Fresno State beats Wyoming amid wet conditions behind stingy defense
It wasn’t pretty for most of the night — the weather or the performance that unfolded inside Valley Children’s Stadium.
But like Saturday’s rain and wet weather that kept going until the final quarter, perhaps a football victory centered around conservative play calling and stout defensive play can be appreciated for its own unique beauty.
What football coach wouldn’t take a turnover-free outing?
And that’s become Fresno State style of late since first-year coach Matt Entz switched quarterbacks three games ago: Relying on a heavy dosage of run plays, a lighter load for the quarterback and a steady diet of solid defense.
So while Fresno State’s 24-3 victory against Wyoming might’ve lacked much excitement or big plays the majority of the night or a powerful aerial attack, Entz’s team still won in a way the Bulldogs seemed comfortable with.
“That was a good win,” Entz said. “A little bit of a unique game, especially with Mother Nature trying to be involved early in the game. Probably wetter than I anticipated.
“We sputtered here and there. … But … stacking a couple of first downs, punting, backing up our opponent, that’s good football. We’re playing that patient game and making people have to beat us in all three phases.”
The Bulldogs tied their season-high by running the ball 47 times for the second straight game, this time producing 216 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
It’s a similar formula that helped Fresno State win its previous outing, a 30-7 victory at Boise State.
The Bulldogs defense against Wyoming, meanwhile, surrendered just 184 total yards and a mere nine first downs. Wyoming’s passing game completed just 8 of 28 attempts for 77 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.
The only points that the Cowboys scored was on a 41-yard field goal in the first quarter.
Fresno State quarterback Carson Conklin, who’s taken over as the starter for E.J. Warner, completed just 12 of 27 passes for 95 yards and one touchdown. But he did not have any turnovers and took just one sack.
The Bulldogs (7-3, 4-2) moved to 2-1 with Conklin as their starter and back in the hunt for a spot in the Mountain West championship game with tiebreaker advantages over Boise State (6-4, 4-2) and Hawaii (7-3, 4-2).
New Mexico (7-3, 4-2) and UNLV (8-2, 4-2) also are in the running with San Diego State (8-2, 5-1) currently the leader in the Mountain West standings.
Fresno State cornerback Al’zillion snagged his third interception of the season after picking off a Kaden Anderson pass in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter.
Al’zillion’s interception was immediately followed on the next play by a Johnathan Arceneaux 58-yard touchdown run that extended Fresno State’s lead to 17-3.
Linebacker Tytus Khajavi, a redshirt freshman from Clovis West High, finished with a team-high six tackles and also made one sack. Julius Gandy also had a sack for the Bulldogs.
Bulldogs running back Rayshon Luke ended with 16 carries for a team-best 92 yards.
This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 11:47 PM.