Under the lights of Valley Children’s Stadium and the showers of a storm, the Fresno State football team took down the Wyoming Cowboys 24-3 on Saturday night.
With rainy conditions all game long, the Bulldogs didn’t seem bothered by the weather, focusing more on applying pressure to the Cowboys’ offense.
Wyoming finished with just 184 total yards, and their starting quarterback completed only six passes.
One of the Bulldogs responsible for the limited offensive output was freshman linebacker Tytus Khajavi.
Khajavi led the way with six solo tackles, one sack and a tackle for loss.
“He’s steady, really good player,” said Head Coach Matt Entz. “Probably more athletic than what I gave him credit for when I first got here.”
As the linebacker core at Fresno State has changed over the course of the season, in part due to the season-ending arm injury to K’Vion Thunderbird, Khajavi has seen an elevated role in recent weeks, despite being a freshman.
“Fits in really well with what we do,” Entz said. “And he has to be kind of the quarterback of what we’re doing defensively, especially with our front four.”
Starting the season further down on the depth chart has given Khajavi time to learn from the starters so that when his number was called, he could step up.
Starters like Thunderbird and Jadon Pearson made sure that Khajavi didn’t look at himself like a third or fourth string.
“They like, even them being starters, like, they still help me in helping shape the linebacker I am today,” Khajavi said.
Once again, the Bulldogs’ rushing attack came alive at home, rushing for over 200 yards as a team.
Running back Rayshon Luke led the way with 92 rushing yards while Bryson Donelson had 45 yards and a 12-yard touchdown run.
Despite being featured further down on the depth chart, running back Johnathan Arceneaux made the most of his four carries, going for 70 yards, including a 58-yard rushing touchdown.
The long touchdown run came in the fourth quarter thanks to a pre-snap misdirection from Entz. Luke lined up outside as a receiver before being motioned towards the backfield, where Conklin faked a handoff to him and instead gave it to Arceneaux.
“You know when number two [Rayshon Luke] motions, everyone on defense knows where he’s going, and it pulls a lot of eyes out of the fit,” Entz said. “And so it allows our other backs to have some good runs downhill.”
The rushing attack, coupled with a disciplined team performance, kept the football in the hands of the Bulldogs for over 40 minutes.
The ‘Dogs committed just three penalties on Saturday night, compared to the nine penalties the Bulldogs suffered against Boise State.
“Anytime you have those administrative penalties, you beat yourself,” Entz said. “You’re making it difficult to win games and it’s hard enough to win games just the way it is. So if we can eliminate that, not pour energy into our opponent, we’ll have a chance to continue to move the football.”
The Bulldogs (7-3, 4-2) will look to replicate their success when they go against the Utah State Aggies (5-5, 3-3) on Nov. 22 at Valley Children’s Stadium to celebrate Senior Night in the last home game of the season.
