Fresno State’s 31-24 win over the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Oct. 29 was a homecoming in multiple ways. The game capped off Fresno State’s Homecoming week festivities. It also was Fresno State’s first home game in nearly a month. With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 7-1 and 3-1 in the Mountain West and extend their home winning streak to seven, dating back to last season.
UNLV came in on a five-game winning streak. With the loss, they fall to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Mountain West.
The team honored legendary former head coach Pat Hill during halftime. Hill took over after Jim Sweeney, who has the most wins in Fresno State history, in 1997 and coached the team until 2011, which was Derek Carr’s first year as starting quarterback.
In his 15 years as coach, Hill accumulated 112 wins, the second most behind Sweeney’s 143.
Current Bulldog Head Coach Jeff Tedford had high praise for Hill and everything he’s done for Fresno State.
“What he’s done for the Valley and for this program, it’s about time [they honor Hill],” Tedford said. “I’m really happy that we were able to pull out a win on his special night.”
Tedford also said that Hill spoke with the team on Friday night and said several great things during his speech.
“He’s Bulldog born, Bulldog bred,” Tedford said.
As for the game, it was an emotional roller coaster for Fresno State.
The ‘Dogs came out of the gates very strong. They forced UNLV to punt on its opening drive and then had an 11-play, 81-yard drive that was capped off with a Mikey Keene touchdown pass to Tim Grear Jr. The touchdown was the first of Grear Jr.’s career.
After looking like they would dominate, the ‘Dogs were sluggish on both sides of the ball for the rest of the first half. They didn’t record a single first down in the half after the touchdown. The ‘Dogs closed the half with a punt, interception, punt and punt.
After that touchdown, Fresno State only had possession for 7:29 compared to 12:07 for UNLV.
The Bulldogs’ defense still managed to make a few stops, but the Rebels were also able to score two touchdowns and a field goal, putting the Bulldogs down 17-7 at halftime.
Fresno State came out in the third quarter and played its best quarter of the season.
Safety Dean Clark said the message from the coaches during halftime was that if the players do their jobs, they still can win this game.
“They weren’t beating us. We were beating ourselves,” Clark said.
The third quarter started the same way the first half ended, with Fresno State going three-and-out.
On 4th and three on the 50-yard line, Fresno State elected to punt, which led to boos from the fans. The boos quickly changed to cheers after UNLV muffed the punt and Fresno State’s Steven Comstock recovered.
The once silent Red Wave was once again fired up as they sensed a momentum shift in the game.
During the third quarter Fresno State scored 24 points, the most it’s scored in a single quarter all year.
The team played excellently in all three facets of the game. Special teams had the key recovery to open the quarter, the defense forced two turnovers and Keene threw three touchdown passes.
Clark recovered both of the turnovers on defense on back-to-back drives. He intercepted a pass from UNLV’s quarterback Jayden Maiava and then recovered a fumble on the next drive.
Just like they have for multiple games this season, the Bulldogs had the Red Wave on the edge of their seats for much of the fourth quarter.
Early in the fourth, Keene threw his second interception of the game, and once again, it felt like momentum swung back into UNLV’s favor.
Trailing by seven, the Rebels marched all the way down to the Bulldogs’ 2-yard line. The defense came up with a huge stop to maintain the lead.
Then, they were put to the test again. With the clock ticking down and UNLV on Fresno State’s 8-yard line, the Rebels had the chance to tie the game.
Much like he has all season, Bulldog linebacker Levelle Bailey came through when the team needed him the most. With just three seconds remaining in the game, Bailey intercepted Maiava to seal the win for the ‘Dogs.
Coming into the season, Bailey felt uncomfortable in his role as an emotional leader.
“It was pressure [being a leader] in the beginning of the season, knowing that I wasn’t a vocal guy,” Bailey said.
Now, eight games into the season, Bailey is someone the team can constantly turn to when they need to be fired up.
“Just me trying to bring that energy for people that are not having a good game,” Bailey said. “I still need to bring that energy for everyone to pick their chins up.”
While there were a lot of bright spots for Fresno State on both sides of the ball, one of the most significant issues for this game, and for the season as a whole, has been the inconsistency in the running game.
Both Mailk Sherrod and Elijah Gilliam have shown flashes of being solid starting running backs, but they have yet to be able to string together good games consistently. After breaking out for 131 yards in the previous game against Utah State, Sherrod only rushed for 56 yards and averaged 3.3 yards per carry, his lowest total in a game with more than 10 carries all season.
If the ‘Dogs are going to finish strong and repeat as Mountain West Champions, they will need to have better games from the running backs and the offensive line blocking for them.
Regardless of that struggle, Fresno State still managed to pull off a much-needed win against a surging UNLV team.
Had the Rebels defeated the Bulldogs, it would’ve put them two games up on the ‘Dogs with only four games left in the regular season.
Now, with the win, Fresno State controls its destiny and will have a chance in the championship game if it continues winning. It certainly won’t be easy, as Fresno State only has a 9.5% chance to win the rest of its games, according to ESPN’s FPI. It’s next opponent, Boise State, is coming off a 32-7 throttling of Wyoming, the only team that has beat Fresno State this year.
Last season, the ‘Dogs traveled to Boise for both of the meetings. Both teams will be looking for revenge next week. The Broncos will be looking to avenge their loss in the championship game last year. The Bulldogs are trying to make up for a humiliating showing the last time they hosted the Broncos, which ended in a 40-14 loss.
“Being able to play in front of the Red Wave again and have them have our backs and be loud like they were in Boise will be nice,” said wide receiver Erik Brooks.
While every Fresno State vs. Boise State game is intense, there are a lot of stakes involved. Both teams are 3-1 in the Mountain West, and the winner will be in prime position to compete in the championship game.
