FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State football team opened up the second wave of the Jeff Tedford era with a 35-7 win over Cal Poly in front of 36,011 Bulldog fans at Valley Children's Stadium on Thursday night. The Bulldogs posted 549 yards of total offense, powered by 377 yards from the arm of Jake Haener.
How It Happened
Getting off to a hot start and holding the ball for over 10 minutes in the first quarter, the Bulldogs scored on their first three offensive drives of the contest.
After forcing a three-and-out on Cal Poly's opening drive, the 'Dogs used a 10-play, 68-yard drive that was punctuated by a 1-yard touchdown run by Jordan Mims . With the defense forcing another three-and-out, the Bulldogs pushed their lead to 14-0 with a nine-play, 93-yard drive that saw newcomer Nikko Remigio scamper for a 13-yard scoring run. The high-scoring quarter was finished out by a second touchdown run from Mims that pushed the 'Dogs lead to 21-0.
Adding to their lead in the second half, the 'Dogs scored on two of their four drives in the second half as a third touchdown by Mims, this time a 19-yard catch and scamper down the left sideline in the third quarter, followed by an eight-yard score from Raymond Pauwels Jr. in the fourth quarter rounded out the scoring. The Bulldogs defense came up with two key defensive stops deep in Fresno State territory in the second half that helped keep the Mustangs to single digits.
Quotable
Head Coach Jeff Tedford
On the first game of the season…
"I thought we performed pretty well at times, but we had too many penalties. We have to learn how to keep the grind on. We were up 21-0 and then the flood gates opened with penalties. We put ourselves in bad situations and gave them plays. Those are discipline plays and we have to improve. I want to give Cal Poly credit. They played really well."
Jordan Mims , Running Back, Senior On the first game of the season…"It was the first game of the season. I thought we could have performed better. Although, we are going to celebrate all of our wins so we'll take it. We have things to clean up. It starts with us up front at the line, making blocks, so that the ball can be aired out."
Evan Williams, Safety, Senior "It was a group effort. We had a lot of newcomers step up. Gavriel Lightfoot was taking on double teams. When you see guys take on those roles and make those plays in their first games, you just marvel. Those are sacrifice plays. As a whole, I think we did a good job of rallying to the ball. We focus on trying to be the hardest working defense in the country. That's what we take pride in and what we are trying to achieve everyday."
Notable
- Fresno State won its season opener for the second-straight year.
- Fresno State won its season opener in four of the last six years.
- The Bulldogs opened the season 1-0 under head coach Jeff Tedford, his third season-opening win as the Bulldogs' head coach.
- Fresno State moves to 34-10-2 all-time against Cal Poly, extending its streak to nine-straight games in the series.
- Tedford improves to 27-14 as Fresno State head coach
- Fresno State improves to 59-38-4 in season openers all-time
- Fresno State produced 549 yards of total offense, its most in a game since 569 at then-No. 13 UCLA (Sept. 18, 2021).
- Fresno State's defense forced three turnovers on downs
Up Next
Fresno State hosts Oregon State next Saturday, Sept. 10 at Valley Children's Stadium. It's the first meeting between the teams since 2003. Tickets are available here.