Bulldogs cook Rice with 38-24 win to wrap non-conference slate
· Yahoo Sports
In a game that had no shortage of offense, it was the Bulldogs offense that shone under the lights at Valley Children's Stadium on Saturday night as Fresno State weathered a potent Rice rushing attack to emerge with a 38-24 win.
The Owls' offense came out as dry as Rice still in the packaging, taking to the air on the first drive despite entering the night with the second-worst passing offense in the FBS. That decision proved to be costly, with Simeon Harris coming away with his third interception of the season.
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The Bulldogs couldn't do anything with it, so the Owls turned back to what they do more efficiently: running the ball. Jacurri Brown found Ben Grice on the third read of the Owls' triple option attack, and Grice did the rest on an 88-yard score to open the scoring.
Fresno State's offense found their groove after that. A game in which Jayden Mandal looked like the QB1 that Bulldog coaches have seen in practice, Mandal led the Bulldogs on an eight-play, 69-yard drive, capped off with Josiah Freeman's second touchdown of the season.
Rice took the lead right back, so Mandal led the Bulldogs right back down the field with the half winding down, finding Jahlil McClain on a perfectly placed over-the-shoulder touchdown reception before the Owls took a 17-14 lead into the halftime break.
The Bulldogs offensive explosion only grew from there, 17-unanswered points put Fresno State up 14 into the fourth quarter and Rayshon 'Speedy' Luke's 52-yard rushing score proved to be the dagger as the Bulldogs improved to 3-1 on the season.
Fresno State hits the road next week to begin the Pac-12 Bulldogs era in Pullman for a meeting with the Washington State Cougars on Saturday, October 3rd at 9:30 p.m.
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