening loss to Hawaii in which it allowed 323 rushing yards and 552 total yards, the Bulldogs’ defense crushed the Colorado State run game.
The Rams’ lead running back, Marcus McElroy Jr., was held to 35 yards on 12 plays. Quarterback Todd Centeio had some big runs and 56 rushing yards in the first quarter, but was limited to 33 the rest of the way and was replaced in the fourth quarter by Patrick O’Brien.
The Rams had to punt the ball away on four consecutive possessions, something the Bulldogs’ defense hadn’t pulled off since a victory over San Jose State in 2018. Colorado State also lost possession on downs three times and once a fumble.
Rivers, meanwhile, got the Bulldogs off to a 7-0 lead, catching a 13-yard touchdown pass from Haener, and just kept going. It was the 10th game in a row he has scored at least one touchdown, either rushing or receiving.
The senior added touchdown runs of 32 yards and 1 yard, moving into fourth place on the Bulldogs’ all-time rushing touchdowns list with 31 and fourth place on the Bulldogs’ all-time touchdowns list with 39.
It is the third time Rivers has scored three touchdowns in a game, the first against New Mexico in 2018 and the second against Utah State last season.
CROPPER TD MAKES IT 38-10
Quarterback Jake Haener hit Jalen Cropper with a 6-yard touchdown pass with with 7:58 to play the Bulldogs now lead 38-10.
It is the third touchdown pass for Haener, who also has hit running backs Ronnie Rivers and Jordan Mims for scores.
Haener is 22 of 32 for 311 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, and Fresno State has rolled up 426 yards of offense.
RIVERS’ THIRD TD HAS ‘DOGS UP 31-10
Ronnie Rivers has his third touchdown of the game and 39th of his career, moving into fourth place on the Bulldogs’ all-time touchdown list.
Anthony Daigle, who scored 44 touchdowns, is at the top of that list.
Rivers scored on a 1-yard run from a Wildcat formation, taking the snap and patiently waiting for a hole to open up in front of him.
The Bulldogs’ drive was 67 yards in 12 plays.
THE STREAK IS OVER
Colorado State ended up punting on four consecutive series, but made it just a little too far before the Bulldogs put down their latest drive on downs.
The Rams were at the Fresno State 33-yard line, 4th-and-7. Too far for a field goal attempt, too close to punt, so they had quarterback Todd Centeio attempt a pass and under pressure from linebacker Levelle Bailey it fell incomplete.
Fresno State takes over at the 33, 7:39 to go in the third quarter.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING?
Colorado State ended the first half having to punt on three consecutive drives, gaining a total of 21 yards on its last three series.
Fresno State has not forced an opponent to punt on four consecutive series since 2018 when it won the Mountain West Conference championship. In a 31-13 victory over San Jose State, the Bulldogs’ defense forced the Spartans to punt on their first five series of the game.
HALFTIME: BULLDOGS 24-10
Fresno State has a 24-10 lead at halftime and has rolled up 307 yards of offense, with 247 of it coming through the air from Jake Haener and Ben Wooldridge.
The Bulldogs’ quarterbacks are a combined 17 of 21 for 247 yards with two touchdowns.
BULLDOGS EXTEND LEAD
Fresno State is up 24-10 after a 15-yard touchdown pass from Jake Haener to running back Jordan Mims, who was wide open circling out of the backfield.
Haener is now 14 of 17 for 210 yards and two touchdowns with 1:03 to go before the half, and the Rams appear lost on almost every snap of the football.
His passing efficiency rating is 224.9.
BTW, ON RIVERS TD RUN …
Before the 32-yard touchdown run by Ronnie Rivers, Fresno State running backs had combined for 19 rushing yards on 11 plays.
BACK-TO-BACK
Fresno State has forced the Rams to punt for a second consecutive drive, the first time it has done that this season.
Colorado State actually had to punt twice on that series – it got a first down after the Bulldogs were penalized for roughing the punter.
RIVERS 30TH TD HAS ‘DOGS IN LEAD
Ronnie Rivers scored on a 32-yard run, the 30th rushing touchdown of his career, to give the Bulldogs a 17-10 lead with 6:32 remaining before
The senior running back is now fourth on the Bulldogs’ all-time rushing TDs list …
TOP 5 BULLDOGS, RUSHING TDs
- 39 Ryan Mathews (2007’09)
- 37 Robbie Rouse (2009-’12)
- 35 Anthony Daigle (1991-’93)
- 30 Ronnie Rivers (2017-present)
- 29 Bryson Sumlin (2002-’05)
- 29 Michael Pittman (1993-’97)
- 29 Dean Philpott (1954-’57)
HAENER BACK
The Bulldogs’ defense forced a three-and-out and Jake Haener is back in the game, following a minor injury.
BULLDOGS TIE IT AT 10
Cesar Silva hit a 34-yard field goal with 11:00 remaining in the second quarter to tie the score at 10.
The Bulldogs had a touchdown pass from Ben Wooldridge to Keric Wheatfall erased on replay. Wheatfall was left in man coverage with Colorado State corner Rashad Ajayi on a third-down play and pulled down the pass tumbling into the end zone, but had stepped out of bounds and did not reestablish himself inbounds before making the catch.
The Bulldogs’ drive was 60 yards in 8 plays, and Wooldridge was 3 of 4 for 47 yards on the drive.
WOOLDRIDGE IN FOR HAENER
Fresno State has made a change at quarterback with Ben Wooldridge in for Jake Haener.
Haener is 4 of 5 for 59 yards with one TD.
RAMS GO AHEAD, 10-7
Colorado State has put together another long scoring drive, going 81 yards in 10 plays with Marcus McElroy Jr. scoring on a 15-yard run with 13:57 to go before halftime.
The Rams have 167 yards of offense and are averaging 7.3 yards per play.
DOGS LEAD 7-3, AFTER 1
Fresno State has a 7-3 lead after the first quarter, but the Rams have the ball and are driving and it’s clear a dual-threat quarterback is causing problems for a second game in a row.
Todd Centeio has hit 5 of 8 passes for 65 yards and run it five times for 56 yards. Colorado State has 141 yards of offense, on pace for 564.
Fresno State allowed 500 yards or more just three times last season, going 4-8.
NO RUN
Fresno State running backs have gained 13 yards on their first seven plays, with five going for two yards or less.
It has gone like this – Rivers no gain, Rivers +3, Rivers no gain, Rivers +2, Mims +4, Mims +2, Rivers +2.
Colorado State starts a graduate student, a fifth-year senior, a senior and a fourth-year junior across its defensive front four.
RAMS ANSWER WITH FG
Colorado State has answered the Bulldogs score with a 24-yard field goal by Robert Liss with 4:07 to go in the first quarter. The Rams’ drive was 72 yards in 9 plays. They made it to the Bulldogs’ 13 on a 35-yard run by quarterback Todd Centeio, but the drive stalled.
Fresno State stopped a 3rd-and-3, Centeio misfiring on a red zone pass.
The Rams are 1 of 3 on third downs.
BULLDOGS LEAD 7-0
Fresno State went right down the field with ease, converting twice on third downs, and has a 7-0 lead on a 13-yard pass from Jake Haener to Ronnie Rivers.
It is the 10th game in a row Rivers has scored a touchdown, either rushing or receiving.
The Bulldogs drive was 86 yards in 12 plays, taking 6:26.
Haener was 4 of 4 on the drive for 59 yards.
Here’s Rivers’ run of TDs …
2019
at Air Force – 1 rush
UNLV – 2 rush
at San Jose State – 2 rush
at Hawaii – 2 rush
Utah State – 3 rush
at San Diego State – 1 rush
Nevada – 1 receiving
at San Jose State – 1 rush
2020
Hawaii – 1 rush
Colorado State – 1 rush
‘DOGS START WITH STOP
Fresno State, which allowed Hawaii to convert 11 of 16 third-down plays last week, stopped Colorado State on a 3rd-and-10 on its first series.
The Rams were forced to punt – Bulldogs’ ball, 1st-and-10 at their 14-yard line.
WARDROBE CHANGE
Fresno State was set to break out its white helmets on Thursday with new blue adidas jerseys and white pants. It changed, after learning Colorado State would be wearing its white helmets, according to an athletics department spokesman.
The Bulldogs are going with red helmets and blue jerseys and pants.
THE FINISH, STILL A QUESTION
The Bulldogs’ ability to finish a game was an issue before it played Hawaii and, once again, they went into the final quarter in a one-score game (it was 24-16) and they were outscored 10-3 in the final quarter, extending a disturbing trend.
In with a chance, they faltered in the fourth quarter in 2019 …
- Minnesota up 21-14, lost 38-35 OT
- Air Force down 29-24, lost 43-24
- Colorado State up 28-24, lost 41-31
- Hawaii up 31-24, won 41-38
- Utah State down 31-28, lost 37-35
- San Diego State down 10-7, lost 17-7
- Nevada tie 28-28, lost 35-28
- San Jose State up 16-10, lost 17-16
And, now again in 2020 …
- Hawaii down 24-16, lost 34-19
Fresno State last season scored only 58 fourth-quarter points in 11 games against FBS competition; their average of 5.3 points left them 11th in the MW and 101st in the FBS.
The Bulldogs’ defense allowed 100 points and with an average of 9.1 points allowed they were ranked ninth and 114th.
MORE MOSBY?
Fresno State linebacker Arron Mosby, the senior from Sanger, played only a few snaps in the loss to Hawaii, but could be more involved against the Rams.
“It was a timing thing,” coach Kalen DeBoer said. “He was going to play through a situation health-wise in the fall and when the season got pushed to the spring we decided to address that and all of a sudden, within a couple of days, the season got pushed back up to October.
“He really started practicing just last week and has come along. He took a few snaps, as you saw, but there was nothing else besides that. He’s a team leader for us. He’s a guy we need on the football field.”
QUARTERBACK QUESTIONS
The Colorado State depth chart listed three quarterbacks separated by an “or,” leaving some doubt who will take the first snaps or even play.
It’s Patrick O’Brien, or Todd Centeio, or Justice McCoy.
O’Brien took over as the Rams’ starter in the fourth game of the 2019 season and ended up passing for 2,803 yards and 13 touchdowns. He hit 61.8% of his throws and had an efficiency rating of 140.04, third-best in the Mountain West behind Cole McDonald (Hawaii) and Josh Love (San Jose State).
In a 41-31 victory at Fresno State, O’Brien hit only 23 of 42 passes, but threw for 322 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
Centeio, a transfer from Temple, is an intriguing dual-threat considering the difficulty the Bulldogs’ defense had last week against Hawaii quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, and indications are the Rams will go in that direction.
Cordeiro hit 20 of 30 passes for 229 yards and rushed the football 13 times for 116 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s 34-19 victory.
Centeio played in 10 games last season at Temple, completing 66.7% of his passes (34 for 51) for 444 yards with five touchdowns and one interception and ran the ball 47 times for 155 yards.
McCoy is the least experienced of the three quarterbacks, playing in three games last season for the Rams.
MOUNTAIN WEST THIS WEEK
Friday
Hawaii at Wyoming, 6:45 p.m., Fox Sports 1
Saturday
No. 25 Boise State at Air Force, 3 p.m., CBS Sports Network
New Mexico at San Jose State, 4 p.m., Fox Sports 1
San Diego State at Utah State, 6:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network
Nevada at UNLV, 7:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1
Entering the game
The Fresno State Bulldogs are 0-1, on a short week and looking to rebound on Thursday night in a Mountain West Conference football game against Colorado State.
The Rams will be playing for the first time this season. Their game against New Mexico last week was canceled and ruled a no contest due to a surge in coronavirus cases in Bernalillo County left the Lobos unable to practice as a team and play in the game.
The game will be televised by CBS Sports Network and broadcast on radio by ESPN 940AM. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. No fans are allowed to attend due to state coronavirus guidelines.
The Fresno State Bulldogs are 0-1, on a short week and looking to rebound on Thursday night in a Mountain West Conference football game against Colorado State.
The Rams will be playing for the first time this season. Their game against New Mexico last week was canceled and ruled a no contest due to a surge in coronavirus cases in Bernalillo County left the Lobos unable to practice as a team and play in the game.
The game will be televised by CBS Sports Network and broadcast on radio by ESPN 940AM. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. No fans are allowed to attend due to state coronavirus guidelines.
Fresno State dropped its opener to Hawaii 34-19.
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 5:54 PM.