Fresno, California
The Fresno State Bulldogs suffered a gut-wrenching 25-17 loss on Saturday to the Washington Cougars. The Bulldogs fall to 3-3 on the season, losing their first home game of the year.
Instead of being the expected high-powered offensive game, what it turned out to be was a dogfight.
Here’s a recap of the Bulldogs 25-17 loss to WSU on Saturday.
First Half
This game was exciting from the beginning, as the Bulldogs elected to defer, meaning their first opportunity would come from the defensive end.
This game started badly for Fresno State as mental errors plagued their defense from getting a stop. After a 3rd and 2 conversion for WSU, it looked like the Cougars drive was going to stall out. However on 3rd and 10 at their own 39, Fresno State showed 6 and brought 6 to Washington State Quarterback John Mateer. Right when it looked like the Bulldogs were going to sack Mateer and get off the field, he made some magic happen. With pressure coming from both sides, he worked the pocket. He rolled about 6 yards back with his eyes looking downfield hoping somebody, if anybody, could get open. As he rolled back, Fresno’s Dean Clark got a hand on him, but Mateer showcased his physicality, stiff-arming Clark as he rolled to his right. Finally he threw the ball, completing it to running back Leo Pulalasi. Pulalasi was still 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage, and 13 away from the first down. However he had an open field, he walked the tightrope, somehow not going out of bounds. Right before he was about to get the first down, he cut to the left, gaining the first down as the Cougars completed this improbable play.
WSU continued their momentum as on their opening drive, with John Mateer put his running talents on display, running like Josh Allen as he moved the chains for a Cougars first down. On a 3rd and 11, 11 yards away from the end zone, it looked like Fresno would force a Field Goal attempt, but a Julian Neal defensive pass interference call bailed the Cougars offense out. After another Fresno State penalty happened (this time for illegal substitution), John Mateer ran it in for his 6th rushing touchdown of the season. The Cougars attempted to go for 2 as they came out onto the field in an unusual Swinging Gate formation. Mateer had no time to throw the ball as he was immediately corralled by multiple Bulldogs defensive lineman. He somehow managed to stay upright, but stumbled as he threw an interception to linebacker RL Miller as the Cougars 2-point attempt was no good. 6-0 WSU.
The Bulldogs answered quickly, though, as Mikey Keene started the game off hot, completing his first 6 passes. The Cougars defense played a softer coverage, playing in a nickel set not trying to give up a huge play over the top, letting Keene complete some short passes as Fresno State got into their groove of the game. Then finally, the big play happened, Wide Receiver Josiah freeman ran a vertical as Mikey Keene threw it on the money to his speedy Wide Receiver for a 34 yard touchdown pass. The PAT was good and just like that Fresno State took the lead, 7-6.
Now it was John Mateer’s turn to try and get the lead back and he wasted no time doing so as three plays after a controversial unnecessary roughness call. On 3rd and 12 at the 50, Mateer loaded up, completing it to Tony Freeman, who ran a flawless deep-crossing route for a massive 32 yard gain. Then following two great John Mateer runs, former Oregon Wide Receiver Kris Hudson, ran it in for a 2 yard touchdown, 13-6 Wazzu.
As we saw some early offensive fireworks in this game both defenses would need to adjust quickly, and the Cougars defense was the first to do so. After a 3rd down stop, the first huge mistake for both teams happened as lefty kicker Dylan Lynch attempted 36 yard field goal was no good, hooking the kick to the left.
The Cougars, however, could not capitalize off of good field position. With an empty backfield on a designed QB run, Mateer ran to his right, but the ball was punched out by Bulldogs’ Korey Foreman and recovered by Jakari Embry as momentum was shifting right back to Fresno.
Washington State’s defense held up as after a 3rd down intentional grounding penalty called on Mikey Keene. The Southpaw struck again as Dylan Lynch missed another field goal (this time from 52 yards out) and the Bulldogs came out empty handed.
After another Fresno mistake, it looked like the Cougars were going to go into halftime up two scores. But then Mateer made another mistake, trying to fit in to double coverage as he was intercepted in the end zone by Defensive Back Dean Clark.
Mikey Keene returned the favor to Mateer, after a 14 yard Elijah Gilliam run. Keene was looking through the middle of the field for a receiver on a slant, but his ball was barely tipped and it was intercepted by WSU’s Tyson Durant with just over 90 seconds left in the first half.
On the ensuing drive the Cougars drive stalled out as they had to punt, then the Bulldogs let the clock run heading into the locker room down 13-7.
Second Half
At the start of the second half, both the Bulldogs and the Cougars traded punts, but then finally someone scored for the first time since the first quarter as Running Back Elijah Gilliam led Fresno State to the end zone and the Bulldogs got their lead back, 14-13.
Washington State’s offense had to get something going, as they had not scored since the first quarter. So John Mateer came out and did just that, as WSU made the first field goal of the game and took the lead right back from the Bulldogs, 16-14.
Fresno State then answered with a field goal of their own as Dylan Lynch nailed it through both the uprights, giving him a much needed confidence boost and Bulldogs fans could exhale as they took a 1 point, 17-16 lead with 10 minutes left in the game.
After a Washington State three-and-out, the Bulldogs were moving the ball at will and right when it looked like Fresno State was going to pull off a victory, it happened on second and 13 at WSU’s 43, Mikey Keene scanned the field. There was a bit of pressure on his left and right side, but not too much. Wide Receiver Raylen Sharpe ran a short hitch route and Mikey Keene released the ball awkwardly off of his back foot, with Keene throwing it into double coverage.
The ball was picked off by Ethan O’Connor and returned for a Washington State touchdown with seven minutes left.
On the Cougars 2 point conversion attempt, two tight-ends shifted to John Mateer’s right. He rolled out to the left but Fresno played some excellent cover 2 defense as the attempt was no good. 22-17 Cougars.
On the Cougars kickoff, Jalen Moss received it from the 1-yard line, but he fell on himself and tripped being tackled at the 1, meaning Fresno’s offense would need to drive the ball down 99 yards to win the game. This, however, could not happen as the Bulldogs played conservative, running the ball three straight times, even on 3rd and 6. This left them having to punt with 4 minutes left.
This was now time for the Wazzu offense to show the nation why they are one of the best offenses in the nation. If they scored a touchdown, that would all but mean that the game would be over. However after a few great Wayshawn Parker runs, the Fresno defense held up strong and Washington State had to attempt a field goal. They made it as they went up by 8 points now leading 25-17.
This was the opportunity of a lifetime for Mikey Keene, under the bright lights, 1 minute and 46 seconds left, no time-outs. It was a chance for Mikey Keene to cement himself as the Bulldogs QB1 of the future and to silence the critics. The drive started off with a couple of nice, short completions, as the Cougars were playing in a deep coverage, not trying to give up-the back-breaking big play.
With 00:16 left on the clock it was desperation time for the Bulldogs, Keene stepped up under pressure, and somehow completed it to Raylen Sharpe for a first down and to stop the clock. However there was a penalty for illegal use of hands on Bulldogs offensive lineman Torean Penwright, another mental mistake for Fresno. Now with nine seconds left Mikey Keene stepped back to pass, there was pressure coming from his left, so he slid to the right. He released the ball, Hail Mary-
NO GOOD.
And that’s how this game ended, with pure devastation on the Bulldogs side.
Takeaways:
- Defensively, the Bulldogs showed massive improvement, only allowing a red-hot Washington State offense to score 19 total points (6 of WSU’s points came off of a pick 6).
- On offense, there was still no problem moving the ball downfield; the turnovers just plagued the Bulldogs.
- There are still some issues play calling wise. There were a couple of key moments down the stretch where the offense relied too heavily on Mikey Keene or were too conservative.
- This Bulldogs team beat themselves. There were a lot of special teams miscues and mistakes, a lot of penalties and some mindless turnovers.
The Bulldogs have a lot to fix if want to avoid a losing record next week. They hope to snap their losing streak next week as they take on Nevada (3-4) on the road at Mackay Stadium, on FRI, Oct 18 at 9:30 in Reno.
