FRESNO – After recording only 37 rushing yards in its season opener against Kansas, Fresno State football looked to get the ground game going against Georgia Southern this past Saturday. Well, not only did the Fresno State Bulldogs gain some traction on the ground in their home opener, they were nearly unstoppable.
Against the Georgia Southern Eagles on Aug. 30, the Bulldogs averaged 7.8 yards a carry to finish the night with 351 total rushing yards. As they ran all over the Eagles, the Bulldogs pulled away for a dominant 42-14 win as well as their first win under first-year head coach Matt Entz.
“It’s an exciting night. That’s all I can say,” Entz said. “Toughness wins. Toughness is highly-trained individual men that play for each other and that’s what we’ve got right now. We’ve got a group of young men in there that through adversity continue to rally around each other.”
Many Bulldogs demonstrated that toughness in the ground game, especially sophomore running back Bryson Donelson with 167 rushing yards and a touchdown on 7.3 yards a carry. Now the No. 1 running back for the Bulldogs, Donelson loves getting to showcase his skills at the college level.
“It’s a really good feeling to know that you’re the guy,” Donelson said. “I put the work in so I was ready for it.”
And as the Central Valley Christian alumnus ran all over the Georgia Southern defense, Donelson was happy to do it in front of his family at Valley Children’s Stadium.
“It feels amazing to get to play in front of my family,” Donelson said. “That’s what drives me, my family so why would I not want to play in front of them.”
Junior running back Rayshon Luke also made his presence felt at Valley Children’s Stadium, recording 96 yards and three touchdowns on the ground for the Bulldogs. After he and his teammates were contained by Kansas the previous week, Luke and his fellow Bulldogs were ready to run wil at home.
“It was just being angry, not being able to do what I wanted to do last week,” Luke said. “So coming out here, I was like I have to do it. It was almost mandatory.”
Coming off their loss to Kansas, the Bulldogs looked to come out strong. With the opening possession, the Bulldogs went right down the field and took a 3-0 lead thanks to a 36-yard field goal from senior Dylan Lynch. And after a 54-yard punt return from freshman Jordan Malau’ulu set them up with great field position, Luke broke through the defense for a 17-yard score to push the lead to 10-0.
The Eagles rebounded on their next possession, driving down the field and scoring on a 18-yard pass from quarterback JC French IV to wide receiver Camden Brown. Then after Fresno State senior quarterback EJ Warner threw an interception, the Eagles took a 14-10 lead on a four-yard touchdown pass from French IV to tight end River Helms.
The Bulldogs worked their way into Georgia Southern territory on their next two possessions, but turnovers continued to plague them. At the goal line, Donelson fumbled the ball and the Eagles recovered. When they got the ball back, Warner was intercepted deep down the left sideline for the Bulldogs’ third turnover of the first half.
“Bad things happen all the time to good people,” Entz said about the turnovers. “And how you respond is going to demonstrate what your character is.”
Well, the Bulldogs showed their character to close the half. The Fresno State defense shifted momentum when senior defensive back Ryan Wilson intercepted a pass off a ricochet. The Bulldogs capitalized on that takeaway with a 26-yard field goal from Lynch to close the half. While they trailed 14-13, the Bulldogs knew the second half would be theirs.
“I feel like we were the better team, we just needed to come out and execute better in the second half,” said sophomore linebacker K’Vion Thunderbird.
And that’s exactly what the Bulldogs did. After getting a stop to open the second half, the Bulldog offense rolled right down the field and scored thanks to an eight-yard touchdown run from Donelson. As he gave his team the lead, Donelson had redeemed himself for his first-half turnover.
“I was really upset (about the fumble) but then (Coach Aaron Prier) told me at halftime that they needed me,” Donelson said. “Entz says, ‘Learn, burn and return,’ so I burnt it and I just knew I had to step up.”
And everyone stepped up for the Bulldogs. Senior wide receiver Josiah Freeman scored on the two-point conversion to push the lead to 21-14. The ground game then took control as everyone got in on the action. Luke scored another two touchdowns for the Bulldogs while sophomore running back and Hanford native Brandon Ramirez recorded a three-yard rushing touchdown at the goal line.
The defense also played physically, shutting out the Eagles in the second half to secure the victory and improve to 1-1. Next up for the Bulldogs is a road trip to face Oregon State, who will be a conference foe in the Pac-12 starting next year. As they come off this dominant win, the Bulldogs know physicality will be their key to victory going forward.
“We play hard-nosed football over here,” Luke said. “Toughness wins. If you just play with that mentality, it rolls through special teams, defense, offense, the coaches, everybody.”
