Fresno State shines early in Cal Poly win, reserves finish sloppy in final minutes
A hook-and-ladder pass and two punt returns for touchdowns. A firm defense that surrendered only 44 total yards in the first half.
That was Fresno State (2-0) in its 41-25 win over Cal Poly Saturday night at Bulldog Stadium during the first 40-something minutes or so of the game.
The Bulldogs, sitting comfortably with a 41-3 lead midway through the third quarter, were in the midst of a rout, limiting the ground game of a triple-option offense that relies on it as its bread and butter. They found inventive ways to score against the Mustangs, who, like Rutgers, mainly lined up their safeties deep, focused on Derek Carr and the Bulldogs’ passing game.
During the final minutes of play, Fresno State was on the other end of things, trying to contain the Mustangs — of the Football Championship Subdivision — who were one touchdown score and a field goal away from realistically being within fighting chance of pulling off an upset.
The status quo remained intact, though. Fresno State, a Football Bowl Subdivision team, did what conventional wisdom said it would do: win against an FCS team that was road blocked on offense and toyed with on special teams through most of the third quarter in a game that was not as competitive as the final score indicated.
But if the first 40-something minutes seemed entirely different from the rest of the game, it was probably because different players — the second and third-team units — were on the field.
“We should’ve finished the game much better than we did,” Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter said. “You have to give Cal Poly a lot of credit.”
“We have to do a much better job of developing our depth so that our twos and threes in there perform much better than they did tonight. Having said that, the goal every week is to go 1-0. And we did that.”
Isaiah Burse scurried 61 yards for a touchdown on a punt return, running left and right before finding an open lane toward the end zone in the first quarter. He scored on another punt return, a 58-yarder, 30 seconds before the end of the first half.
Offensive lineman Austin Wentworth scored his first career touchdown — a 7-yard score that electrified the home crowd of 33,260 — off a pitch from Davante Adams after catching a pass from Carr five minutes before Burse’s second touchdown return.
In the third quarter, the Bulldogs relieved most of their starters as backups were gradually subbed in the game.
Cal Poly ended the night with 416 yards on offense — 372 yards came after the half — and scored 22 unanswered points on a streak that started with 1:38 remaining before the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs offense totaled 370 yards — 334 of them came in the first three quarters.
“It’s a win,” said Carr, who went in for backup Brian Burrell with four minutes left in the game after being relieved in the third quarter.
“I’ve been on the 4-9 side of things. I don’t take any win for granted after that. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but like we always say, ‘If it’s by one or 100, a win is a win.’”
Fresno State next plays on the road against Colorado — seemingly improved under first-year coach Mike MacIntyre and 2-0 headining into the matchup. The Bulldogs face Boise State (1-1), winner of seven straight in the rivalry, at home on Sept. 20.
The forecast for Fresno State reserves receiving in-game experience in the near-future does not seem as bright as it did on Saturday in the third quarter, when the Bulldogs were up by 38.
“Any time you get an opportunity for your second or third units to play, it’s good for your team development. It’s good for morale,” said DeRuyter, who improved to 8-0 at Bulldog Stadium. “Guys typically have a different pep in their step because they played as opposed to just watching.
“But you’ve got to earn your reps. We’ll take a critical look at that film tomorrow. I don’t think it was a lack of effort, but I don’t think they had the proper intensity sometimes.
“They didn’t realize we were playing a really good team. They see our ones have a lot of success, and they maybe just assume they were going to [as well]. And that’s never the case.”