Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Mississippi
Dogs Fall To Ole Miss, 55-38
9/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 26, 2010
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 1 
| Photo Gallery 2
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -Pat Hill was proud of his team for fighting back. In the end the Bulldogs, once down 41-10, dropped a 55-38 loss to Ole Miss Saturday night.
The Rebels (2-2), who wilted in the second half of home losses to Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt, built an insurmountable 41-10 lead early in the third quarter. Ole Miss scored on six of seven offensive series that carried into the second half, erasing an early 7-0 deficit.
Ole Miss rolled up 578 yards of total offense, including 425 on the ground against a Fresno State unit that ranked among the nation's leaders entering the game. The Bulldogs had given up only 272 yards per game and allowed only one touchdown in the second half.
"I was proud of our team for not quiting," said Hill. "Down 41-10, a lot of team would have folded it up. We showed a lot of heart We have some great leadership on this team. We didn't have all of our weapons tonight and I was worried Mississippi would come out and play with their backs against the ball and they did. They are a talented an prideful team. We have three home games in a row and are looking forward to getting home and getting back on track.:
Fresno State (2-1) rallied with Ryan Colburn, who finished 32-for-42 for 390 yards and four touchdowns. The Bulldogs finished with 420 yards in total offense, but were hampered by five sacks, a lost fumble and a blocked field goal attempt.
Jalen Saunders, Jamel Hamler, Austin Raphael and Tapa Taumoepeau had touchdown catches of 16, 9, 3 and 2 yards, respectively, for the Bulldogs. Michael Harris added a 2-yard touchdown run, but Fresno State never got closer than 10 points in the final period.
Ole Miss quarterback Jeremiah Masoli was an efficient 8-for-12 passing for 153 yards with touchdown passes to Melvin Harris for 30 yards and Bolden for four yards. Masoli added 59 rushing yards, including an early 56-yard run that set up the opening touchdown.
Fresno State vs. Ole Miss Sept. 25, 2010 Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
POSTGAME NOTES AND QUOTES
Head Coach Pat Hill: "I am proud of our kids because they never stopped playing," said Hill. "We talked about this the last 35 seconds trying to get a field goal and I knew we may need that sometime this year and we practiced that so I was really proud of them. This is a talented football team and they made some big plays on us and it was tough, they did a good job. I told them at that time I wanted to see what we could do with 41-10 and then I thought we really elevated our play and it we were still playing against their starters and our starters and we just kept playing. We were taken out of the game with some major plays with a big holding penalty against us and a with a first down and a punt return but we give them credit, they made some big plays tonight."
BULLDOG NOTES
- This was Fresno State's first game against a team from the SEC since 2006 when the Dogs played at LSU. The Dogs are now 0-4 vs. teams from the SEC.
- Fresno State's three game captains were senior linemen, DE Chris Carter, NT Cornell Banks, C Joe Bernardi.
- Fresno State played the game without starters Andrew Jackson, Devon Wylie and Rashad Evans.
- Freshman Jalen Saunders scored his first career touchdown on a 16-yard pass from Ryan Colburn to start the game. It was the first time the Dogs scored on their opening possession of a game this season.
- Colburn threw for 184 passing yards in the first half and surpassed the 3,000-yard mark for his career. He has 3,303 yards. For the game he had four touchdowns at 390 yards including tying a career high with four touchdown passes. Colburn also bested his pass completions total from a 24 against Nevada to 32 total tonight. He had 390 passing yards, a career high for him from his previous 362 against Nevada. He also tied his best for more pass attempts at 42.
- Junior Jamel Hamler went for 8 receptions and 138 receiving yards for career highs, bettering his previous totals of 7 receptions vs. Wyoming and 98 yards at Nevada.
- Phillip Thomas made his third career interception in the third quarter that set up a Bulldog touchdown, bringing the Dogs to 41-24.
- Junior Kevin Goessling connected on a 50-yard field goal in the second quarter, his fourth of 50 or more yards of his career. It extended his Bulldog record for consecutive field goals to 18 in a row. His next attempt on Fresno State's next possession was blocked by Allen Walker to end the streak.
- In the first half, the Dogs were charged with 25 penalty yards and four penalties. Entering the game, the Fresno State led the WAC with fewest penalty yards, 35 per game.
- Saunders had five receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown in the first half.
- Austin Raphael and Tapa Taumoepeau each scored their first career touchdowns on passes from Colburn.
- Ole Miss had 326 total yards in the first half, more than the Dogs allowed in a game in the first two games.
- Fresno State allowed more sacks in the first half (4) than it allowed in the first two games combined.
- Ole Miss is scheduled to play in Bulldog Stadium next season.
"We Are Your Team!" Fresno State returns home Oct. 2 in the Football Fiesta Game vs. Cal Poly. Season tickets and mini -- plans are available for the remaining six home games by clicking the tickets icon at the top of this page. The only way to watch the Cal Poly game is at Bulldog Stadium. Be there!
