Fresno State’s late TD strikes not enough to upset Utah

Former Fresno State signee Devontae Booker ran for 156 yards and two touchdowns, and No. 21 Utah had two scores on special teams and one on defense in a 45-24 victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday night.

Backup quarterback Kendal Thompson, making his first start of the season for the Utes as Travis Wilson sat out with an injured left shoulder, completed 19 of 25 passes for 159 yards and one touchdown.

“Utah is very well-deserving of their ranking,” Bulldogs coach Tim DeRuyter said. “Our team is not feeling great. We feel like we had an opportunity to win tonight.”

Booker set the tone early against Fresno State, which initially recruited him out of high school but later pulled its scholarship offer.

The senior running back ran 10 times on Utah’s opening drive, which was capped by Andy Phillips’ 33-yard field goal that tied it 3-3 with 4:14 left in the first quarter.

Booker admitted he had extra motivation.

“I wanted it a lot,” the Sacramento native said. “Last year I didn’t get many carries (against Fresno State). But it is what it is. This year, I knew I was going to get the carries I needed. I knew I was going to get a lot of touches in this game.”

Utah defensive tackle Stevie Tu’ikolovatu recovered a fumble by Fresno State quarterback Chason Virgil on a sack and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown to put the Utes (3-0) up 10-3 less than 2 minutes after the tying field goal.

Booker’s 30-yard touchdown run made it 17-3 late in the second quarter and he added a 7-yard scoring run for a 21-point lead midway through the third.

“They’re an excellent defensive team,” DeRuyter said, “they’re very physical up front. They did a nice job disguising some coverage and playing man very physically.”

After Fresno State (1-2) pulled to 24-10 on Zack Greenlee’s 5-yard pass to Josiah Blandin early in the fourth, Cory Butler-Bird returned the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.

“When I got my opportunity, I was just doing my job and trying to help the team win,” said Greenlee, a redshirt sophomore who yielded the starting job he held for the first two games but was called on late when Virgil was hurt.

Following the Bulldogs’ next possession, Utah’s Britain Covey scored on a 77-yard punt return to make it 38-10 with about 9 minutes remaining.

The Bulldogs lost their 21st straight against ranked opponents.

Utah outgained Fresno State just 380 total yards to 365. But the time of possession was heavily in the Utes’ favor – 37:22 to 22:38.

“It is football,” senior linebacker Kyrie Wilson said. “We just have to keep playing and battle. You have to be ready to take on long drives.”

Fresno State got off to a good start, as Da’Mari Scott knocked the ball loose from Utes returner Tyson Cisrow on the opening kickoff and Bulldogs teammate George Helmuth recovered at the Utah 17.

With Virgil, a true freshman, making his first college start, the Bulldogs went three-and-out and settled for Kody Kroening’s 35-yard field goal. It was Fresno State’s first lead against a Power Five conference team since the 2013 season opener.

“We started off with great momentum,” DeRuyter said. “There was great energy from the crowd.

“I thought we went toe to toe with them in the first half. When you start the (second) half with a fumble on a kickoff return, it could have been a crushing blow, but I thought our defense really rose to the occasion and got the ball back.”

Virgil completed 11 of 25 passes for 97 yards and no turnovers before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter with what was later said to be an apparently minor injury to his throwing shoulder. Greenlee came in and finished the series with the touchdown pass to Blandin.

Greenlee added scoring passes of 82 and 32 yards about a minute apart midway through the fourth quarter to pull the Bulldogs to within 38-24. However, that was as close as they got. Thompson’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Handley with 14 seconds left closed the scoring.

“It started to get away from us a little bit,” DeRuyter said, “but our guys clawed, scratched, and fought their way back into a two-score game.”

Fresno State opens Mountain West Conference play next Saturday at San Jose State.

“We’re excited to start league next week,” DeRuyter said. “It would have been nice to have some momentum going into it, but we don’t care. Our guys are going to have the best week of practice this week. I like where we’re at.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2015 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Fresno State’s late TD strikes not enough to upset Utah."