For the third straight week, a not-so-pretty start to the game ending with Bulldogs celebrating in victorious fashion.
Three Jayden Mandal touchdowns and a strong rushing attack were enough for Fresno State (3-1) in its 38-24 win over the Rice Owls (1-3) on Saturday at Valley Children’s Stadium.
Mandal finished the night with 267 total yards and a trio of passing touchdowns. He also had zero turnovers for the third straight week. His running back Rayshon Luke was confident in Mandal even after the Week 1 loss at USC, citing “11 games to prove Jayden deserved to be the Quarterback.” Luke echoed those comments again tonight.
“He should be the starting quarterback. You see why he should be playing. I think it’s very simple. Jaden comes in here every day ready to work. I love that kid,” Luke said.
It’s also three straight games without a turnover for Mandal and the offense, something Entz is trying to stay aloof on.
“I don’t think we should talk about it because I don’t want to hex anything,” Entz said. “We’ve gone three games. That’s a win. It’s big. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort on being you know ball security because I think we all know that there’s a couple other games last year that you know coulda woulda shoulda, but we turned the ball over too much.”
Key players
- Jayden Mandal (FS): 22-for-34, 210 yards, 3 TD, 5 carries, 57 yards
- Rayshon Luke (FS): 14 touches, 177 total yards, TD
- Tytus Khajavi (FS): 4 tackles, 2 sacks
- Jaccuri Brown (Rice): 8-for-17, 119 yards, 19 carries, 141 yards, 2 total TD
- AJ Brown (Rice): 8 tackles, 1 pass defended
What happened
Fresno State’s first quarter offensive issues plagued them again on Saturday night, limited to just 39 yards over 14 plays. The Bulldogs have yet to score in the first quarter this season.
Rice was moving down the field on the first drive before Bulldog nickel Simeon Harris picked up on the read, intercepting Owls Quarterback Jacurri Brown. Harris is now tied for the FBS lead with nine career interceptions.
The next drive, Rice running back Ben Grice found an open lane on the right side and the rest was history: 88 yards to pay dirt and a 7-0 lead for the Owls.
The Bulldogs opened the second quarter with an 8-play, 69-yard drive ending in a Mandal to Josiah Freeman touchdown connection for the second straight game, this one for six yards on a slant pass.
Brown matched Mandal with a touchdown scoring drive of his own, connecting with Max Mosey for 40 yards to give the Owls a 14-7 lead.
Late in the half, Mandal escaped pressure for a 21-yard run for a first down. Two plays later he found a streaking Jahlil McClain down the left side of the field for a 28-yard touchdown.
Rice marched back up the field, setting up a 22-yard field goal to take a 17-14 lead into halftime. The Owls had 254 yards rushing in the first half.
A flip switched at halftime and the Bulldogs who were 13.5 point favorites entering the game, started to look like it, and then some.
An onside recovery to open the half gave the Bulldogs great field position, leading to a 29-yard Manaki Watanabe field goal to tie the game.
On the sixth play of the Owls opening drive, Fresno State brought the pressure on third down where linebacker Tytus Khajavi sacked Brown, poking the ball free in the process. Edge Dylan Hampsten recovered the fumble. Khajavi finished with four tackles, including two sacks.
“Consistency shows up. His preparation is really good. He has a tremendous understanding of the game,” Entz said. “ He’s a selfless player, all about his football, all about his teammates, and that’s why he has success. He’s worked hard.”
Using the good field position, Mandal found Avit open twice on the drive, including for seven yards and a score to give the Bulldogs a 24-17 lead.
The ‘Dogs ended the quarter by forcing a three-and-out, giving the offense the ball back in a near perfect third period.
The two teams traded rushing touchdowns in the fourth, with Julius Gillick and Brown trading scores. It was a long 52-yarder run by Rayshon Luke that was the nail in the coffin for the Bulldogs to go ahead 38-24. Luke finished the night with a career best 167 yards rushing (177 total yards) after a showish start to the season.
“All glory to God,” Luke said smiling. “It feels really good because I always ask questions, like God why? These first few games, I’m always just asking why, but I just keep working, putting my head down and trusting the process.”
He would have had over 200 if it weren’t for him being called out of bounds on his 45-yard (could have been 75) run in the second half. Speedy insisted he never went out.
It was not all sunshine and rainbows, despite the win, the Bulldogs still allowed 463 yards to the Owls, including 344 on the ground and the first quarter scoring woes continue to plague them.
Brown finished with two touchdowns and 260 total yards. He had a couple other plays called back for penalties that would have had him well over 300 yards. Entz after the game called Brown “one of the top-2 players” he’s ever had to defend against as a coach.
“Tremendous athlete, made a lot of plays just with his legs when you know we thought we had some pressure on him at different times and he just took off running. They’re going to win some ball games because of him,” Entz said.
Entz added that the no scoring in the first quarter isn’t a concern for him for now, citing opportunities over results as a priority for the offense.
Injury update
Left tackle Brayden Walton, linebacker Logan Studt and Harold Duvall all missed Saturday but were walking around in good spirits. Studt injured himself earlier this week at practice.
Right guard Gino Quinones also left the game on Saturday, joining Walton, Jonah Leaupepetele and Braylen Henderson with lingering injury issues on the offensive line.
What’s next
The Bulldogs will begin Pac-12 conference play next week on the road in Pullman on Saturday, Oct. 3 at Washington State. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
Fresno State will return home to Valley Children’s Stadium on October 10, for Homecoming and Boots & Buckles as they welcome the rival Boise State Broncos. The Bulldogs will also be inducting legendary offensive lineman and Fresno State alum Logan Mankins that evening into the Ring of Honor at halftime.
Game recap written by Al Scott, photos captured by Evan Hernandez (Fresno Sports Magazine). For more pictures and updates on Fresno State Athletics, follow @AlScott1998 on Twitter (X) or @AlScottSports on IG.