Fresno State can’t run and hide with a lead as 18th-ranked Bulldogs are upset at Hawaii

Fresno State took a wrecking ball to its 4-1 start and No. 18 ranking on Saturday in a 27-24 loss at Hawaii.

It turned over the football six times, including four interceptions thrown by quarterback Jake Haener, three in the red zone. It was called for a season-high 10 penalties for 120 yards, with four of those penalties on the offensive line. It allowed Hawaii 232 rushing yards and a freshman backup quarterback to hit 4 of his final 6 passes, including two for touchdowns after stumbling around through the first three quarters.

That freshman, Brayden Schager, was 7 of 21 for 49 yards at that point.

“Not even sure where to start on this one, other than what I just told the team,” Coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Little things become big things. Field position was in their favor as the result of turnovers, penalties.

“The missed opportunities just add up, and we certainly had our chances to put them away, and we didn’t do that.”

There’s more to it, a lot more. Fresno State just wasn’t there, giving up the final 17 points of the game. But two nagging questions will follow it on a five-hour overnight flight back across the Pacific Ocean, one pertinent in the end result and the other to its long-term prospects this season.

Would it all have been different had Rainbow Warriors safety Quentin Frazier not hit Haener low and late, knocking the Bulldogs’ quarterback out for the end of a critical series in the third quarter?

And, would it all have been different if the Bulldogs had any consistency with their rushing game?

Fresno State had an 11-point lead when Haener went to the sidelines with what appeared to be a left ankle injury.

Improving run game critical for Fresno State

It was driving the football, a 20-yard completion from Haener to Keric Wheatfall taking the Bulldogs down to the Hawaii 25-yard line. But at the end of that play, Frazier dived into Haener and was penalized for roughing the passer, the third for the Rainbow Warriors in the game.

Freshman Jaylen Henderson came on, but the Bulldogs settled for a 48-yard field goal by Cesar Silva.

A touchdown there puts Fresno State up three scores going into the fourth quarter. But a field goal, and it’s still two, significantly changing the dynamic for the Rainbow Warriors (3-3, 1-1 in the MW) and their freshman quarterback, who was playing in place of an injured Chevan Cordeiro.

But, at that point, it’s still Fresno State 24-10.

The Bulldogs (4-2, 1-1) have a two-touchdown lead and take it into the fourth quarter. But Fresno State also has only an uncertain ability to shorten a game or pound out a late score by rushing the football, having produced more plays of two yards or less with its lead running back than it has of four yards or more, and having produced only 22% of its total yards against four FBS opponents on the ground.

How much does that impact play-calling, particularly late and with a lead?

Making the right decisions on run-pass options plays into it. But, DeBoer said, “There was a situation or two that certainly, in important situations, you want to do a better job running the football.”

There were three in a row in that fourth quarter.

The defense gets a stop, up 14, and gets the football back to the offense. It ran seven plays, gaining 32 yards before giving it back on an interception. In the series, two rushing plays went for minus-5 yards.

Hawaii scores, cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to 24-17.

How it all slipped away from the Bulldogs

The Bulldogs’ next series goes seven plays for 35 yards, ending with a failed 4th-and-7 from the Hawaii 40. There are three rushing plays, but two are by Haener, including a 3rd-and-6 play when he ducked under pressure attempting to pass and scrambled up the sideline for 28 yards.

Hawaii scores again, and suddenly it’s tied at 24.

There’s still 7:05 on the clock when Fresno State gets the ball back, plenty of time, and Ronnie Rivers gains 15 on first down. But on the very next play, Haener is sacked by safety Khoury Bethley and fumbles it away.

Hawaii takes the turnover, kicks a field goal, and has the lead.

Fresno State generated 505 yards of offense and 31 first downs. But it couldn’t build on a two-touchdown lead, and it couldn’t answer after its lead was cut to one touchdown or after the score was tied.

But there’s a reason only one team (Mississippi State) has thrown the ball on first down more than the Bulldogs – it’s called 2nd-and-long. They have a better chance of avoiding that with Haener, who before Saturday had hit 79.5% of his first-down passes (70 of 88), than with the run. In its first five games, Fresno State gained 293 yards on 82 first-down rushing plays, but 170 had come on just 10 plays, meaning it averaged 1.7 yards on the other 72.

There’s also a reason Rivers was targeted in the passing game nine times and caught a season-high six passes.

With Hawaii often dropping eight defenders into coverage, Haener ended up hitting 28 of 50 passes, 56%. It marked his lowest completion percentage since his Bulldogs’ debut last season, also against Hawaii, when he hit 54.8% and was intercepted three times.

The Rainbow Warriors on Saturday were credited with eight pass breakups and had four interceptions, beating a ranked opponent for the first time since 2010 when it took down No. 11 Nevada. And, with its inconsistent run game and its pass game sputtering to the finish, Fresno State couldn’t put enough plays together on a drive to answer the Rainbow Warriors closed.

Haener, who led the Bulldogs to comeback victories at No. 13 UCLA and against UNLV, in the final quarter hit only 5 of 15 passes with two interceptions, never hitting more than two throws in a row.