When I first signed on to the NCAA online dynasty, I threw my lot in with the expectation of being 0-fer against my friends.  Starting the season off 0-4, my Fresno State team looked set to match those pitiful expectations.  Since that time, I finally started to turn my steady improvement into wins.  Starting with the win against Chris’s Hawaii team, I knocked off five straight victories including a monumental victory over Mike’s Nevada team, the WAC leader at the time.

At 5-4, my rush looked set to come to an end as Dan brought New Mexico State to Fresno last week.  Dan had been pivotal in helping me figure out how to learn the game though I do wonder about his suggestion that “zone” defenses are good when playing humans because they have a hard time reading the coverage;  My defensive schemes were not particularly effective at shutting down his pass-happy offense.  From the get-go, I was extremely nervous about playing the resident NCAA expert even during the relatively calm first few quarters.  When the game turned into a action-packed shootout in the fourth quarter, I figured that not only would I lose the game for sure but I would probably also have a heart attack before it ended.  Against all odds, my crazy streak of upsets continued when I eked out a 38-35 victory in OT.  Recap follows.

Second half fireworks end with the sixth consecutive Fresno State victory
Reported by The Collegian Online

FRESNO, Calif. — Fresno State survived both a torrential downpour as well as an unexpected second half shoot-out to send the New Mexico State Aggies home on the wrong end of a 38-35 OT victory.  This marks the sixth straight victory for the Fresno State Bulldogs after an 0-4 start.

Fresno State deferred the kick and New Mexico State immediately put their high-powered offense to work.  Coach Dawson entered the league as a relative neophyte to the nuances of WAC football and Coach Mazza had become Coach Dawson’s go-to guy for advice on defensive play calling.   The underlying story to this game was whether Coach Mazza had held anything back in the numerous clinics Coach Dawson had attended.  Many though just that as NMSU drove down the field with the Aggies quarterback, Chase Holbrook, finding open receivers on every key down.  Fresno State felt fortunate to end that withering 11-play drive having surrendered only a field goal.

Fresno State seemed to have their own tricks ready as the Coaches tried to out-think each other.  Coming into the game as a run-first offense, Coach Mazza knew just what to expect when the first play from scrimmage had Tom Brandstater, the Bulldogs quarterback, handing off to Ryan Matthews.  Coach Dawson has other plans and Brandstater executed an excellent play-action and hit Chastin West over the top where he ran untouched 56 yards for the TD.

Brandstater play-action to West

Despite having virtually no time to catch their breath between possessions, the NMSU offense methodically worked its way down the field and into the redzone.  However, Holbrook threw his first of two interceptions and the Fresno State defense was finally able to come off the field for more than a few seconds.  At this point, Ryan Matthews got going and managed to grind out a few first downs for the Bulldogs.  The drive stalled around midfield however and the Bulldogs punted into the endzone.  NMSU retained possession until the game went to the half with the score 7-3 in favor of Fresno State.

Fresno State received the ball to start the 2nd half.  Not normally known for their big play ability, Fresno State had their second 50+ yard play shortly into the drive.   Ryan Matthews took a hand-off on a counter and took it up the middle 58 yards for a touchdown, the longest run of the season for the Fresno State.  14-3 Fresno State.

Matthews 58 yard rush for TD

The Aggies weren’t ready to throw in the towel and the two-score lead quickly vanished as Holbrook slung completion after completion and finally found a gap in the zone coverage to rifle his pass to a wide-open receiver in the end zone.  Confident in his ability and trailing by five, Coach Mazza called for a two-point conversion and got it with little effort from a quick slant pass.  14-11.

On the Fresno State sidelines, dread started to creep in as it seemed the Fresno State defense simply would not be able to stop the Aggies from scoring at will.  After the game, Coach Dawson was quoted as saying “We had planned on our defense being the offense — run, run, and run some more.  Burn the clock up and keep their offense off the field.”.  He continued, “Obviously, that didn’t happen and it should have cost us.  Their offense is not something I would wish on any defense.”

As it turned out, the defense wouldn’t get a breather quite yet.  Chastin West made his second huge play of the game when he took the NMSU kickoff all the way back for a touchdown.  21-11 but the Fresno State defense looked ready to collapse.

West kickoff return for TD

At the start of the fourth quarter, New Mexico State responded with a huge kickoff return of their own, making it to the FSU 20 before being stopped.  A few short plays later and they found a receiver in the end zone to make it 21-18. 

Brandstater prematurely ended the following Fresno State drive when he threw a pass in the vicinity of Paden, the ball-hawking middle linebacker for NMSU.   The Aggies took advantage of the interception and grabbed their first of the game, 25-21, after yet another touchdown pass.  The fourth quarter was to see another pair of lead exchanges against two very wearied defenses, 28-25, then 32-28.  As the touchdowns mounted, all semblance of defense seemed to disappear completely.  With just over two minutes to play, Fresno State got the ball and proceeded to work the clock and take advantage of the NMSU defense using a relentless rushing attack.  Matthews carried his team down into NMSU territory where Brandstater pulled off his second key play-action pass of the game, this time to Bear Pascoe, the star tightend.  Though tackled just short of the end zone, the Bulldogs finished the drive off and went up 35-32 leaving 40 seconds on the clock.

Brandstater play-action to Pascoe

Again and again, Holbrook showed why he should be in competition for the Heisman.  Throwing several corner strikes, the nations #2 quarterback brought his team as quickly as he could down the field.  Unfortunately, as the clock ran down, Coach Mazza was forced to call his final timeout and bring his kicker on the field for a 39-yard field goal try.  Derided by many of the Aggies fans, the struggling NMSU kicker stepped up when it counted and knocked it in.  With maybe an inch to spare, NMSU’s field goal somehow crossed over the post and pushed the game to overtime.

With the start of overtime, Fresno State deferred again.  Holbrook continued his surgical dismantling of the FSU defense until CB Rashad Evans stepped in front of a pass and made a game-finishing interception, Holbrooks second and most devastating turnover of the day.  On their heels for most of the day, the Fresno State defense managed to win the turnover battle and the game for FSU.  The Fresno State offense wasted no time with converted one first down but shortly thereafter brought on their kicker for the game winning field goal.  As the kick sailed through, both teams seemed to collapse in exhaustion after an exhilarating final 10 minutes of play.  Final score: 38 Fresno State, 35 New Mexico State.

This game matched up run versus pass and the importance of turnovers.  Fresno State won the turnover battle with the pick in OT while only managing 10 first downs to New Mexico States 18.  New Mexico State eschewed the run completely, going 4 for -1 yards while completing 33 of 44 passes for 374 yards.  In contrast, Fresno State called few pass plays but managed to achieve significant yardage on the ground, running 25 times for 155 yards.

Despite Fresno State’s undefeated status, parity remains the key storyline of the WAC this season.  The following games were all decided by exactly three points: Fresno State/Hawaii, Fresno State/Nevada, Fresno State/New Mexico State, Hawaii/La Tech, New Mexico State/Nevada, New Mexico State/Boise State, Boise State/San Jose State, and Boise State/Utah State.  Nevada has also managed to lose two tight games to ranked teams including a 3 points loss to current #1 Missouri.   Fresno State has put itself in a great position to win the WAC title though they still have two tough opponents remaining in Boise State and San Jose State to close out the season.

New Mexico State is surprisingly out of the running for the WAC title after a promising start to the season.  The once popular pick to run the table, three straight in-conference losses have doomed their chances.  Coach Mazza is expected to rest his squad for the rest of the season and let some of his younger players get some playing time as he closes out against once ranked but dropping La Tech and unheralded Utah State.

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Team stats:
1st downs: NMSU (18) FSU (10)
3rd downs: NMSU (5 for 7) FSU (2 for 4)
Rushing: NMSU (4 for -1, 0 TD) FSU (25 for 155, 3 TD)
Passing: NMSU (33-44 for 374, 4 TD, 2 INT) FSU (6-9 for 131, 1 TD, 1 INT)
TOP: NMSU (11:46) FS (8:49)

Game stars:
FSU HB Ryan Mathews – 23 carries for 146 yards, 3 TD
FSU WR Chastin West – 2 catches, 76 yards 1 TD, 92 yard Kickoff Return for TD
NMSU QB Chase Holbrook – 33 for 44, 374 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs
NMSU WR Bryant Williams – 13 catches for 185 yards, 0 TDs