'Dogs look shipwrecked against Vikings

No. 19 Fresno State 27, Portland State 17

By Zack Walton

Things were not supposed to be this close and they weren’t supposed to be this ugly. But when it was finally over, Fresno State walked off the field one step closer to the goal of a perfect season.

The 19th-ranked Bulldogs squeaked past Division I-AA Portland State, 27-17, Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 42,662 to maintain its undefeated season.

“We have to play at a high level every week and we dodged a bullet,” coach Pat Hill said. “We can’t play like that every week.”

In the Bulldogs’ (3-0) first game since losing starting running back Dwayne Wright for the season to a knee injury, Fresno State charged for 263 yards on the ground as two backs went over the 100-yard mark.

“It felt weird not having [Wright] out there with us,” junior running back Wendell Mathis said. “I’m so used to seeing number 32 out there, it made me kind of feel like I was missing a family member.”

Junior Bryson Sumlin and Mathis combined to rush for 250 yards and two touchdowns.

“Me and Wendell both knew that we had to step up and play our best,” Sumlin said. “If one person goes down, somebody has to do it and we both stepped up in place of Dwayne.”

Sumlin, who made his second career start, led the Bulldogs with 127 yards on 26 carries.

On the Bulldogs’ first drive of the game, the offense marched 80 yards in 11 plays—all of them runs—as Mathis scored his first collegiate touchdown on an eight-yard run.

The rushing theme continued for the Bulldogs as Fresno State attempted only three passes against 16 runs during the first quarter.

When Fresno State did start passing, junior quarterback Paul Pinegar struggled to connect with his receivers. Pinegar was 13 of 25 for 142 yards while throwing two interceptions and fumbling the ball once.

“We had a couple nice deep balls that were wide open for touchdowns that were just over thrown a little bit,” Hill said.

With less than nine minutes left in the first half, Pinegar was intercepted by Portland State strong safety Steve Shinen. The pass tipped off the hands of intended wide receiver Joe Fernandez and Vikings linebacker Tolo Tuitele before settling in Shinen’s grasp on the Fresno State 22-yard line.

Portland State (1-1) scored six plays later on a Joe Wiser pass to junior Shaun Bodiford, cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to 17-7.

Fresno State regained the 17-point lead when it answered with a six-play 80-yard drive, capped by Mathis’ second rushing touchdown of the game.

“By far, this was not Bulldog football,” Mathis said. “It was a great effort, but we lacked execution.”
The Bulldogs secondary continued to execute, intercepting two more passes, bringing the team total this season to eight.

Sophomore Marcus McCauley highlighted the unit’s effort with a second-quarter interception, jumping in front of Bodiford to snag the pass on Portland State’s 15-yard line and return it for Fresno State’s fourth defensive touchdown of the season.

McCauley also added three tackles and four passes defended, including a batted-down Portland State pass in the end zone with less than a minute left in the game.

In the fourth quarter, Fresno State extended its lead to 27-10 before Pinegar’s second interception led to a touchdown for Portland State with 2:22 left. The Vikings then threatened to score again, driving to the Bulldogs’ 2-yard line before junior defensive tackle Garrett McIntyre sacked Wiser as time expired.

“Personally, I don’t think we played very good,” McIntyre said. “We didn’t come out and do what we needed to do. It wasn’t good at all.”

Fresno State has a week off before traveling to Louisiana Tech on Oct. 2 to begin Western Athletic Conference play.