Notebook

By Zack Walton

Misfiring
Pinegar completed only 56 percent of his passes in the Boise State game and has a completion percentage of 54.7 for the season. The junior quarterback misfired on several pass attempts against Boise State, throwing several passes over the heads of intended receivers. With two more interceptions against the Broncos, Pinegar brought his season total to 12 picks and has surpassed his previous season-high in 2002 of 10.

Fake field
Playing on the blue astroturf of Bronco Stadium marked the third time this season Fresno State has played on artificial turf. The Bulldogs played on synthetic FieldTurf in the first game of the year against Washington in Husky Stadium and on astroturf at KSU Stadium against Kansas State.
Despite the wet conditions, the turf in Boise sucked up all the water, making the field safe to play on.
“The turf is nice; the rain didn’t seem to affect it,” offensive tackle Logan Mankins said.

Fumble fingers
Blame it on the wet conditions if you want, but something was causing the ball to slip out of the hands of ball carriers. Boise State fumbled five times, recovering four of their own mishaps, while Fresno State had four fumbles, but also only lost one.
The Broncos lone lost fumble came in the second quarter on a punt return that bounced off the face mask of return man Austin Smith and was recovered by Therrian Fontenot.
Fresno State had a fumble recovered by the Broncos on its first drive of the third quarter when Bryson Sumlin lost the ball.
Both quarterbacks did the brunt of coughing up the ball, as Pinegar and Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky each had three fumbles. Pinegar fumbled twice on one play in the third quarter, fumbling the snap, picking up the ball and fumbling as he attempted to gain yards up the middle.
Dartangon Shack recovered the second fumble.

Top ‘D’og
Junior defensive tackle Garrett McIntyre had an outstanding first half for Fresno State, amassing seven tackles, three for losses, and two sacks. McIntyre finished the game with 10 tackles.

Ball Hogs
Boise State set the tone and controlled the football game by controlling the clock. The Broncos stingy offense held the ball for more than 37 and a half minutes, while running 78 plays from scrimmage–55 of them rushes.
Boise State, during the third and fourth quarters, had a drive that spanned 8 minutes, 39 seconds and 19 plays ending in a 45-yard field goal by Tyler Jones.

Tired foot
Jones was 4 for 4 on field goal attempts, including kicks from 21, 30, 32 and 45 yards. Jones tacked on three extra points to give him 15 points for the game and was announced as the player of the game by the Bronco Stadium PA announcer.

Running wild
After shutting down the running game of Washington and holding Kansas State’s Darren Sproles to 37 yards rushing, Fresno State has allowed two 100-yard rushers in the past three games. Boise State running back Lee Marks tallied 112 yard on the ground on 21 carries. Louisiana Tech running back Ryan Moats had 236 yards rushing on 34 attempts against Fresno State on Oct. 2.

Red zone troubles
Since converting on six touchdowns in eight red zone chances in the first two games, Fresno State has struggled mightily in the past four games. The Bulldogs have only managed to score eight touchdowns in the 16 times they have reached the red zone in the past four games.

Short field
Fresno State has not been able to produce the big play very often this season. Pinegar’s 30-yard completion to wide receiver Joe Fernandez was only the Bulldogs’ fifth play of 30 yards or more this season. The Bulldogs have four pass plays and one rush of 30 yards or longer.

Shack’s soft hands
Junior right guard Dartangon Shack made his first career reception on a batted Pinegar pass in the fourth quarter. Shack became the 15th Fresno State player to catch a pass this season when he secured the deflected ball and rumbled four yards before being brought down.

Quick takeoff
Contrary to the Bulldogs’ game plan for most of the season, Fresno State opened the first drive of the game with three straight passes. Facing the third-ranked rush defense in the nation in Boise State, the Bulldogs went to the air, completing two of three, the last pass was a 17-yard completion to Fernandez for a first down.

Penalties limited
After averaging nearly 10 penalties and 90 yards per game, Fresno State reduced the number of yellow handkerchiefs tossed on its account against the Broncos. The Bulldogs were only assessed two penalties for 10 yards, while Boise State had 4 penalties for 32 yards.