Fresno State
Illinois
Dogs Down Illinois Again
12/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 3, 2010
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Ryan Colburn threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns to help Fresno State beat Illinois 25-23 on Friday night to end the regular season the way it started, with a home victory over a team from a major conference.
The Bulldogs (8-4, 4-3 WAC) earned their 17th win since 2000 against a team from a BCS conference to tie Utah for the most by any school from a non-automatic qualifying conference. Fresno State also beat Cincinnati of the Big East in the season opener.
The Bulldogs improved to 3-6 against Big Ten teams, including last year's 53-52 win at Illinois. This game wasn't nearly as dramatic as that contest, which ended when 350-pound offensive lineman Devan Cunningham caught a deflected pass and made his way into the end zone for the winning 2-point conversion with 2 seconds left.
The Bulldogs got off to a fast start with Colburn throwing a 27-yard TD screen pass to A.J. Ellis on the first drive and then exploiting a blown coverage for a 78-yarder to Jalen Saunders on the first play of the second possession to make it 13-0.
Junior kicker Kevin Goessling increased the Dogs lead with 45-yard field goal putting Fresno State up 16-0. Goessline also nailed a field goal from 52-yards.
The Bulldog defense limited the Illini to 10 points in the first half. Senior Chris Carter tacked on another sack against Illinois bringing his season total to ... He finished the night with three sacks. Safety Lorne Bell led the team in tackles with 10 in his last game at Bulldog Stadium.
Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaasse was sacked four times by the Dogs defense.
The Fighting Illini came within two points after A.J. Jenkins scored on an 18-yard pass from Scheelhaasse
The Bulldogs responded with a touchdown drive of their own, with Colburn throwing a 21-yarder Rashad Evans and Fresno State led 25-17.
Illinois would score again, but the Dogs ran the clock down and earned their eighth win of the season on senior night.
Pat Hill Quotes
"That was a heck of a college football game. We were a little short-handed but I knew we had some guys who would pick up the flag and we did tonight. It was a great team effort. We saw some young Dogs out there really step up and help us against a very good and talented Illinois team. This was a good Big Ten team. This team went into Penn State and won."
"I can't say enough about our seniors and what great leaders they are. Ryan Colburn played great and showed great leadership. He's struggled for a couple of games and it was so nice to see him have this kind if game on senior night."
"We have eight wins and now we will wait to see what happens with the bowl game. I'm very proud of this team. They battled through a lot and this senior class had built a strong bridge to the future. Not many senior classes can say they've been to four straight bowl games."
BULLDOG NOTES
- Fresno State improved to 2-0 against Illinois all-time and is now 3-6 against Big Ten Conference opponents. The Dogs have won seven of their last 10 games against BSC AQ opponents and is 17-15 in the last 32 games from those leagues.
- Fresno State started the game with a 16-0 lead and never trailed.
- Ryan Colburn's 78-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Saunders was the longest pass play of the season for the Dogs and longest since the 2009 season opener vs. Cal Poly when Colburn connected with current Miami Dolphin Marlon Moore for 92 yards.
- Colburn passed for 304 yards and moved past former Bulldog and current Cal head coach Jeff Tedford for eighth place on the career passing list with 5,046 yards. Tedford threw for 4,872 yards from 1981-82. It was Colburn's second 300-yard passing game of the season.
- Junior kicker Kevin Goessling made two field goals in the game extending his current streak to seven games. His 52-yard field goal in the second quarter was the longest of the season, matching the second-longest of his career. He has made 5-of-7 field goals from 50-yards or longer in his career. For his career, he's made 50-of-62 field goals, his 50 field goals rank third-most in Bulldog history.
- Three Bulldogs made their first career starts, senior running back Tracy Slocum, freshman tight end Ryan Boschma and redshirt freshman cornerback L.J. Jones.
- The Dogs came up with four quarterback sacks in the game running their season total to 37. They entered the game ranked 10th in the NCAA in sacks. Getting sacks for the Dogs were Travis Brown, Logan Harrell, Chris Carter and Anthony Williams. Carter leads the WAC with 11 sacks and while Harrell is right behind at 10.5.
- Fresno State didn't have several key starters who were out with injuries: RB Robbie Rouse, CB Desia Dunn, DE Chris Lewis, CB Jermaine Thomas, and RG Andrew Jackson.
- Tonight's game was on ESPN2, a cable channel that is in nearly 100 million households in the United States. It was Fresno State's 74th nationally televised game since the 2000 season.
- Fresno State honored 16 seniors who played their last game at Bulldog Stadium. Cornell Banks, Lorne Bell, Joe Bernardi, Chris Carter, Ryan Colburn, Devan Cunningham, Desia Dunn, Andrew Jackson, Ben Jacobs, Chris Lewis, Sonny McCree, Vince Pascoe, Mark Roberts, Tracy Slocum and Kenny Wiggins made their last appearance in Bulldog uniform. Kenny Borg, who suffered a career-ending injury last season vs. Illinois, was also be honored before the game. This senior class will earn its fourth bowl invitation (the fifth senior class in FS history - all in the Hill era - to accomplish that), has an overall record of 31-19, and is the first senior class to ever produce two Academic All-Americans, Jackson (first team in 2009) and Pascoe (second team in 2010).
- Fresno State is expected to receive a bowl invitation sometime this weekend. It will be the Dogs 11th bowl game in the last 12 seasons.
- Senior linebacker Ben Jacobs started his 51st consecutive game, the longest streak in Bulldog history. Jacobs is just shy of the NCAA record of 54 consecutive starts by former Hawaii center John Estes (2005-08).
"We Are Your Team!" Fresno State will hold its annual awards banquet on Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Fresno Convention Center. The Dogs will await their bowl fate. An announcement is expected this weekend.
