Fresno State Athletics
Defense, Special Teams Spark Fresno State
9/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 29, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State football coach Pat Hill told his team at halftime to find a way to win the game. Thanks to big plays by the defense and special team the Bulldogs did just that as they beat Louisiana Tech 17-6 at Bulldog Stadium.
"You are always happy when you win," Hill said. "It is important for our young team to keep progressing and a win is very important to us. We just have to win. It doesn't matter how it happens. But in the locker room at halftime, this football team made a commitment to find a way to win. Through special teams and short field scores we made that happen tonight."
Although the offense got off to a slow start, a 56-yard kick off return by A.J. Jefferson to open the second half and a 34-yard punt return by Clifton Smith set up all the points Fresno State needed to pull out its first conference victory.
After Jefferson took the opening kick off of the third quarter to the Louisiana Tech 33-yard line, Clint Stitser connected on a 45-yard field to cut the deficit to 6-3.
On the ensuing kick off, the Bulldog special teams unit pinned Louisiana Tech on their own 12-yard line. The Fresno State defense forced a punt that set up the go-ahead touchdown, a 27-yard reception by Jason Crawley with 7:43 to play in the quarter.
Along with the play of special teams, the Bulldog defense held La. Tech to 12 total yards in the third quarter.
"We are supposed to keep the other team from scoring," Fresno State linebacker Marcus Riley said. "We were going for the shut out in the second half. We just were hoping our offense would score once then we would shut them out and win the game."
Fresno State scored an insurance touchdown on its first possession of the fourth quarter after Smith returned a punt 34 yards to the La. Tech 37-yard line. Smith later scored the final touchdown from six yards out.
"Our special teams set us up twice for 10 points," Hill said. "That is the way we have to do things. We have to get ourselves on a short field. Our special teams improved a lot from the Oregon game"
After the offense took advantage of the short field situations in the second half, the defense took care of the rest. The Bulldogs had seven eight sacks for the game. Tyler Clutts and Jon Monga had career highs with four and three apiece.
"The hitting was great tonight," Hill said. "It was a hard hitting football game by both teams."
Hill also credited the play of his punter Kyle Zimmerman who pinned Louisiana Tech three times insides the 20-yard line in the first half.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - Fresno State Football travels to play at Nevada on October 6th at 1 p.m. See the game on BSN, the Bulldog Sports Network (KFRE CW 59, KUVI in Bakersfield, and Comcast Sports Net) starting at 12:30 p.m. with the Bulldog Blitz pregame show. The game can also be heard on the radio on KMJ 580AM, the flagship station for Bulldog football and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes 1600AM. The next home game is Saturday, October 20th on Homecoming as the Bulldogs take on San Jose State. For tickets, go to the ticket page at www.gobulldogs.com, call 559-278-DOGS or stop by the Bulldog Ticket Office.
