For the first five quarters of the season for Fresno State, the offense was close to unwatchable. Between the turnovers and lack of execution, the Bulldogs looked lifeless on the offensive side of the ball.
That all changed in the second quarter on Saturday night as the Bulldogs (1-1) used a 32-point quarter to carry them to a dominant 49-3 victory over Sacramento State (1-2) in its home opener.
“We had a lot of guys in our locker room disappointed with how we played last week. They took that personally,” Head Coach Matt Entz said in the postgame press conference.
Saturday marked the first win for Fresno State Football in the PAC-12 era. It also was the 70th win of Matt Entz’ head coaching career.
“Excited about the win,” Entz said. “Any time you can have nearly 500 yards of offense and hold a team to three points, that’s a successful night.”
After a rough first week, Quarterback Jayden Mandal turned it around against the Hornets, completing 23-of-26 passes for 316 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also scored a touchdown using his legs during that second period.
“I’m really excited for the young man. But he also had some receivers make some really good catches for him. He had some people make plays for him, and he did a really good job of orchestrating the offense,” Entz said.
Wide receivers Ezekiel Avit and Josiah Freeman combined for 203 yards on eight catches, all in the first half. Running back Bryson Donelson ran for triple digit yards and a trio of touchdowns.
Defensively, the Bulldogs held Sacramento State to just a field goal and 262 yards. They also got an interception courtesy of Simeon Harris, the seventh of his career (third in the FBS among active players).
Harris spoke openly about his faith after the game and why pressing forward even through hard times is so important for both him and his teammates.
“We had our loss last week. I’m still gonna say no panic, no worry at all, because we’re gonna bounce back,” Harris said.
Key players
- Jayden Mandal (FS): 23-26, 316 yards, 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing)
- Bryson Donelson (FS): 13 carries, 102 yards, 3 TD
- Ezekiel Avit (FS): 2 receptions, 103 yards, TD
- Martin Owusu (FS): 6 tackles, sack
- Jamar Curtis (SAC): 9 carries, 48 yards
What happened
After a bad kick to begin the game, Fresno State took over with good field position. A 28-yard pass to Josiah Freeman and a few runs by running back Bryson Donelson and suddenly the Bulldogs were in the Hornets red zone. Sacramento State’s defense turned up though, stuffing Julius Gillick on a 4th and one attempt at the 14-yard line.
The Hornets weren’t able to do anything offensively in the first half, especially in the first quarter where they totaled just 33 yards.
Following a rush of two up the middle from Donelson, Mandal opened the Bulldogs third drive of the game with a 28-yard pass deep to Freeman (6 receptions, 100 yards on Saturday). A couple plays later and Bulldogs were back in the red zone to close out the first quarter.
Mandal immediately found Rayshon “Speedy” Luke open to his right and Speedy did the rest, weaving through the Hornets defense for 18 yards and the first score of the 2026 season for Fresno State.
The next drive, Mandal only needed one play. The redshirt junior slinged it deep to the right finding a streaking Ezekiel Avit for 73 yards. Mandal then found tight end Gavin Correia open for a two-point conversion to give the ‘Dogs a 15-0 lead.
As good as the offense was in the second quarter, it was the defense setting them up. A Martin Owusu sack and a Simeon Harris interception stopped back-to-back Hornets drives and gave the Bulldogs very competitive field advantage en route to rushing touchdowns from Mandal and Donelson. A 51-yard field goal from new kicker Manaki Watanabe closed out a 32-0 quarter going into halftime.
Fresno State had one goal and one goal only in the second half: run Sacramento State into the ground. The Bulldogs were successful in that aspect with two more touchdown runs from Donelson in the third quarter, including a 56-yard run. The junior carried the ball 13 times for 102 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday.
“He’s running differently than I saw last season,” Entz said. “He did a great job making the safety miss on that first outside zone that we ran.”
Entz made sure to credit the offensive line as well, a unit that was improved from a week ago.
With the game in hand, Entz turned to Maryland transfer Khristian Martin to lead the offense in the fourth quarter. Watanabe kicked another field goal midway through the fourth quarter. Entz was a little coy when asked about his new boot.
“You’re lucky you saw him tonight,” Entz said.
Dylan Hampson (“great motor”) continued to draw praise from his coaches this week, including Entz, who also mentioned Maverick Noonan (6 tackles) as impact players defensively against the Hornets.
“Number 95 for us played well. It was good that we got a lot of people, a lot of reps. A lot of those guys late in the game are on our scout team, our developmental team during the week, they don’t get a lot of publicity. They don’t get a lot of attention. So it was fun to see those guys out there compete, and fun to see our starters and our our guys who take the bulk of the reps in it still at the end cheering on their teammates,” Entz said.
What’s next
Fresno State heads north to face rival and former Mountain West foe San Jose State (2-1) next Saturday, Sept. 19 (8:00 p.m. kickoff) for the Battle of the Valley Trophy. The Spartans defeated Cal Poly 30-20 this weekend. Their lone loss came at USC during week 0.
Fresno State defeated the Spartans 41-14 last November in Silicon Valley. Harris remembers that game vividly. Harris had one of five picks that night for the ‘Dogs.
“You know they’re going to throw the ball,” Harris said. “We’re going to come away with some big takeaways, and we’re going to stop that run. So it’s exciting to go back down there, bring the Valley Trophy, and just bring it back on the bus with us.”
The Bulldogs return to Valley Children’s Stadium to finish non-conference play on Sept. 26 to host Rice. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Recap written by Al Scott, photos by Ryan Sepulveda.