Fresno State takes extreme risk with its defense, reaps reward in victory over Nevada

The Fresno State Bulldogs were well aware that Nevada quarterback Carson Strong could throw some darts, fit footballs into very tight windows, and with time he could find a Romeo Doubs or a Cole Turner or another wideout working into open space and dissect a secondary.

The Bulldogs still rushed just three for much of the game, which required faith in those three pass-rushers and a big and risky trade-off on the backend. But it all paid off in a 34-32 victory on Saturday that kept Fresno State alive in the West Division of the Mountain West Conference and bowl eligible for the first time since 2018.

“We knew, and we told them all week, that we were going to have to rely on our defensive line to get (Strong) off his spot and make him uncomfortable,” defensive coordinator William Inge said. “They fought and fought and made just enough plays to win the football game.”

Strong threw the football a career-high 61 times and still hit a sizzling 80.3% for 476 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. But the Bulldogs did win on enough plays, including on the final pass in the game, a 2-point conversion attempt to tie after Nevada had scored with just two seconds to go.

The Bulldogs brought four on that play, and Doubs, the middle of three wideouts to the right, went straight upfield. Strong had to get the ball over the outstretched arm of linebacker Levelle Bailey, and Doubs made the catch while in the air, only to be driven out of the back of the end zone and out of bounds by Husky Justin Houston.

The attempt was kaput, setting off a celebration on the Bulldogs’ sideline.

Fresno State (6-2, 3-1 in the Mountain West) hadn’t dropped eight into coverage much in its first seven games. But against Strong and a Nevada passing game that was ranked at the top of the conference, it wanted to mix things up, present some different looks and pressure from different angles.

How and why Bulldogs switched up their defense

“We knew we had to have some of that,” Coach Kalen DeBoer said. “There are too many one-on-one matchups if we just play normal base defense. We had to find ways to mix things up, and we felt good about our guys upfront in their one-on-one pass rushes, causing havoc in their backfield, and we still got that done with three guys a lot.

“Now, when they didn’t, or we got double-teamed when we brought three, and they have five, there were some seams that opened up, and it’s hard to defend it, but you have to mix it up. You can’t just let them get in a groove, and I thought we did a pretty good job with that.”

The Bulldogs had five sacks in the game, all by defensive linemen. David Perales had 2.0 sacks, end Arron Mosby and tackle Kevin Atkins had 1.0, and end Devo Bridges and tackle Leonard Payne had 0.5.

“When the goons go hunt, they go hunt,” Inge said. “We said we’re going to lock the gate, and let’s go eat.”

Perales also made a play that helped slow a Wolf Pack drive in a second half in which there were a combined 42 points scored. Up by 11 points with 5:42 to go, Nevada started a drive and, on an incomplete pass on the first play, picked up a free 15 yards when the Bulldogs were penalized for roughing the passer.

But on the very next play, Perales appeared to be taken down rushing Strong. He didn’t get a holding call, but the Bulldogs got those yards back on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when Perales went tumbling over backward due to apparent but no real contact by tackle Aaron Frost that left the Wolf Pack in a 1st-and-25.

What happened? Perales just smiled at the question. “I had to get my 15 back,” he said. “My boy got a roughing the passer call, so I had to get those 15 back somehow.”

Fresno State defensive line racks up 5.0 sacks

The Bulldogs still had the 33,012 at Bulldog Stadium on the edge of their seats the rest of the way. Nevada (5-2, 2-1) cut that 11-point deficit down to eight and, after a Fresno State punt, went 90 yards in just eight plays and 51 seconds to close to within 34-32 with two seconds to go.

The Wolf Pack made play after play, converting on a 3rd-and-13 and a 3rd-and-11 on one second-half drive, then a 3rd-and-20 with a pass interference penalty on the Bulldogs on another series.

Fresno State rushed just three on those plays but had just enough on its end when it most needed them.

Perales had a sack and a strip, the fumble recovered by safety Evan Williams in the fourth quarter. Mosby had his sack on a 3rd-and-9 in the fourth quarter. They also ran several players through the rotation up front and in the secondary when dropping eight into coverage who don’t see a lot of snaps in most games.

There was a risk, but in the end, a reward. Fresno State is in second place and next week plays at San Diego State, the only remaining undefeated team in conference play.

“There was a lot of pressure mixed in there even out of those looks where we were bringing some blitzes, so it wasn’t like we were sitting there with a three-man rush the whole game,” DeBoer said.

“We had to keep them off balance, and I think we had some good packages where we disguised some blitzes out of that look, where it could come from different spots, so they’re not sure what they’re going to see.”

This story was originally published October 24, 2021 at 9:00 AM.