Matt Weir / The Collegian
Fresno State’s most satisfying drive ended in a punt and zero points, but chewing nine minutes and 13 seconds off the clock in 15 plays in the fourth quarter was worthy of a celebration in the red-and-white checkered end zone.
Quarterback Ryan Colburn engineered a 50-yard drive that was aided by a crucial penalty on Illinois (6-6, 4-4 Big Ten), a big third-and-10 conversion and a gutsy fourth-and-one call as Fresno State (8-4, 5-3 Western Athletic Conference) held on late to defeat the visiting Fighting Illini, 25-23 at Bulldog Stadium.
“That was a heck of a win for this football team,” head coach Pat Hill said. “We had to fight through a lot of adversity.”
After trailing by as much as 16 points in the first quarter, Illinois overcame a jet-lagged start to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to two when quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase sliced through the middle of the field for a 21-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, to narrow the score to 25-23.
Illinois head coach Ron Zook elected to go for the tie with the two-point conversion, but Scheelhaase’s pass failed to connect with his receiver in the back of the end zone.
With 9:31 left to play in the game, the bread-and-butter of Fresno State football took over: The Bulldogs milked over nine minutes off the clock by using a tough, strong and hard-nosed running game.
To open the drive, running back A.J. Ellis carried two straight times, but was dropped for a loss twice to bring up a 3rd-and-13 at the Fresno State 7.
But on third down, Colburn overthrew receiver Jamel Hamler, and it seemed likely that the Bulldogs would be forced to punt. Then, an official threw a flag as Hamler was hit late after the ball had already hit the turf.
An official ruled that an illegal hit was delivered to a defenseless receiver, giving Fresno State a fresh set of downs.
Colburn and the offense would go on to convert on a vital 3rd-and-10, when he connected with Hamler on a slant pass for 15 yards.
“We hadn’t really used that play all night, but it’s a play that’s been good to us,” Colburn said. “We knew the coverage that they were going to play. I kind of saw how they were going to line up.”
“It just worked out really well, we found the void and Jamel did a great job of getting [past] the sticks.”
But Fresno State would need some more Bulldog magic when it was faced with a fourth -and-one decision at their own 46-yard line. After initially deciding to send out the punt team with less than four minutes remaining in the game, Hill and his coaching staff called a timeout to discuss the call.
With a chorus of boos from fans, and encouragement from players, Hill decided to take the gamble, sending the Fresno State offense back onto the field with 3:17 to play.
“That’s one of the things we love about coach Hill,” Colburn said. “When the chips are on the line, he wants to go after things, to go after it.”
On fourth down, Ellis took the handoff and leaped over his blockers, and after an official measurement, the Bulldogs were just inches past the first-down line.
“We live by tough, hard-nose, aggressive fundamental football and that was just living,” defensive end Chris Carter said of the fourth down call. “You can’t go soft, you can’t punt it, you got to go for it.”
Fresno State grinded out nearly two more minutes to give Illinois the ball back with 18 seconds. Backup quarterback Eddie McGee threw an incomplete pass on first down at the Illinois 9 and defensive lineman Anthony Williams sealed the game when he sacked McGee onto the turf on the very next play.
Colburn capped off his Fresno State career throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns.
“It was just a great way to end the game,” Colburn said. “We believed in ourselves, we got it done when we had to get it done.”