Fresno State showcases big-play power in win over Sac State

If college football was broken down by weight class like boxing — but grouped by program budget size, not pounds — Fresno State could argue it has one of the better teams “pound for pound.”

One week after hanging closely for three quarters but losing to heavyweight program and defending national champion Michigan, middleweight Fresno State tried to quickly knock out lightweight program Sacramento State.

The Bulldogs scored a 75-yard touchdown a mere 10 seconds into the game to get the celebration going early Saturday night at Valley Children’s Stadium.

And though the Bulldogs wouldn’t connect with continuous big-play punches throughout the night to record a landslide victory, Fresno State landed enough strong blows to prevail 46-30 before an announced sellout crowd of 41,031.

Fresno State (1-1), which won a regular-season game for the first time under interim coach Tim Skipper, locked up a 19th straight victory against a Football Championship Subdivision program since 2000, and moved to 5-0 all-time against the Hornets.

It was just a year ago that Sac State pulled off a 30-23 upset against heavyweight program Stanford.

So it wasn’t a complete certainty that Fresno State, with its $42 million athletic department budget , would beat Sac State, which has a $5 million budget .

Sac State even threatened early in the second half and reduced Fresno State’s lead to eight points.

But the Bulldogs kept the Hornets off-balanced just enough, whether by making a big play on offense or special teams, forcing a turnover or converting in a critical moment.

All the while, Fresno State seemed to feed off the energy and excitement of playing its first home game of the season, as well as the optimism that remains after opening the year with a 30-10 loss on the road to Michigan and its $254 million athletic budget .

Fresno State gave the sellout crowd immediate reason to cheer Saturday when quarterback Mikey Keene aired out a 75-yard touchdown to receiver Mac Dalena on the first play from scrimmage.

Then midway through the first quarter, the Bulldogs scored on another big play when Jalen Moss returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown that placed Fresno State ahead 15-3.

The score helped Moss redeem himself after getting stripped and fumbling the ball on his previous punt return.

Moss’ punt return touchdown marked the fourth time Fresno State scored on a punt or kick return since special teams coach John Baxter returned to the Bulldogs in 2022. In the eight seasons combined prior to Baxter’s rejoining the Bulldogs, Fresno State never scored on a punt or kick return.

By halftime, Fresno State led 25-10 with the Bulldogs’ third touchdown of the half scored on a Malik Sherrod 2-yard run up the middle and set up by a 23-yard pass and 19-yard pass from Keane.

But Fresno State’s lead got shrunk to 25-17 after Sac State put together a seven-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Carson Conklin to Erza Moleni.

Fresno State distanced itself toward the end of the third quarter, though, when Keene threw a 1-yard touchdown pass on fourth down.

Keene faked a handoff run then slowly rolled out right before gently tossing to a wide open Tyler Mello, the Hanford native who’s typically a linebacker but used as a fullback in the special package.

The route was on there after, with Fresno State scoring another touchdown on a Sherrod 1-yard run. The score was set up by another deep ball from Keene to Dalena, this time for 41 yards and down to the Hornets 9-yard line.

Fresno State in all made eight plays that generated at least 15 yards.

Keene, who seemed to be more comfortable throwing the ball down field than connecting intermediate passes, finished 23 of 34 for 356 yards and two touchdowns to two interceptions.

Dalena hauled in seven catches for 235 yards and one touchdown.

Moss made six catches for 76 yards.

And Sherrod added 54 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.

Defensively, Fresno State’s Tuasivi Nomura provided a game-high 11 tackles. Teammate Kosi Agina added five tackles and forced a fumble.

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