Mike Howells / The Collegian
With aspirations of a first Western Athletic Conference title hanging in the balance, and 72 yards of Jim Sweeney Field turf to work with, quarterback Ryan Colburn had his chance to do what a Bulldog quarterback has not done in six seasons: take down a ranked opponent.
But when a pair of questionable run calls and a short completion set Colburn up with a fourth-and-five situation on Fresno State’s final drive, the Nevada defense did what it struggled doing for much of the game: get to the quarterback.
A heavy blitz dialed up by the Wolf Pack forced Colburn to heave a desperation incomplete pass that both hushed the raucous Bulldog Stadium and eliminated Fresno State from WAC title contention.
For Colburn the 35-34 loss was a bitter ending to a game that Fresno State otherwise looked in sync, confident and in control on offense.
“I don’t think there was any point during tonight where we didn’t feel we like we were going to win,” Colburn said. “We have great belief in ourselves and our teammates in each other. We just didn’t get it done.”
The Bulldogs and Wolf Pack changed leads five times over the final two quarters as Robbie Rouse and the Fresno State offense held pace with Nevada’s lethal Pistol attack that came into the game ranked second in the country in rushing yards. Rouse had his second straight 200-yard game, finishing with 217 yards on 26 carries despite playing behind a depleted offensive line that started three underclassmen.
But after Rouse’s first two scores of the night in the opening quarter (one rushing, one receiving) Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick showcased how he has torched the ‘Dogs four years running now.
Down 17-7, Kaepernick engineered a 10-play drive just before halftime to cut the Bulldog lead to 17-14. Moments later, after Colburn fumbled in a questionable attempt to increase Fresno State’s halftime lead, and the Wolf Pack wasted little time regaining momentum. Two plays later, running back Vai Taua plunged in for a one-yard score, giving his team a 21-17 halftime advantage.
“A couple of weeks ago, here at home we got booed because we just kneed the ball and went in at the half,” Hill said. “We probably should have just have just kneed the ball and gone in at the half.
Twice we’ve tried to do two-minute drills. Two times it’s burn us: once against Cal Poly and once against Reno here tonight. I thought it was the right thing to do though. We had two timeouts and a minute left in the half.”
Fresno State outscored Nevada 14-7 in the third quarter off Isaiah Burse’s 26-yard touchdown catch and Rouse’s third touchdown of the game, a 44-yard burst from Hill’s “Hound” package. The latter of the two scores gave the ‘Dogs a 31-28 advantage through 45 minutes of play.
With just more than six minutes left in the game, Nevada faced a crucial fourth-and-one scenario on the Fresno State eight-yard line down 34-28. The Bulldogs’ Kyle Knox and Desia Dunn stuffed Taua in the backfield, giving the ball back to Colburn and the Fresno State offense.
“[That was a] great stop down there on fourth down,” Hill said. “The effort was excellent. I thought we as a defense have improved a lot and gotten a lot better against the option type teams.”
But after the ensuing drive lasted less than a minute for Fresno State, the Bulldogs were forced to punt the ball back to the most dangerous offense in the WAC, averaging 542 yards per game.
The Pistol attack chewed up 3:03 off the clock, drove 54 yards and on the seventh play of the series, Taua ripped off his longest run of the night, a 24-yard touchdown off a dive option play for the game-sealing lead at 35-34.
“Fresno State football and Nevada football gained a lot of respect in this country tonight,” Hill said following the game. “There’s no doubt about it. That was a great football game you guys witnessed here. It just didn’t come out the way we had it planned. I really believed we were going to win that football game on that last drive.”
The loss both drops Fresno State from the conference title race and puts Nevada in the driver’s seat for a Nov. 26 showdown with Boise State with the WAC on the line.
The ‘Dogs fall to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the conference heading into this week’s game at No. 4 Boise State. Since being paired together in the WAC, Fresno State has never defeated the Broncos on the blue turf. But despite the loss and Boise State’s national-leading 23-game winning streak, Hill insists his players simply need to press forward.
“We need to put this thing behind us,” Hill said. “We need to move on. We have a great matchup against Boise in Idaho.”