Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Nevada
Bulldogs Open Season with Victory Against Nevada, 28-19
9/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 1, 2006
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FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -Dwayne Wright rushed for 158 yards in his first game in nearly two years, scoring his third touchdown on an outstanding 9-yard run with 6:55 left in Fresno State's 28-19 victory over Nevada on Friday night.
Tom Brandstater passed for 124 yards and a score in his first start for the Bulldogs, who opened their season with a Western Athletic Conference victory that snapped Nevada's five-game winning streak from last season.
The meeting of two WAC powers was a high-stakes way to open the year, but Fresno State had just enough offensive consistency to hold on after Nevada trimmed a 15-point lead to 21-19 early in the fourth quarter.
Mike McCoy caught two TD passes from Jeff Rowe for the Wolf Pack, who won their final four WAC games and the Hawaii Bowl last season while sharing the conference title with Boise State. Rowe passed for 183 yards, and Robert Hubbard rushed for 103 - but Nevada's defense never quite stopped Wright.
Wright had a 1,000-yard campaign in 2003, but missed most of the last two seasons with a knee injury. He hadn't played since Sept. 11, 2004, but the junior made several thrilling runs - including a 40-yard TD sprint - in his first game as the one-man replacement for last season's tailback tandem of Wendell Mathis and Bryson Sumlin.
Fresno State's young offense relied on him heavily, with 26 carries - and Wright saved his best run for the final moments. With roughly 7 minutes to play, Wright broke five tackles and lunged across the goal line as the Bulldog Stadium crowd roared to its feet.
Tyler Clutts sacked Rowe at the Fresno State 25 with 20 seconds left to end it.
Brandstater, a strong-armed redshirt sophomore, was every Fresno State fan's favorite quarterback last season when four-year starter Paul Pinegar struggled, but he played only mop-up minutes before winning the quarterback competition in training camp last month.
Brandstater's first appearance seemed to be worthy of the hype: Hitting receivers with precision and poise, he went 16-of-24 and led a scoring drive in every quarter. His 6-yard TD fade to Joe Fernandez in the first quarter was perfectly placed.
Last season, Nevada snapped a six-game losing streak in this 83-year-old rivalry with an upset victory over the 16th-ranked Bulldogs, who nearly upset top-ranked USC one week earlier. The loss plunged the Bulldogs into a season-ending slide of four straight defeats, while the Wolf Pack went on to a WAC title and a bowl win.
But Rowe appeared more inexperienced than Brandstater in the first half, throwing over the heads of several open receivers while going 4-for-11. He still pulled Nevada within 14-6 just 37 seconds before halftime when he completed a 23-yard TD pass to McCoy just an instant before getting knocked out of bounds by linebacker Alan Goodwin.
Fresno State blocked the extra point attempt. Nevada then fumbled a simple handoff on its opening drive of the second half, and Wright broke through the line for a 40-yard score on the Bulldogs' next play.
But McCoy caught a 21-yard scoring pass late in the third quarter, and Nevada pulled within 21-19 on Luke Lippincott's 1-yard TD plunge early in the fourth.
