Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
San Jose State
Dogs Down Rival Spartans
10/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 23, 2010
SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Bulldog football team continued their dominance over longtime rival San Jose State with a solid 33-18 Western Athletic Conference road victory to mark the 16th win in the past 17 meetings on a rainy Saturday night in the Bay Area.
Robbie Rouse dashed for 116 yards and scored two touchdowns and receiver Isaiah Burse threw for a touchdown on a flashy reverse in the Bulldogs' third WAC win of the 2010 season and fifth victory of the year. Fresno State (5-2, 3-1 WAC) bolted to a 20-0 lead and never looked back.
Kevin Goessling kicked a career-high four field goals, which marked the first time a Bulldog launched four in a single game since Asen Apsparuhov did so in 2002. Goessling connected on all four of his attempts (43, 44, 37 and 29) and extended his school-record successful PATs to 116 straight.
Fresno State returned to their running game and consistently attacked on the ground and through the air. The Dogs tallied 185 rushing yards and Ryan Colburn delivered a 10 of 18 performance for 125 passing yards.
Jordan La Secla threw for 292 yards and touchdown passes of 46 and 63 yards for the Spartans (1-7, 0-3), who lost their fifth straight against one of the nation's most demanding schedules.
The Bulldogs will have a bye week and next play at Louisiana Tech on Nov. 6. Fresno State returns to Bulldog Stadium on Nov. 13 when the Nevada Wolf Pack come to town.
POSTGAME NOTES AND QUOTES
Head Coach Pat Hill: "Give a lot of credit to San Jose State. They played hard tonight and never quit. Winning any game in college football is tough and getting a win on the road is good for our team. We certainly weren't at peak performance tonight. We have a lot of young players and are a work in progress, but this was a good win."
"The good news is we have two weeks. The players are going to get a few days off and the coaches staff has will have some time to prepare for our next few opponents. The next two weeks will be important for our team to improve. We have some things we need to clean up, but we can work on them. They are fixable. We can get some guys healthy and get ready for a run in November. We control our own destiny and are looking forward to that."
"We had some young guys who really stepped up tonight. Isaiah Burse and Rashad Evans Jalen Saunders all made some big plays tonight. Defensively we gave up a couple big plays but for the most part we really did a good job. Our special teams were really outstanding. We stoned them on the two reverses on kickoffs and recovered three on-side kicks. I've never been in a game with that many and we got them all. Kevin Goessling was good when we needed him to be."
BULLDOG NOTES
- This was the 75th meeting in the series that began in 1921. The Dogs lead the all-time series 39-33-3, are now 15-17-1 in games played in San Jose and have won 16 of the last 17 in the series. Fresno State has outscored the Spartans 118-48 in the last four games combined.
- Fresno State is 9-1 in its last 10 October games.
- Fresno State outgained the Spartans 473-119 on the ground in the last three games combined, hold the Spartans to negative rushing yards in 2008 (-5) and
- Senior center Joe Bernardi didn't play due to an injury. Bernardi is the second starting senior offensive lineman to miss action this season. Andrew Jackson was injured in the Utah State game and not played since. Despite not playing Bernardi was selected a game captain. His father, Gary, is San Jose State's offensive line coach. Richard Helepiko earned his first career start in Bernardi's absence.
- Bulldog senior quarterback Ryan Colburn is nearing the all-time Top 10 list of most career passing yards. After starting 19 games in his career, he has thrown for 3,899 yards. Danny Robinson is 10th on the career list with 4,258 passing yards.
- Junior Kevin Goessling made his eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th field goals of the season and ran his career total to 40. He made kicks of 43, 44, 37 and 29 yards in the game and has made 40-of-50 in his career including 31 of his last 35 attempts with eight straight. Goessling has also made 116 consecutive PATs in his career, extending his Bulldog record.
- Senior end Chris Carter added to his sack total with two in the game. Carter entered the weekend ranked No. 2 in the WAC and fifth in the NCAA with 7.0 sacks. Carter now has 17.5 sacks in his career, nine this season, and moved into the Bulldog career Top 10 list. He moved past team mate Logan Harrell for the WAC lead.
- Junior defensive tackle Logan Harrell picked up another sack, giving him 8.5 on the season when he dropped Jordan LaSecla in the second quarter. He entered the game ranked fourth in the NCAA in sacks.
- Freshman receiver Isaiah Burse completed his first career pass on a 43-yard reverse pass to Rashad Evans in the third quarter to give the Bulldogs a 20-0 lead. It was Evans' second touchdown reception of the season.
- Quarterback Ryan Colburn's 28-yard run in the third quarter was the longest of his career. His previous best was 25 yards last season at Illinois.
- Sophomore Jermaine Thomas made his second career interception and first of the season. It was the third of the year for the Dogs. Desia Dunn and Phillip Thomas had the others.
- Sophomore Robbie Rouse scored two touchdowns in the game marking the second straight week he's had two in a game and third time in his young career.
- Linebacker Shawn Plummer made his first start of the season.
"We Are Your Team!" Fresno State returns to action against WAC foe Louisiana Tech on on Saturday, Nov. 6, at 1 p.m. PT. Follow the game on WAC Sports Net, KMJ Radio and ESPN Deportes. The next home game for the Bulldogs is Nov. 13 vs. Nevada. Tickets for that game are available by clicking the tickets icon at the top of this page.
