FRESNO, Calif. – With four different players finding the end zone, Fresno State defeated Sacramento State 46-30 in its home opener on Saturday night in front of a sold out crowd at Valley Children's Stadium.
Mikey Keene threw for the third-most passing yards in his career with 358 yards on 24-of-35 attempts, throwing two touchdowns. Mac Dalena accounted for 235 of those yards, a career high for the senior wide receiver. He had a team-high seven receptions.
Tuasiva Nomura racked up a career-high 11 tackles, 2.5 for loss, on the defensive side of the ball to go along with a fumble recovery. The Bulldogs forced three turnovers on the night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Fresno State wasted no time, scoring on its first play of the game. Mikey Keene dropped back from his own 25-yard line, hitting Mac Dalena in stride over the top at the Sacramento State 36-yard line. The senior walked into the end zone. Fresno State converted the two-point conversion on a keeper by quarterback Jayden Mandal to go up 8-0 10 seconds into the game.
Three minutes later, a muffed punt by Jalen Moss set up the Hornets at the Bulldogs' 19-yard line. Sacramento State managed just three yards, settling for a 34-yard field goal.
Following back-to-back three-and-outs, Moss went right on his second punt return of the night and found a crease to the sideline, racing in for a 85-yard score to put the Bulldogs up 15-3.
On the next play from scrimmage, Korey Foreman forced a fumble that Tuasivi Nomura jumped on at the 20-yard line. The turnover resulted in a 32-yard field goal for Dylan Lynch.
The Bulldogs made it 25-3 with 12:49 on the clock in the second. Malik Sherrod capped off an 8-play, 80-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Sacramento State got on the board again, but this time by touchdown following a 78-yard pass by Kaiden Bennett to make it a 25-10 game in favor of the Bulldogs. Fresno State got its second takeaway of the night off a forced fumble by Kosi Agina and the pickup by Cam Lockridge at the Fresno State seven-yard line. The Bulldogs quickly gave up possession as Keene threw an interception that would bring the defense back out to the field, but the defense responded just two plays later as Camryn Bracha picked off Bennett in the end zone.
Fresno State led 25-10 at halftime, but the Hornets scored on their first possession of the second half to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 25-17 less than three minutes into the third quarter.
Fresno State extended its lead back to 15 with 3:32 remaining in the third quarter. A 13-play, 75-yard drive culminated in a fourth-and-1 touchdown pass to linebacker Tyler Mello, who was in as a fullback.That started a string of three-straight possessions with a touchdown. Sherrod scored his second of the night from one yard out and Joshua Wood ran in a 10-yard score that put the 'Dogs up 46-23 with 8:06 left in the game.
Sacramento State added another score just over a minute later behind a three-play, 75-yard scoring drive.
UP NEXT
Fresno State returns to Valley Children's Stadium next Saturday to host New Mexico State. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT and air on truTV/MAX. Tickets are available at GoBulldogs.com/tickets