Brianna Campbell / The Collegian
Fresno State was 4-0 in October, now moves on to November
After starting the season with tough losses to Wisconsin, Boise State and Cincinnati, the Bulldog football team was left with a 1-3 record after the first month of the season.
But Fresno State continued to push along and used passion and intensity to earn four consecutive victories to end the month of October at 5-3, with a four-game winning streak.
It was only the second time since 1999 that the ’Dogs went undefeated in the month of October.
The ’Dogs are just one win away from becoming bowl eligible for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons. Head coach Pat Hill told his team after the tough start to just keep playing hard.
“The team stayed up and the intensity stayed good, we just had to stay the course and overall the team is playing well and we are doing a lot of good things,” Hill said.
With the four-game winning streak, the ’Dogs improved their record to 4-1 in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and are still in contention for the WAC title.
After winning the first three games of the month handily, the Bulldogs struggled against Diondre Borel and the Utah State Aggies on Saturday. The defense allowed 27 points to the Aggies in the first half, after allowing only 24 points combined in their last two games against San Jose State and New Mexico State.
The defense did step up and shutout the Aggies in the second half.
Junior safety Lorne Bell, who Hill considers to be the quarterback of the defense, said that passion and intensity have been keys to the Bulldogs’ run.
“Really we have just turned up the passion and intensity, and just started playing the way that we knew we could,” Bell said. “We have also been locking into our assignments real well.”
The defensive play has allowed the offense and tailback Ryan Mathews to get more opportunities to be on the field. On Saturday Mathews rushed for 145 yards in the second half and scored the game-winning touchdown.
As for what has been crucial for the ’Dogs during this winning streak, Mathews said the mind set of the players has been key.
“It’s our mentality that has been keeping us in the games,” Mathews said. “ We just have to keep this high mentality and focus on our keys and goals and we’ll be successful.”
The junior continues to lead the nation in rushing yards, racking up 1,316 yards in eight games. He is nearly 300 yards ahead of tailback Ben Tate of Auburn, who is second in the nation in rushing yards.
The Bulldogs will need one more win to become bowl eligible. Hill said the games to remember are the games in November. Fresno State has won 10 games in November in the past four seasons.
“The games now that count are the games in November,” Hill said. “November has always been a good month for us.”
Mathews named WAC Player of the Week
For his late-game heroics against Utah State, tailback Ryan Mathews was named the WAC Offensive Player of the week. He had 185 yards and two touchdowns.