Bulldogs easily win opener, 66-0
Derek Carr honored at halftime
Fresno State football ushered in the Jeff Tedford coaching era with a resounding 66-0 win over Incarnate Word.
Derek Carr’s No. 4 jersey was retired by the Bulldogs at halftime of the near-sellout season opener at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno.
The Bulldogs scored 17 points in the first two quarters and exploded for 32 more in the third quarter in Tedford’s first game as head coach of Fresno State.
“I thought the team went in to the game tonight with the focus they needed,” Tedford said. “We needed to stay focused on this game and on ourselves, and we did that. It was great for me to return to Bulldog Stadium and run down the ramp again, but tonight was about watching the players run down the ramp and the energy they had tonight.”
Tedford, who played quarterback for Fresno State and was an assistant coach under Pat Hill, replaced Tim Deruyter after the Bulldogs went 1-11 last season.
The Bulldogs racked up 613 yards of offense and allowed just 148 to the Cardinals.
Chason Virgil completed 16 of 29 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown for Fresno. Backup QB Marcus Mcmaryion, a former Dinuba High School standout who transferred to Fresno State in the fall, completed scoring strikes of 24 yards to Jamire Jordan and 45 yards to Justin Allen.
Mcmaryion finished with 103 passing yards on 6 of 7 passing.
Bulldogs sophomore running back Josh Hokit also threw a 65-yard TD to tight end Jared Rice to give Fresno a 17-0 lead. Hokit started the scoring for Fresno with a 1-yard dive.
Hokit added a 4-yard scoring run in the second quarter and Virgil passed to tight end Kyle Riddering for a
2-yard TD pass and a 34-0 lead at the half. True freshman Ronnie Rivers added 60 yards on nine carries and a 30-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to put the Bulldogs up 43-0. Fresno State recorded
two safeties-saturday’s shutout was the first pitched by the Bulldogs since Sept. 5, 2009 against UC Davis.
Fresno State travels to No. 1 Alabama for a non-conference game next week.