FRESNO - Scoring its most points since 1991 using five interceptions, two special teams returns for touchdowns and one pick-six, the Fresno State football team rolled to a 79-13 season-opening route of the Idaho Vandals on Saturday night at Bulldog Stadium. Fresno State (1-0) scored its most points in 27 years using a balanced offensive approach passing for 247 yards while rushing for 239 and seven scores on the ground.
Senior quarterback Marcus McMaryion had an efficient passing night going 19-for-26 for 207 yards. The 'Dogs used a balanced attack on the ground as five running backs each went for better than 35 yards with Romello Harris leading the way with 47 followed by Saevion Johnson (45), Dejonte O'Neal (41), Josh Hokit (40) and Jordan Mims (36). Mims led the group with three touchdowns.
Senior wide receiver KeeSean Johnson tallied his sixth career 100-yard receiving game going for 118 yards on six receptions while extending his consecutive games with a reception streak to a nation-leading 37 games.
Defensively, junior linebacker Jeff Allison led the team with six tackles while senior cornerback Tank Kelly had a pair of interceptions, one returned for a touchdown, five tackles and three pass breakups. Junior defensive tackle Jasad Haynes had five tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble while Jaron Bryant returned two blocked field goals for touchdowns.
How It Happened
The Bulldogs got the scoring started on their first offensive series of the contest going on an 11-play, 56-yard drive that saw McMaryion complete five of six passes for 42 yards connecting on passes to three different receivers, including three to junior tight end Jared Rice.
Facing a 3rd-and-5 from the Idaho 27, McMaryion connected on back-to-back passes for nine and 11 yards, respectively, to Rice getting the 'Dogs down to the Vandals 7. A six-yard gain by O'Neal got the Bulldogs on the doorstep of Idaho's goal line setting up a one-yard touchdown plunge by Mims.
After forcing the Vandals' to a second straight three-and-out, the 'Dogs took over at their own 20-yard line and marched down the field on a 12-play, 80-yard drive as the 'Dogs found little resistance from the Idaho defense. Faced with a 3rd-and-16 at their own 26, McMaryion found Johnson down the middle of the field for a 19 yard gain.
An 11-yard connection from Johnson and McMaryion on a 3rd-and-1 kept the drive alive and got the 'Dogs down to the Vandals' 28 and two plays later, the 'Dogs capitalized with a 26-yard scamper through the left side by O'Neal for his second career rushing touchdown.
The 'Dogs defense continued to wreck havoc as Haynes forced his first career fumble setting up the Bulldog's offense at the Idaho 19. After compiling 136 yards of offense on its first two drives, the Bulldog offense was only able to move four yards on its third drive setting up a 33-yard field goal by redshirt freshman kicker Asa Fuller who made his first career field goal to give the 'Dogs a 16-0 lead.
Holding the Vandals to negative 16 yards of offense on its first two drives, Idaho needed only two plays to drive 75 yards as quarterback Mason Petrino found wide receiver Jeff Cotton down the sideline for 73 yards to break up the 'Dogs shutout bid. The Vandals bobbled the PAT attempt as the Bulldogs led 16-6 with five seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Fresno State carried its hot offense into the second quarter going on a 7-play, 75-yard drive passing for 39 yards and running for 36 yards as Mims punched in his second touchdown run with a 12-yard scamper up the middle to extend the 'Dogs lead to 23-6.
The Vandals put together their most substantial drive of the game to that point with a 10-play, 46-yard drive down to the Bulldog 26 setting up a 36-yard field goal attempt by Cade Coffey, but Kelly broke through line blocking Coffey's kick as Bryant picked it up and returned it 74 yards putting the Bulldogs up 30-6.
The 'Dogs defense continued to pour it as Kelly picked off his second pass of the game stepping in front of a Petrino pass and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown to push the lead to 37-6.
Idaho made one final push to score in the first half going on a 9-play, 43-yard drive down to the Bulldog 22 to set up a 39-yard attempt by Coffey with one second remaining in the half. The 'Dogs special teams again came up clutch as redshirt junior Mykal Walker broke through the line for the block and was picked up by Bryant for 71 yards as Fresno State took a commanding 44-6 lead into halftime.
The Bulldogs added two touchdowns in the third quarter, a two-yard run by Mims and a 33-yard pass from Jorge Reyna to Derrion Grim on his first career attempt to take a 58-6 lead. The Vandals scored once more in the game in the third frame, a six-yard run by Isaiah Saunders to make it 58-13 in favor of the 'Dogs.
Fresno State completed the scoring with three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter as a pair of 'Dogs scored their first career touchdowns. S. Johnson had a five-yard plunge up the middle followed by a 27-yard run by Harris before S. Johnson found the end zone one more time with a one-yard run.
Notables
- Fresno State recorded its 600th all-time win.
- Fresno State improves to 57-36-4 all-time in season openers winning its 12th straight season opener in Fresno.
- The 'Dogs improve to 12-4 all-time against Idaho.
- The Bulldogs are now 14-0 against FCS opponents since 2000 with an average margin of victory by 31.2 points.
- Fresno State joined USC (Oct. 22, 1994 and Oct. 11, 2008), Wyoming (Nov. 18, 1995), Central Michigan (Oct. 2, 2004) and Iowa (Sept. 5, 2009) as the only teams in FBS history to block two field goals in the same quarter.
- The 79 points scored were the most since the Bulldogs scored a Bulldog stadium record 94 points against New Mexico on Oct. 5, 1991.
- The 66-point margin of victory matched last season's 66-point season-opening win over Incarnate Word.
- The seven rushing touchdowns by the Bulldogs were the most since Fresno State scored nine times on the ground Hawai'i on Nov. 12, 2004.
- Mims became the first 'Dog with three rushing touchdowns since Josh Hokit accomplished that feat at San Diego State last season.
- Tank Kelly's second-quarter interception return for a touchdown gave Fresno back-to-back games with an INT for a TD for the first time since the 2012 season. Jaron Bryant ended the 2017 season with a return TD in the Hawai'i Bowl.
- Jaron Bryant became the first Bulldog since Isaiah Green against San Diego State on Dec. 3, 2011 to return a blocked field goal for a touchdown.
- The last time Fresno State recorded five interceptions in a game was on Sept. 5, 2003 vs. Oregon State.
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Up next
The Bulldogs hit the road next week traveling to the University of Minnesota for its first-ever game against the Golden Gophers (1-0) next Saturday at 4:30 p.m. PT on Big Ten Network.
