Bulldogs Open Mountain West Play with 21-3 Road Win at Nevada

RENO, Nev. - Behind stout defense from the Bulldogs and two touchdowns from sophomore running back Ronnie Rivers, Fresno State defeated Nevada 21-3 in its Mountain West opener on Saturday evening at Mackay Stadium. Holding Nevada to only a field goal in the contest, the Fresno State defense forced three turnovers and limited the Wolf Pack to 3.8 yards per play on offense.

Senior quarterback Marcus McMaryion went 20-of-28 passing, completing better than 70 percent of his throws for the fourth time in five games. He racked up 241 yards and tossed two touchdowns. The beneficiary to each of McMaryion's touchdown throws were senior wide receiver KeeSean Johnson (27-yard TD) and Rivers (19-yard TD). Johnson had a team-high seven receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown while Rivers' TD grab was his sole reception on the evening. Junior tight end Jared Rice tallied a team-high and career-high 98 yards on three receptions which included a career-long 69-yard reception.

Defensively, the 'Dogs linebacker corps was outstanding as junior linebacker Jeff Allison led the way with a career-high 17 tackles, 10 solo, while adding half-a-sack and half-a-tackle. Senior linebacker George Helmuth added 11 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sack and fellow senior James Bailey tacked on 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack.

The secondary ripped off three interceptions, with the wealth being spread around with senior cornerback Anthoula Kelly, junior strong safety Juju Hughes and junior free safety Mike Bell tallying one apiece.

How It Happened
With neither team able to generate much offense in the early going, the game was scoreless after the opening quarter. The 'Dogs edged the Wolf Pack in total yards, 73-58.

With the ball at the Nevada 30-yard line and a fresh set of downs to open the second quarter, Fresno State finished their first scoring drive with McMaryion finding Rivers in the flat for a 19-yard touchdown pass to cap a nine play, 69-yard drive that spanned four minutes, nine seconds.

Nevada responded to the Bulldogs' touchdown drive with an 11-play, 51-yard drive that resulted in a 41-yard field goal by Wolf Pack kicker Ramiz Ahmed to cut the 'Dogs lead to 7-3. Nevada converted a key 4th-and-2 with a 13-yard rush by quarterback Christian Solano which helped set up the Wolf Pack's only scoring drive of the night.

Later in the second quarter, Kelly intercepted Solano and returned it 43 yards to the Wolf Pack 11 for his third interception of the season. Unfortunately for the 'Dogs, a play later McMaryion's pass to Jamire Jordan was jarred loose from Jordan causing the 'Dogs only turnover on Saturday.

Hughes made it two Bulldog interceptions over the final 2:35 of the first half by picking off Solano on a 3rd-and-10 with 11 seconds remaining in the half to end the threat of a Wolf Pack score. Fresno State held a 7-3 lead heading into the locker room at the break.

Limited to only 125 yards of offense to that point, the 'Dogs broke out on its second offensive drive of the third quarter as McMaryion found Rice for a 69-yard reception, taken down at the Nevada 11 to ultimately set up the Bulldogs' next score. Nevada wouldn't make it easy for Fresno State as they were able to convert a 4th-and-1 from the Nevada 2 to increase the lead to 14-3. Rivers delivered the score with his second touchdown of the night punching it in on fourth down.

Bell became the eighth Bulldog this season to notch an interception early in the fourth quarter as the 'Dogs defense continued to wreak havoc on Nevada.

The 'Dogs added one final score with 8:28 to play in the fourth quarter as McMaryion found Johnson for a 27-yard score to give the Bulldogs a 21-3 lead (watch). Nevada made one last push for the end zone driving the ball 61 yards on 16 plays over five minutes, but the defense stood tall forcing a turnover on downs at the Fresno State 10-yard line with 3:18 left in the game.

Notables

Fresno State now leads the all-time series with Nevada, 29-20-1 and improve to 13-11-1 all-time in Reno.
The Bulldogs are now 5-2 against the Wolf Pack as Mountain West opponents.
The 'Dogs improve to 5-2 in Mountain West openers and are now 2-2 in MW openers on the road.
With Fresno State out to a 4-1 overall record, it is the fourth time this century the 'Dogs have won at least four of their first five games of a season (2001, 2005, 2013).
It was the first time since Oct. 21, 2017 at San Diego State that the 'Dogs have held an opponent without a touchdown.
The pair of touchdowns for Rivers were his first two of the season and were his second career receiving touchdown and sixth career rushing score.
McMaryion has now thrown multiple touchdowns in three games this season and for the eighth time in his career.
KeeSean Johnson moved his consecutive games with a reception to a nation-leading 41 games and also moved into fourth place all-time in program history in receptions passing Isaiah Burse (2010-13).
The Bulldogs now have 11 interceptions and 16 forced turnovers this season.

Quotables
Head Coach Jeff Tedford on starting conference play 1-0....
"That's always important. You come on the road like this and it's cold, rain. There was not a lot of energy and we have to learn to bring our own energy to the game. It's always nice to get a win and wins are hard to come by and Nevada is a really good football team and they are going to win a lot of games this year. It feels good to come away with a victory to open it up, but we have a lot of work to do and if we are going to compete each week, we have to play better on offense than we did tonight."

Linebacker Jeff Allison on the play of the defense...
"I'm very proud of the defense. We were going against a very good offense who puts up a lot of points so keeping them to three is a great accomplishment. Overall we still have some things to fix especially at the end of the game."

Up next
The Bulldogs return home next week to host the Wyoming Cowboys (2-4, 0-2 MW) at Bulldog Stadium at 7:30 p.m. for the Mountain West home opener.

Ticket Info: Fresno State returns home Oct. 13
Fresno State returns home on Oct. 13 to host Wyoming. Ticket are on sale now; single game tickets start as low as $27.
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To purchase in person, the Bulldog ticket office is located on the Northeast corner of the Save Mart Center and the entrance is marked by a red awning labeled "Bulldog Ticket Office." The ticket office is open 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. every business day.

To purchase tickets by phone, call 559-278-3647. For inquiries about group ticket sales, tailgating passes, or new season ticket and mini-plan purchases contact our sales team at 559-278-0063