Swarming defense leads Fresno State past Spartans 17-10
In front of a sold-out Valley Children’s Stadium, the Fresno State Bulldogs retired Davante Adams’ jersey and snapped their four-game skid against rival San Jose State, 14-10.
The Bulldogs’ defense dominated the #1 passing attack in the Mountain West, held them scoreless in the second half, recorded 11 tackles for loss and five sacks. David Perales sacked San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro four times, a career-high mark.
“[He’s] the man,” exclaimed head coach Jeff Tedford postgame about Perales.
“It was dominating, I thought. I can’t wait to watch the tape. It seemed like he was around the quarterback all night long.”
Fresno State kept the Valley Trophy and ended a winless drought that hung over the program for five weeks.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these kids because it’s been a long, hard road,” Tedford said. “A lot of people gave up on these kids. You hear all this negative talk about things, but you gotta keep working hard every single day, come to practice and believe in each other. That was a great defensive performance tonight.”
San Jose State (4-2, 2-1 MW) came in averaging 30 points per game, a top 50 mark in the country, and six yards per play. The Spartans only committed one turnover all season, tied with USC for lowest mark in the country. Cordeiro, a popular candidate for Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, recorded 170 pass attempts without an interception.
Fresno State (2-4, 1-1 MW) changed that in a hurry.
In the first quarter, Cordeiro tossed his first interception to cornerback Bralyn Lux. The early turnover foreshadowed a frustrating evening for the Spartans’ offense, which punted nine times in total. San Jose State had eight punts in the last two games combined.
On the opposite side of the ball, the offense posted his best yardage total – 334 – since before Jake Haener was hurt.
Quarterback Logan Fife experienced ups and downs like his previous two starts. His third was by far his most successful, statistically speaking. He completed 22 of 33 pass attempts for 230 yards and his first touchdown pass of the season, a 7-yard strike to Nikko Remigio with one minute left in the third quarter that pushed the Bulldogs ahead.
The connection between Fife and Remigio has extended beyond the field, Fife said.
“That guy is awesome,” Fife said of Remigio. “Through the tough losses in the last few weeks and even now, he’s a guy that stayed positive. He stayed in my ear, talking about how there’s more to come. He’s a guy that kept my head right through it all.”
Remigio scored his fourth touchdown of 2022, second only to running back Jordan Mims, who found paydirt in the second quarter. Mims spearheaded a revitalized rushing attack alongside Malik Sherrod. Mims took 16 carries for 71 yards; Sherrod logged 10 rushes for 46 yards. Both backs combined to average a modest 4.5 yards per carry.
Fife also committed two turnovers, one of which San Jose State capitalized on by taking a 10-7 halftime lead with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Cordeiro to Elijah Cooks. Tedford said he was still impressed with Fife’s performance given the discrepancy between both starters – Cordeiro made his 41st start, while Fife made his third.
“The more you play, the more experienced you’re gonna get, the more comfortable you’re gonna be,” Tedford said. “I think that’s a natural progression and maturity for a young quarterback.”
With the Homecoming win, Fresno State secured a critical head-to-head tiebreaker over San Jose State that could come into play down the road. For now, the Bulldogs will look to avoid a letdown at New Mexico (2-5, 0-3 MW) and keep the positive momentum going.
Kickoff in Albuquerque next Saturday, Oct. 22 is slated for 3:30 pm PT.