Bulldogs give Red Wave another one to remember, beating No. 13 UCLA in final minute

There was one fan who probably won’t look back too fondly on the Fresno State Bulldogs’ 40-37 victory over the No. 13 UCLA Bruins on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

The game over, the victory finally secured, he jumped out of the stands in the south end zone, where for close to four hours the Red Wave made their presence known, and, instead of celebrating on the field, ended up pinned to the turf by three security guards.

Then, again, he might not care at all.

It was that kind of a night and that kind of a victory. The 3-1 Bulldogs have now beaten UCLA in their past four matchups and beat a ranked opponent from a Power 5 conference for the first time since taking down No. 13 Kansas State back in 2004.

From kickoff to late-game heroics from Jake Haener and Jalen Cropper with just seconds on the clock, the Red Wave soaked it all up. The noise, the cheering, it didn’t go unnoticed, the players running to the fans in that south end zone at the end of the game, screaming, sharing the moment.

“Man, it feels amazing,” Cropper said. “Just seeing the Red Wave come out here and support us, it just feels amazing.

“Having that last drive, we practice that every day. We communicate. Whatever we do, it’s all on the coaches. (Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb) puts everyone in the right places and, you know, we just came out with the ‘W’ and that’s what we came in here wanting to achieve this week.”

Defensive end Arron Mosby was a trigger for a lot of that volume, in on six tackles including two big tackles for loss.

“Growing up as a kid you see games like Auburn and like Alabama, the crowd, so running over there and being in the crowd with the fans was like a real humbling moment, a great experience, really,” he said.

“The Red Wave, when we were up, you could hear them. That’s a great feeling. We felt like we were at home, in Fresno. They traveled to Oregon, we heard them when we had big stops. Having that care to keep traveling, hopefully, they can travel to Boise, Wyoming, wherever we go and just keep having that swagger that they bring to our defense and our offense. They play a huge part for our team and we love it.”

The last time the Bulldogs beat UCLA, a 38-14 rout in their 2018 Mountain West Conference championship season, coach Kalen DeBoer was the offensive coordinator. He was up in the press box during the game calling plays, and in a scramble to get down to the field afterward to celebrate, as offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was on Saturday.

But, as DeBoer had three seasons back, Grubb made it after the Bulldogs rolled up 569 yards and scored 30 or more points for the 14th time in his 22 games as offensive coordinator.

“It’s a lot more fun being on the field,” DeBoer said. “I finally saw Coach Grubb do exactly what I did when he finally got on the field there at the very end. It’s really cool seeing the guys and seeing the support from our fans and being here and they were certainly loud, as the guys have said.

“It’s a great feeling, because we know how tight knit we are as a Valley, as a community, and the support for the ‘Dogs has been there for decades. The passion truly is felt and seen by our guys, from the fans. We have to enjoy those moments and celebrate them because life comes and goes, right, things happen.

“This is a moment we’re all going to remember for a long, long time, and talk about for a long, long time. These are the classics, right? These are the great ones.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2021 at 7:49 AM.