Fresno State shuts out Wyoming. Why Kalen DeBoer says he saw the sign of a great team
For the Fresno State Bulldogs, the recipe for success on Saturday at Wyoming was fairly straightforward, even if the execution is not always that simple. But matched against an opponent that doesn’t have much of a credible passing game, it was all about stopping the run on early downs, keeping the Cowboys behind the sticks and forcing them to try to do something well that they just don’t and maybe just can’t.
The Bulldogs checked off one, two and three, forcing five turnovers and yielding just 271 yards and the end result was a 17-0 victory, their first shutout on the road since 1974 and a rare second shutout in a season.
That most recent road shutout was a 41-0 win at Cal State Northridge and Fresno State, which opened with a shutout victory over UConn, has now posted two shutouts in a season for only the fifth time since 1962 when it beat UC Santa Barbara 37-0, Cal State Los Angeles 34-0 and Long Beach State 50-0. Those are four schools that only see college football on TV these days. But, coming off a loss at Hawaii in which it surrendered 17 fourth-quarter points in blowing a 14-point lead, it was more than welcome and should change the dynamic at least some in what appears to be a wide-open Mountain West Conference.
“Ecstatic,” said safety Evan Williams, who had two of the Bulldogs’ four interceptions and a team-high seven total tackles. “In one word, I mean, I’m just excited. We’ve just put in so much time into this scheme and bringing this defense together. When you see that hard work pay off, it feels great.”
It paid dividends start to finish, and propped up a struggling offense.
Wyoming rushed the football 33 times for 128 yards, 3.9 yards per play. The Cowboys gained 59 of those yards on just three plays, so on the other 30 they were limited to just 2.3 yards per play.
The Cowboys hit only 9 of 30 passes and were intercepted four times – linebacker Malachi Langley and safety L.J. Early had the other two, the second of those coming in the red zone.
Their passing efficiency rating was an ugly 43.37, with Kerman High grad Sean Chambers going 8 of 23 for 111 yards with three picks and backup Levi Williams 1 of 7 for 32 yards and one interception.
All of that quite often left the Cowboys right where Fresno State wanted them.
Fresno State defense kept Wyoming behind the sticks
Wyoming, which was leading the Mountain West in third-down conversion percentage, was 7 of 14. But the Bulldogs also had it in difficult situations all game, six of the Cowboys’ third-down misses coming when needing 11, 10, 7, 8, 17 and 10 yards to move the sticks.
They were 0 of 4 throwing the football on those plays and the Bulldogs’ Kevin Atkins and Levelle Bailey split a sack and Leonard Payne had a sack to himself on the other two plays, all part of an abysmal afternoon for Wyoming whether trying to run or throw the football.
They were left scratching their head, though Wyoming did go into the game ranked only ninth in the conference in passing offense and Chambers had struggled to make plays on third-and-long, completing only 7 of 23 passes.
“I think we need to get back to the basics,” Chambers said. “It’s kind of embarrassing getting shut out and I take that mainly on my shoulders … need to get back to the basics and start from square one.”
The Bulldogs, obviously, do not.
They have their toughest stretch of the season coming up with games against Nevada, at San Diego State and against Boise State in the next three weeks. But they also have proven capable of limiting an opponent’s strength and making teams play left-handed, as defensive coordinator William Inge is fond of saying. They did it against Wyoming, racking up 7.0 tackles for loss against an offense that was allowing just 3.8 per game, fewest in the conference and tied for 13th in the nation. They did it at UCLA, did it for much of a close loss at Oregon …
Taking away an opponent’s best weapons
“We proved that we can go in there and we can bang with anyone,” said Atkins, who was in on four tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss. “Wyoming, they’re a big power team. They try to just run it down your throat all game and if you can stop that, that’s what we really harped on. We proved that we’re strong enough to go in there and bang with anybody. We’ve had questions about our D-line. I hope those are answered today.”
That line accounted for 4.5 of the Bulldogs’ 7.0 tackles for loss, with Atkins and Payne recording 1.5 and defensive end David Perales also getting 1.5.
The turnovers – the Bulldogs’ first had come on a fumble forced by defensive end Arron Mosby and recovered by safety Elijah Gates – provided great opportunity for an offense that struggled.
Fresno State had only 259 yards of offense, and scored on drives that started at the Wyoming 41-, 6- and 27-yard lines.
It marked the first time the Bulldogs defense had forced five turnovers in a game since a 2019 victory over UNLV and the first time they had four or more interceptions in a game since they had five in a 2018 win over Idaho.
“When you are facing a disciplined football team on defense and an offense that wants to control the ball, you get what you got today,” coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Really proud of our guys, thought we beat them at their own game.
“We took care of the football and we got the turnovers. We’ve got things we can get better at, but what I am most excited about is we can find different ways to win and I think that is a sign of a great football team.”
Next for Fresno State
Saturday: 4 p.m. vs. Nevada, Bulldog Stadium
TV: FS2