Two crucial mistakes late in the game ultimately cost Fresno State the chance to pull through against Washington State on Saturday, leading to a 25-27 loss.
With around seven minutes to go in the game, Fresno State held a 17-16 lead and was driving down the field with a chance to put the game on ice.
But Quarterback Mikey Keene stared down receiver Raylen Sharpe, giving Washington State defensive back Ethan O’Conner the chance to jump in front of the pass and take it 65 yards to the house, giving the Cougars a 22-17 lead.
Fresno State still had plenty of time left on the clock to drive downfield, but the ensuing kickoff following the pick six was disastrous. Returner Jalen Moss tripped and fell down at the 1-yard line, meaning the Bulldogs would have to go 99 yards to take the lead.
The ‘Dogs ran the ball up the middle three straight times, only getting out to the 7-yard line before being forced to punt.
Washington State responded with a field goal and drew the clock down to under two minutes, taking an eight-point lead and giving the Bulldogs a chance to tie the game up despite their late mistakes.
Those mistakes, however, continued for Fresno State. Starting at the Fresno State 25-yard line with 1:46 left on the clock, Keene led the Bulldogs all the way to the Washington State 31-yard line with 31 seconds to go.
Facing 4th and 7, Keene hit Sharpe for 13 yards, putting the ‘Dogs in prime position to go for the end zone with enough time left to play. But Fresno State got penalized for illegal use of hands on the play, dropping the ‘Dogs back to the Washington State 41-yard line, proving to be too far to overcome on the last play of the game.
That costly penalty was emblematic of Fresno State’s performance all game. The Bulldogs committed 12 penalties, costing them 91 yards against the Cougars.
Head Coach Tim Skipper said after the game that the team simply had too many self-inflicted wounds.
“The effort was good tonight. It’s all about playing smart. It’s limiting the turnovers. It’s limiting the penalties. Those things are killing us,” Skipper said. “It’s like we got emotionally hijacked, and we’re doing things we shouldn’t do. So we just need to settle in and play ball and take it one play at a time. And like I said, don’t get emotionally hijacked and do stupid stuff – against the rules stuff – 15-yard penalties. Those type of things – you can’t have that to be a good team and win the game.”
Fresno State had some early defensive lapses to allow Washington State to jump out to a 13-7 lead, particularly struggling to Cougars quarterback John Mateer, who found success scrambling early on.
The defense picked up the slack and held Mateer to 172 passing yards on the night and 46 yards on the ground – taking into account the yards he lost getting sacked 4 times.
But kicker Dylan Lynch missed two field goals in the first half that would have put the ‘Dogs in a much different position at the end of the game.
Keene completed 66% of his passes but only posted 220 passing yards and 1 touchdown, not making up for the 2 interceptions he threw.
Running back Elijah Gilliam had 1 touchdown and 120 yards, finding his groove to average 6 yards per carry.
With the loss, Fresno State drops to 3-3 on the season and has a quick turnaround to travel to Reno on Friday to face Nevada. The Wolfpack are 3-4 but are coming off a 42-37 win over Oregon State on Saturday.
“Ton of adversity, back’s against the wall, and we’re going to see what we’re made of,” Skipper said. “That’s the bottom line. We’re going to see what we’re made of, and we’re going to have to take it one game at a time. It will be a good week that we have to flip the switch, get ready to go play and then see what we’re made of.”
