Good year or bad year, it doesn’t seem to matter for the San Diego State versus Fresno State rivalry in recent years. The Aztecs simply have the ‘Dogs number.
For the third time in four years and three consecutive matchups, San Diego State has defeated Fresno State, following its 26-23 victory over Fresno State on Saturday night to keep the Old Oil Can in San Diego. A “frustrated” Matt Entz spoke to the media after the game.
“I’m at a loss for words for why it takes us to the second quarter to get going? We change things up. We try different things. We just have to keep working,” Entz said. “We’re a better team than the product we put out there.”
The loss drops Fresno State to 4-3 (1-2) on the season.
Key players
- Bryson Donelson (FS): 13 carries, 62 yards, TD
- K’Vion Thunderbird (FS): 9 tackles, 1 TFL
- Lucky Sutton (SDSU): 18 carries, 110 yards
- Tano Letuli (SDSU): 11 tackles, sack
What happened
After forcing a three-and-out, San Diego State took over and handed it off to starting tailback Lucky Sutton for gains of 8 and 4 yards apiece, making his return after missing two games. Fresno State forced a punt though, thanks to a 3rd down sack from Martin Owusu.
The ‘Dogs appeared to be moving down the field with momentum, getting first downs from Bryson Donelson and Jake Appleget. Quarterback Jayden Mandal then found Brock Lium open.
San Diego State linebacker Sione Hala poked the ball free though, giving the Aztecs the ball on Fresno State’s 32-yard line. The Aztecs would get on the board first with a 32-yard field goal from senior place kicker Cooper DiLeva.
The Aztecs got the ball back a couple minutes later and on the sixth play of the drive, Quarterback Jayden Denegal made a deep throw down the right sideline, finding wide receiver Jaylon Hawkins streaking open for a 52-yard touchdown, giving them a 10-0 lead with 1:58 remaining in the first quarter.
Fresno State finished the first quarter with just 33 yards, to the Aztecs 135.
“We can’t get down 13-0 and then anticipate. It’s never going to be easy getting back. We have to come up with a way where we can start faster. I’ve seen us start faster in games, like we did a week ago,” Entz said.
The two teams traded field goals early in the second quarter to make it 13-3. Manaki Watanabe’s 51-yarder made him the first Bulldog in program history with four 50+ yard field goal makes in a single season.
Denegal left the game midway through the second quarter, replaced by redshirt freshman transfer Stone Saunders. His first play resulted in a muffed snap recovered by Fresno State EDGE Dylan Hampsten. Facing a third and three, Mandal kept the ball and ran up the middle for a gain of 16 and a first. Bryson Donelson followed it up with a gain of 11 before rushing four yards to the left for six points.
The Aztecs went into halftime with just a 16-10 lead despite out-gaining the Bulldogs 201-121.
San DIego State opened the second half with a long drive, but a missed field goal this time from DiLeva kept the game at 16-10. The momentum shift is exactly what the Bulldogs needed.
Mandal led Fresno State on a 10-play, 75-yard drive, including a 19-yard reverse run by wide receiver Ezekiel Avit. The next play was a fake reverse for Mandal handed it off to redshirt freshman running back Julius Gillick who only had one man to beat on the right side as he ran in for a 7-yard rushing touchdown, the third time he has found the end zone this season to make it 17-16 Bulldogs.
San Diego State opened the fourth quarter with a 67-yard run from Sutton. Two plays later, Saunders found do-it-all receiver Bert Emanuel Jr. for a 24-yard gain to the two yard line. After a play that went nowhere and a false start penalty, Emanuel Jr. (at quarterback) dumped it off to wide receiver Jordan Napier for a seven-yard race to the left pylon and a touchdown to give the Aztecs a 23-17 lead.
On second and ten with less than six minutes left in the game, Mandal connected on a deep shot to Avit who won out despite triple-coverage. It set up another Gillick rushing touchdown but a missed extra point by Watanabe kept the game tied at 23 apiece.
San Diego State steadily moved the ball down the field on a drive that took off nearly four minutes, including a critical 26-yard pass from Saunders to Napier. It was just enough to set up a 53-yarder from DiLeva to win the game.
The Bulldogs got one last drive but a sack on the first play killed any momentum Fresno State may have had left from its previous drive. Mandal completed 13-of-25 passes for 141 yards on the night.
What’s next
Fresno State will get some rest with its bye next week.
“The resolve of the team is tremendous, we just need to be more opportunistic,” Entz said. “We got to get better at the simple things, better at tackling, better at blocking, better at communication, better at all the alignment assignment things, things that win games.”
Following the bye, Fresno State will return home to Valley Children’s Stadium on Saturday, October 31, for a late night Halloween battle with the Oregon State Beavers (5-2, 3-0).
Game recap written by Al Scott, photos captured by Evan Bradley (Fresno Sports Magazine). For more pictures and updates on Fresno State Athletics, follow @AlScott1998 on Twitter (X) or @AlScottSports on IG.