Postgame Notes Rice-Fresno State

Captains: Rayshon Luke, Josiah Freeman, Jahzon Jacks, Simeon Harris
Toss: Fresno State wins, receive

Team Notes:

Fresno State won its third-straight game.
Fresno State earned its first win over Rice since 2004.
Fresno State remains undefeated at home this season.
The Bulldogs are 4-0 in nonconference games under Matt Entz.
Entz moves to 12-5 as the Bulldogs’ head coach and is 72-16 as a Division I head coach.
Fresno State has forced a turnover in 10-straight games.
Fresno State finished with two forced turnovers on the night.
Alternatively, Fresno State did not commit a turnover. It is the first time since a four game streak in 2022.
Fresno State rushed for a season-high 249 yards on Saturday. The Bulldogs are 5-0 under Entz when rushing for 200+ yards.
Fresno State’s opponent scored first for the third time this season.
Fresno State did not score in the first quarter for the fourth time this season, and fifth consecutive game.
Fresno State gave up an 88-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. It was the longest play from scrimmage allowed by the Bulldogs this season, and the longest since 2016 (91 yard TD vs UNLV on Oct. 1, 2016).
Fresno State trailed at halftime for the second time this season.
Fresno State allowed 254 yards rushing to Rice in the first half, then only 90 in the second half.

Offense Notes:

WR Josiah Freeman scored his second touchdown of the season, and 11th of his career.
WR Jahlil McClain had his first touchdown of the season.
WR Ezekiel Avit had his second touchdown of the season, and second of his career.
QB Jayden Mandal connected with three different pass catchers for touchdowns on Saturday, a season-high.
Mandal had 11 pass catchers on Saturday, the second tie this season.
RB Rayshon Luke had his first 100-yard rushing performance as a Bulldog.
Luke finished with a career-high 167 yards.
Luke scored his first rushing touchdown of the season.
Luke averaged 15.2 yards per carry. He had the third-highest average (min. 10 attempts) in program history. It is the highest average since 1958.
His 167 yards were the most by a Bulldog since Bryson Donelson also had 167 against Georgia Southern in 2025.
RB Julius Gillick scored his first career touchdown.
WR Jaylen Garrison had his first career catch.

Defense Notes:

LB K’vion Thunderbird led the Bulldogs in tackles for the third time this season, and second-straight game.
DB Simeon Harris intercepted his third pass of the season, in his third-consecutive game.
Harris has nine career interceptions, tying for the most career interceptions among FBS players.
DL Dylan Hampsten recovered his first fumble recovery of the season.
LB Tytus Khajavi had a career-high 2.0 sacks.
One of Khajavi’s sacks was a strip sack, his first career forced fumble.
LB Niko Baumgartner earned his first career start

Special Teams Notes:

Fresno State tried for an onside kick to start the second half, and recovered it. It was the first onside kick recovered by the Bulldogs since 2023.
K Manaki Watanabe was 1-of-1 on his field goal attempts.
P Nick Verdugo had three punts for 152 yards, averaging over 50 yards a punt.
LS Jack Baldi saw his first game action of his career.

Fresno State Athletics