Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Louisiana Tech
Fresno State Tops Louisiana Tech In WAC Opener, 17-6
9/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 29, 2007
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- Jason Crawley scored the go-ahead touchdown and Fresno State controlled the second half to defeat Louisiana Tech 17-6 on Saturday night.
Clifton Smith added a fourth-quarter touchdown run for Fresno State (2-2 overall, 1-0 Western Athletic Conference). The Bulldogs improved to 10-1 in WAC openers under coach Pat Hill.
Lonyae Miller, Ryan Mathews and Smith combined for 139 rushing yards as Fresno State got its ground game going in the second half after trailing 6-0 at halftime.
Louisiana Tech, making its second West Coast trip in two weeks after visiting Cal on Sept. 15, dropped to 1-3, 0-2.
Fresno State trailed throughout the game until Crawley caught a short pass from Tom Brandstater and spun away from Shalamar Walker at the 15. The resulting 27-yard touchdown put the Bulldogs ahead 10-6 with 7:43 left in the third quarter.
Smith's 6-yard scamper on third-and-goal with 9:51 remaining sealed Fresno State's first victory over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent.
Louisiana Tech lost its third straight game under first-year coach Derek Dooley despite a 21-14 edge in first downs and committing just one penalty and zero turnovers.
Both teams relied on the running game as neither quarterback was particularly accurate. Louisiana Tech's Zac Champion completed 22 of 48 passes for 179 yards, while Brandstater was 8 of 22 for 92 yards and an interception for Fresno State.
Louisiana Tech led 6-0 at halftime on two Danny Horwedel field goals but managed only 92 yards in the second half.
Patrick Jackson had 58 of his game-high 75 rushing yards in the first half for Louisiana Tech.
Fresno State's deepest penetration of the first half came on its final drive but resulted in a punt at the Louisiana Tech 40.
Clint Stitser's 45-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half put Fresno State on the scoreboard after A.J. Jefferson returned the kickoff 56 yards to the Louisiana Tech 33.
Smith helped set up his own touchdown run with a 34-yard punt return to the Louisiana Tech 37 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Postgame Notes
Clutts Big Night, Climbs Sack List
Senior defensive end Tyler Clutts had a career-high four quarterback sacks in the game, giving him 20 for his career. He moved into 6th place on Bulldog career Top 10 list, just one behind Alan Harper (1998-01), who had 21 in his career. The last time a Bulldog made four sacks in a game was Nov. 23, 2002 when Nick Burley had four against San Jose State.
Not Your Average Bear
Junior Bear Pascoe, a candidate for the Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end had another serviceable night with three receptions for 29 yards. For the season, he remains Fresno State top receiver with 17 receptions for 257 yards and four touchdowns.
Kyle's Kicks
Senior punter Kyle Zimmerman had another fine night averaging 39.0 per punt, but was most effective when placing the ball. He downed three in the first half inside the La Tech 10-yard line, one at the 5, giving the Bulldogs from Ruston long fields.
D-Fence
Fresno State's defensive effort Saturday was one of the best in recent history. The Dogs didn't allow a touchdown for the first time since Nov. 18 last season when they shutout Idaho 34-0. In that game, the Vandals had 199 total yards. In tonight's game, Fresno State allowed six points and 282 total yards, but only 93 yards in the second half.
Brown, Beck in Check
La Tech's Philip Beck entered tonight's game leading the NCAA in punt return average, better than 26 yards per return. In tonight's game, the Dogs held Beck in check with just one return for 4 yards in the first half, and a total of three returns for 24 yards, an average of 8 yards per return. Weldon Brown entered the game ranked No. 4 in the NCAA in kickoff return average at 33.2 yards per return. He was held to 7 yards on one return.
Homecoming
Fresno State does not have another home game for three weeks, but will return to Bulldog Stadium for three consecutive games starting Oct. 20 in the Homecoming game against arch-rival San Jose State. Tickets are available for each of the remaining home games, including the season finale against Big 12 foe Kansas State. The Wildcats defeated No. 7 Texas 41-21 Saturday in Austin, Texas.
Noteworthy
Sophomore Jason Crawley scored his first touchdown of the season and his first since Nov. 25, 2006, also against Louisiana Tech ... Jon Monga's career-high three sacks of quarterback Zac Champions gave him four for the season, tying him with Clutts for the most on the team ... sophomore cornerback Damion Owens and freshman center Joe Bernardi made their first career starts ... linebacker Eric Brown, son of defensive coordinator Dan Brown, was on two Bulldog special teams, made his first appearance as a Bulldog player ... receiver Marlon Moore had a 20 yard run in the first quarter, the longest of his career. He was later injured and missed the rest of the game ... freshman receiver Tim Lang had a 9 yard run, the first carry of his career. He made his first reception in the last game against Oregon, which went for 34 yards ... after allowing six points in the first quarter tonight, Fresno State has now been outscored 34-13 in the first quarter of games this season ... Darren Newborne had the longest catch of his career in the second quarter, 17 yards ... in his first action as a kick return specialist, A.J. Jefferson opened the second half with a 56 yard return, the longest by the Dogs this season, which led to a Clint Stitser 45 yard field goal ... next week's opponent Nevada scored a touchdown in the final 30 second to defeat its in-state rival UNLV 27-20 today in Reno ... 10 area youth football teams bought more than 500 tickets and attended the game as Fresno State hosted Youth Football Day at Bulldog Stadium.
"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.
