Fresno State wrapped up by Miners

Texas El-Paso 24, Fresno State 21

By Nathan Hathaway

After seeing the Fresno State football team play Texas-El Paso on Saturday night, it’s hard to see how the Bulldogs ever had dreams of a Bowl Championship Series game.

The same team that opened the season with unexpected wins against Washington and then-No. 12 Kansas State, dropped to 2-2 (0-2 Western Athletic Conference) with a 24-21 loss to UTEP at Bulldog Stadium.

Fresno State quarterback Paul Pinegar threw two interceptions, including one with about two minutes left in the game as the Bulldogs marched down the field for what could have been the win.

“Offensively, obviously, we’re having some big problems,” Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. “We’re really struggling.”

It was eerily reminiscent of Fresno State’s first WAC loss, against Louisiana Tech last week, when Pinegar was picked off as the Bulldogs got within striking distance of a win. But Saturday, Fresno State got a last ray of hope when offensive lineman Donyell Booker recovered a UTEP fumble with one minute, 39 seconds remaining.

The offense couldn’t convert, however, as Fresno State threw three incomplete passes and lost a down on an illegal forward pass penalty. Facing fourth and 3 on his own 47-yard line with one minute remaining, Pinegar’s last-ditch pass was batted down by Alex Obomese, ending any hope of a Bulldogs win.

Saturday was another example of Fresno State’s anemic passing game this season. Coming into Saturday’s game, Pinegar had passed for 615 yards in four games. Against UTEP he passed for 126 yards and brought his interception total to 10, compared to five touchdown passes.

Offensively, we didn’t make the plays when we needed to,” Hill said. “We had our shots and we didn’t convert.

The game looked grim from the outset. It took the Miners all of one minute, 25 seconds to jump in front of the Bulldogs. On Fresno State’s first possession of the game, UTEP defensive lineman Chris Mineo intercepted a batted pass and ran it back 17 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

It was the second time this season an interception had been returned for a touchdown on the Bulldogs’ opening drive. Against Kansas State, Brett Jones picked off a Pinegar pass and ran it back 42 yards for a score.

After they got the ball back after UTEP’s opening interception, the Bulldogs jumped right into their ground offense, running the ball on 17 of their next 18 offensive plays, including a four-yard touchdown run by Bryson Sumlin on fourth down to tie the game at 7-7. Sumlin finished the game with a career-high 164 yards on 26 carries.

UTEP controlled the second quarter, scoring a touchdown and a field goal while never allowing Fresno State to move the ball past the Miners’ 49-yard line.

“Our defense really came to play,” UTEP coach Mike Price said, “and they played to win.”

One of the few bright spots for the Fresno State passing game came in the third quarter, when Pinegar hit Joe Fernandez for a touchdown from seven yards out to get Fresno State within three.

The biggest play of the game, the one that hurt Fresno State the most, came at the opening of the fourth quarter.

Fresno State seemed to be in a good situation heading into the quarter. The Bulldogs closed the third quarter by downing a punt on the Miners’ 9-yard line, leaving UTEP with a lot of ground to cover against what had been a solid Fresno State defense all night.

But UTEP found the way to beat the defense: Let them come as close as possible to winning a battle before springing the secret weapon on them. In this case, the secret weapon was a lame-duck pass that Johnnie Higgins snagged and took 91 yards for a touchdown.

UTEP quarterback Jordan Palmer was hit by linebacker Alan Goodwin as he threw the ball deep toward the sideline and Higgins hooked back to snag the wobbler and elude three Fresno State defenders en route to the end zone.