Fresno State rolls past ASU in Vegas
LAS VEGAS — Running back Ronnie Rivers might be the embodiment of Fresno State’s turnaround.
It wasn’t guaranteed Rivers would be able to play this season after sustaining a foot injury in spring practice, and he was limited by a shoulder injury late in the year. But Rivers was there, leading the way as the Bulldogs completed their journey after going 1-11 two seasons ago.
Rivers rushed for 212 yards and two touchdowns to help No. 21 Fresno State beat Arizona State 31-20 in the Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday.
Anthoula Kelly had a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown, and Marcus McMaryion rushed for a touchdown and was 15-of-29 passing for 176 yards to help Fresno State (12-2) set a school record for wins in a season.
“It’s a group that persevered,” Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford said. “This group can be remembered as the only team in NCAA history that went from a double-digit losing season to back-to-back double-digit winning seasons.”
Rivers put Fresno State back in front 24-20 with a 68-yard touchdown run up the middle in the third quarter and had a 5-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to seal it. The Bulldogs were 2-0 against Pac-12 opponents this season, also beating UCLA 38-14 in September.
“We’ve been emphasizing on the word ‘finish’ this past week and just going out there and finishing the job, getting this 12th win,” said Rivers, who gained 156 yards on 15 carries in the second half and was honored as the game’s most valuable player.
Fresno State was able to overcome turnovers on three consecutive drives in the second half, including when McMaryion threw the first of two interceptions to set up Brandon Ruiz’s 44-yard field goal that gave Arizona State a 20-17 lead.
Dejonte O’Neal also fumbled off the pylon when reaching out to score on a throwback screen.
“But I think it says a lot about our team,” Tedford said. “Our team plays together, believe in one another. They don’t panic and they just keep playing.”
Eno Benjamin rushed for 118 yards and one touchdown for the Sun Devils (7-6) in their third straight bowl loss. Manny Wilkins threw for 129 yards, with a 3-yard scoring pass to Kyle Williams and two interceptions.
First-year coach Herm Edwards put the loss on the failure to score points off takeaways, getting three points following the three Fresno State turnovers. Arizona State had 63 yards of offense in the second half.
“We made it a game we wanted to play in. We made it uncomfortable for them,” Edwards said. “But then they got a score. We had to catch up a little bit and that’s where they can really come after you.”
Benjamin set the school single-season rushing record on a 13-yard run in the second quarter, finishing with 1,642 yards rushing to break Woody Green’s mark of 1,565 yards in 1972.
Wilkins said he did not sustain an injury despite taking a hit to the knee on the final pass of his college career, which was intercepted by Juju Hughes.
“I’m good. I left it all out there, so that’s all I needed to do,” Wilkins said.
UTAH STATE ROMPS: Utah State walked into the New Mexico Bowl with one of its best records in school history but uncertainty. Its head coach, Matt Wells, left to take the Texas Tech job. Interim coach Frank Maile had to prepare the Aggies with an army of graduate assistants and an announcement a new coach was coming next month.
North Texas, meanwhile, was coming into Albuquerque with experienced coach Seth Littrell and highly touted quarterback Mason Fine.
The Aggies pushed those distractions aside Saturday.
Jordan Love threw for 359 yards and four touchdowns and Jalen Greene had six catches for 151 yards and a score to help Utah State rout North Texas 52-13.
Maile directed the Aggies (11-2) even after Utah State announced former head coach Gary Andersen would return. However, Andersen opted not to attend the bowl game and let Maile finish what he started.
Love completed 21 of 43 passes with one interception. D.J. William had two interceptions, helping Utah State ground high-flying North Texas (9-4).
Aaren Vaughns caught two passes for 109 yards and two scores for the Aggies, Gerold Bright ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, and Darwin Thompson added 93 yards on 21 carries.
Maile said he did his best to get the offense ready. The rest was up the players, he said.
“The guys have lot of efforts to doing their jobs,” Maile said. “The defense is set up for everybody to make plays.”
Love said receivers were able to get open, find space and get yards after the catch. “We’ve been doing that all season,” he said.
Fine was injured in the first quarter, and the Mean Green ended up using four quarterbacks. Jalen Guyton had four catches for 103 yards a score.
Littrell said Utah State was the best team the Mean Green faced all season.
“We didn’t have enough in us today to make more plays to have success,” Littrell said.