Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
New Mexico State
Dog Defense Dominates Aggies
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 15, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Tom Brandstater ran for two touchdowns, including the game winner in the fourth quarter, as Fresno State held off New Mexico State 24-17 on Saturday.
Fresno State (6-4, 3-3) became bowl eligible by holding New Mexico State (3-7, 1-5) scoreless in the second half and limiting the Aggies to -9 rushing yards.
Brandstater completed 14 of 20 passes for 146 yards and scored both of Fresno State's offensive touchdowns on quarterback sneaks. Tailback Anthony Harding added 101 yards on 23 carries.
Chase Holbrook completed 27 of 38 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown but was sacked five times. Receiver A.J. Harris caught nine passes for 97 yards and a touchdown.
The Aggies have now dropped five straight since a surprising 3-2 start.
Brandstater's second 1-yard touchdown of the game snapped a 17-17 halftime tie and gave the Bulldogs their first lead since early in the second quarter.
New Mexico State drove to the Fresno State 19-yard line on its final possession before Jon Monga sacked Holbrook on fourth-and-6. The Bulldogs took over and successfully ran out the clock, downing a punt inside the Aggies 5 as time expired.
Fresno State limited the Aggies to 183 yards of total offense. The -9 rushing yards for New Mexico State is a Bulldogs school record.
With two road games remaining, Fresno State finished 2-3 this season at Bulldog Stadium. It was the Bulldogs' first losing record at home since 1994.
Fresno State and New Mexico State were tied 17-17 halftime after the Bulldogs blew a scoring chance in the final seconds.
With 6 seconds left, the Aggies stuffed Harding for no gain from just outside the 1 after New Mexico State coach Hal Mumme called consecutive timeouts to scope out Fresno State's play selection.
Big special teams plays on both sides resulted in first-half touchdowns.
After Brandstater's 1-yard sneak tied the game at 10-10 with 12 minutes left in the second quarter, Sharrod Davis put Fresno State ahead by stripping the football away from Marcus Anderson and returning it for a score.
Davis spun around Anderson, took away the football and raced into the end zone for a 17-10 Bulldogs lead. The 25-yard fumble recovery gave Fresno State 14 points in a nine-second span.
New Mexico State came right back to tie the score at 17-17 on Holbrook's 17-yard touchdown pass to Harris with 6:22 left before halftime.
Chris Williams' 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown put New Mexico State ahead 10-3 with 1:05 left in the first quarter. Williams made a nifty move at midfield to elude kicker Ryan Goessling and scored without getting touched.
Goessling and New Mexico State's Kyle Hughes traded field goals to begin the scoring.
Fresno State vs. New Mexico State
Bulldog Stadium
Postgame Notes and Quotes
Nov. 15, 2008
Record-setting Day for the Defense
For a much maligned Bulldog defense, Saturday's game was just what the doctor ordered. The Dogs held New Mexico State to a Fresno State school record negative 9 rushing yards in the game. The previous record was 38 yards by San Diego State in a game at Bulldog Stadium in 2002. The Dogs held New Mexico State to a total of 183 yards, the fewest by a Bulldog opponent since Sept. 1, 2007 when Sacramento State had just 104 yards. Fresno State held the Aggies to 196 total yards under their season average. The Aggies had 192 passing yards, their second-lowest total of the season. The Aggie offense accounted for just 10 points in the game, scoring one of the touchdowns on a kickoff return for a touchdown.
Quick Scores
The Bulldogs used nine seconds to score their first two touchdowns of the game. Tom Brandstater scored at the 12 minute mark of the second quarter on a 1 yard quarterback sneak. On the ensuing kickoff, Bulldog cornerback Sharrod Davis stripped Marcus Anderson of the ball and scored his first career touchdown at the 11:51 mark of the quarter for an elapsed time of nine seconds.
Davis Big Play
The Dogs have not had much success creating turnovers this season, but Sharrod Davis' heads-up play on a New Mexico State kick return was a big play. Davis stripped Marcus Anderson of the ball and took the ball 25 yards for a touchdown that gave the Dogs a 17-10 lead. It was the second fumble return for a TD this season by the Dogs. The first was by Ben Jacobs for 29 yards against Toledo. It was the first time in his Bulldog career Davis got possession of a football.
Bell, Pacheco Back in the Line-up
Junior center Richard Pacheco and sophomore safety Lorne Bell returned to the starting line-up for the first time since the season opener against Rutgers. Pacheco started in place of Devan Cunningham, who was out with an injury, and Bell started in place of Jake Jorde.
Living in the Backfield
Fresno State had season highs for sacks (5) and tackles for losses (9) this season. The Bulldogs entered the game with eight total sacks through the first nine games. Jon Monga, with a career-high three sacks for 23 yards, led the charge. Sophomore Chris Carter has two sacks for 11 yards. Mark Roberts, Kyle Knox, Nick Bates and Chase McEntee also spent time in the Aggie backfield bringing down ball carriers.
Woodward Honored
Long-time Fresno State broadcaster Bill Woodward was honored during ceremonies. Bill Woodward, the radio voice of the Bulldogs on KMJ Radio since 1969, called his last home broadcast today. After 37 years, he's retiring from the broadcast booth, but he will remain a constant voice on the KMJ sports airways. To honor Bill today, Fresno State presented him a commemorative College World Series poster signed by the 2008 National Championship Bulldogs and a framed Fresno State football jersey with the No. 37, for his years of service. In addition, the broadcast booth at Bulldog Stadium was named the Bill Woodward Booth.
Notables
The Dogs have six wins and are now bowl eligible, the ninth time in the last 10 seasons the Bulldog have been bowl eligible ... The Dogs honored 14 seniors who made their final appearance in Bulldog Stadium ... Fresno State held the Aggies to 107 total yards in the first half of the game, the second-lowest total of the season. New Mexico State had 93 yards in the first half earlier this season against Boise State. They entered the game averaging 379.1 total yards and a WAC-best 308.3 passing yards per game. NMSU had 93 passing yards in the first half ... Six of New Mexico State's 10 drives ended with less than 30 yards and five were four plays or less ... the Bulldogs had 36,193 fans at today's game and finished the season with an average of 37,864 fans, better than last year's total of 36,290 fans ... Tom Brandstater's two rushing touchdowns set a career-high. He has four on the season and seven in his career. He's accounted for 53 touchdowns combined (46 passing, 7 rushing) in his career ... Anthony Harding had his second 100-yard rushing game of the season and tied his career-high with 23 rushing attempts. The Dogs are 3-1 this season when a back runs for more than 100 yards in a game ... Fresno State closes the season with consecutive Friday road games on ESPN2, beginning next week against San Jose State and the following Friday at No. 9 Boise State.
Quotes
Head Coach Pat Hill:
"We this was a big win. They all are this time of the year. We are a battered team but we played hard. We were only able to suit up 54 guys for the game, but that's what we have. Some guys tried to play hurt, like Lonyae Miller, but he wasn't ready. I don't know when we will get him back to full strength. We have some other guys we'd like to get back, but right now I don't know when we will, so whoever puts on that red helmet needs to be ready to play."
"I have to give a lot of credit to our defense and Dan Brown. To hold a team to minus 9 yards is a pretty darned good. They are not a team that likes to run the ball, but no matter how you cut it, that was a good effort. It certainly will help the stats (laughs)."
"We still have a lot to play for. We are bowl eligible and right now I don't know what that means for us, but we have a big game next week against a very talented San Jose State team. We know that will be a tough game. We have a short week to get ready for it and I hope we can get some guys back but we'll see."
"That game was an NFL style football game. It was tough yards, a pounding type game. Anthony Harding and Jamaal Rashad both pounded it hard to today. I thought Tom (Brandstater) played well. He managed the game well and showed his toughness playing on that ankle. We have some guys who played with great effort. I was very pleased with our effort tonight."
"I want to thank our fans for coming out tonight. Having over 36,000 fans is pretty good. We are glad they are sticking with us and I hope we can finish this season the way we would like we can set our fans up for another bowl game and that would be great."
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The Dogs travel to San Jose State to take on the Spartans on Friday, November 21, at 6:30 pm. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
