Instant analysis: Fresno State captures another conference crown on Boise State’s blue turf

FINAL: Fresno State 28, Boise State 16

Fresno State’s total turnaround season continued after capturing the Mountain West championship Saturday at Boise State.

Once 1-4 on the season and with team captains Jake Haener and Evan Williams both injured, the Bulldogs managed to get back on track and strung together eighth straight wins.

And not only did Fresno State get to celebrate another conference championship on the Broncos’ famed blue turf for the second time since 2018, Saturday’s victory was Fresno State’s largest margin of victory at Boise State since 1984 when the Bulldogs won 37-21.

THE LATEST: Hear from Tedford, players

It is the fourth Mountain West title for the Bulldogs, who shared the title in 2012 during its first year in the conference, and won conference title games in 2013 over Utah State and 2018 at Boise State.

And, the conference championship places Fresno State in the Dec. 17 L.A. Bowl against a Pac-12 team to be determined.

Fresno State’s defense carried the day, limiting Boise State to 321 total yards and forcing two turnovers thanks to interceptions by cornerback Cameron Lockridge.

Watch the big plays that keyed Fresno State’s win over Boise State in MW title game

Mims pushes Bulldogs’ lead to 28-9

Fresno State running back Jordan Mims has scored on a 3-yard touchdown run, pushing the Bulldogs lead to 28-9.

Ball game? There is 9:47 remaining in the game.

Mims has rushed 18 times for 72 yards and two scores.

Davis Koetter cut the lead to 28-16 on a 52-yard catch-and-run TD with 5:17 to go, but the Bulldogs’ Mac Dalena recovered the onside kick. The teams traded possessions before Fresno State ran out the clock.

LOCKRIDGE WITH SECOND PICK

Fresno State has the ball back on cornerback Cameron Lockridge’s second interception of the game. The Bulldogs have the ball at the Boise State 34-yard line.

Record addition

Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener has now thrown a touchdown pass in 28 consecutive games, a Mountain West Conference record.

Haener hits Pope for 21-9 lead

Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener just gave the Bulldogs a 21-9 lead with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Zane Pope with 14:49 remaining in the game.

The Bulldogs got a huge break on the drive when Boise State was penalized for a roughing the punter personal foul, giving Fresno State the ball back at the Broncos’ 40.

Before that series, Fresno State was averaging just 3.3 yards per play, which doesn’t often translate to victories. It had won just once in nine games since it has been in the Mountain West when averaging less than 4.0 yards per play. Fresno State after the touchdown is now at 4.0 yards per play.

Boise cuts Bulldogs lead to 14-9 with FG

Boise State is within 14-9 after Jonah Dalmas kicked a 44-yard field goal with 10:04 remaining in the third quarter.

The Broncos’ drive was 24 yards in eight plays, four of them rushing plays.

Ugly start

Fresno State started the second half with a pass play to running back Jordan Mims for minus-6 yards, a sack and a deflected incomplete pass. Back to punting for the Bulldogs.

Curious play calling

Boise State with 25 pass plays and 21 rushing plays is almost a complete reversal from what it did during the regular season. In its first 12 games, Boise rushed that ball on 59.2% of its plays.

Also, Green has played in nine games and attempted fewer than 25 passes six times.

At the half

Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener is 8 of 14 for 98 yards. Jordan Mims has carried the ball nine times for only 20 yards, but has a 2-yard touchdown. Nikko Remigio leads the Bulldogs with seven targets and four catches for 64 yards.

On defense, Levelle Bailey has a team-high six tackles and cornerback Carlton Johnson has five including one for loss.

Boise State has 196 total yards to 112 for the Bulldogs. The Broncos are averaging 5.3 yards per rush, but have passed the ball 25 times and rushed it 21. Quarterback Taylen Green is 11 of 25 for 85 yards.

Broncos in the third quarter

Fresno State will get the ball to start the second half, and it could be headed into a tough 15 minutes of football.

Boise State in the third quarter this season has outscored opponents 111 to 42, scoring the most points of any of its quarters and allowing the fewest points in any quarter.

Boise has an answer

Boise State answered the Bulldogs’ touchdowns with a field goal, cutting the Fresno State lead to 14-6 with two seconds remaining in the half.

Mims TD run extends lead to 14-3

Fresno State all of a sudden has a 14-3 lead with Jordan Mims scoring on a 2-yard run, the Bulldogs’ second score in two and a half minutes.

The touchdown run was the 15th this season for Mims, tied with Air Force running back Brad Roberts for the most in the Mountain West.

Bulldogs back in red zone

The Fresno State defense just forced a turnover, with linebacker Levelle Bailey tipping a pass that was intercepted by cornerback Cameron Lockridge, his fourth this season.

The Bulldogs have the ball at the Boise State 17.

Remigio gets Bulldogs into end zone

Fresno State wideout Nikko Remigio, who had a bad drop on the Bulldogs’ last series, just returned a punt 70 yards to give the Bulldogs a 7-3 lead with 3:54 remaining in the second quarter.

That was the second punt return touchdown for Remigio, who also had one at UConn. The two punt return TDs are the most for the Bulldogs since 2013, when Isaiah Burse had two.

Check out Nikko Remigio’s punt return for a touchdown that gave Fresno State the lead

Fresno State punts again

The Bulldogs punted for the fourth time in five series. The other possession was a missed field goal. Fresno State is 4:58 from getting shut out in three consecutive quarters after scoring in 26 in a row.

Bulldogs go three-and-out

Fresno State did nothing with the field position, punting the ball after two incomplete passes and a sack.

The Bulldogs had a big chance on a deep ball on first down with Jalen Moreno-Cropper running open down the left sideline, but the ball came out late, Moreno-Cropper did not adjust to it and Boise State corner Tyric Lebeauf was able to get back into the play and break up the pass.

KOR

Nikko Remigio set up the Bulldogs with good field position of their next drive, returning the kickoff 47 yards to the 47-yard line.

In case you were wondering, it has now been 625 kickoff returns since the Bulldogs last returned one for a touchdown when A.J. Jefferson took one back in 2008 against Nevada.

Boise gets three, and lead

Boise State has the first points of the game, taking a 3-0 lead on a 26-yard field goal by Jonah Dalmas with 10:16 remaining in the second quarter.

The Broncos’ drive was 71 yards in 15 plays.

Boise State to this point has run 29 plays to just 13 for Fresno State.

Bulldogs empty in red zone

Fresno State put together a drive, but stalled once it got to the Boise State 18-yard line. The Bulldogs ended up attempting a field goal by Abraham Montano from 35 yards. It missed.

Quarterback Jake Haener hit pass plays of 20 and 32 yards to Nikko Remigio on the drive and is 6 of 8 for 75 yards.

The Bulldogs rushed the ball on 1st-and-10 from the 18, after the 32-yard pass play. Jordan Mims was cut down for a gain of one yard and Haener missed an open Mac Dalena on second down.

Penalty stops Bulldogs’ second drive

Fresno State put itself behind the sticks and punted on its second series, stuck in a 2nd-and-20 following a dead ball personal foul penalty on center Bula Schmidt.

The Bulldogs had gained five yards on the play, but Schmidt clocked a Boise State defender after the play.

The Fresno State offensive line was called for six penalties last week in a 30-0 victory over Wyoming.

Bulldogs punt, following stop

Fresno State went three-and-put with its first series, with running back Jordan Mims getting stopped on a 3rd-and-1 run up the middle.

That’s not a bad play call. The Broncos defenses on 3rd-and-short rushing plays has allowed an average of 5.5 yards on 27 plays and ranks 10th in the Mountain West Conference. They had allowed four plays of 10 or more yards.

Fresno State was averaging 4.8 yards on its 3rd-and-short runs, third in the conference.

Starting with a stop

Fresno State started with a defensive stop, with Broncos’ quarterback misfiring on a 4th-and-5 pass attempt. The Bulldogs get the ball at the 35-yard line for their opening possession.

Defensive end David Perales played one snap on the series, the 3rd-and-7. The Bulldogs started Devo Bridges and Isaiah Johnson at defensive end and Leonard Payne and Johnny Hudson Jr. at tackle.

Boise State rushed the ball four times on the drive for 13 yards, 3.3 yards a play, a good start for the Bulldogs’ defense.

Pregame notes

Fresno State plays for a Mountain West championship Saturday, and if the Bulldogs take down Boise State and take home what would be a fourth title in 11 seasons in the conference, coach Jeff Tedford will be in line for a nice bonus that works for both parties.

It’s $75,000 for a conference championship, and added to performance bonuses for eight regular-season wins and a bid to a conference-associated bowl, Tedford will have banked a tidy $210,000. But in Tedford’s first go at his alma mater, in a contract negotiated by former athletics director Jim Bartko and signed off by former university President Joseph I. Castro, those same three bonuses were worth $550,000.

The Bulldogs coach also had an attendance bonus, and with Fresno State selling more tickets than it had in any season since 2005, that would have been worth another $300,000, bringing the total to $850,000.

That had an impact on the athletics department, which is building back its fan base and revenues.

“It’s really a compliment to Jeff and his representation,” current AD Terry Tumey said. “He’s a lifer as a Bulldog, through and through, and what he has done is give us all of his gifts from a professional vantage point and rather than have what could be a pretty heavy lift it is a contributory lift, because there are so many other things that we as an athletics department and we as a football program need to do to get this place to where he envisions it.

“I appreciate our current situation and where we are, because we are moving down the right path, and it’s definitely something that needed to be all hands on deck, everyone had to be a part of that. It had little do with striking a good deal, and everything to do with everybody buying into a vision of what this place should be.”

The differences in the bonuses now and then are stark, side by side.

At or above 6 wins: none now; $100,000 then

At or above 7 wins: $40,000; $150,000

At or above 8 wins: $60,000; $200,000

At or above 9 wins: $80,000; $250,000

At or above 10 wins: $100,000; $300,000

At or above 11 wins: $120,000; $400,000

Divisional champion: $50,000; $150,000

or

Conference champion: $75,000; $250,000

Fresno State in 2017 ended up paying Tedford $2,751,710, and in 2018 it was $3,077,229 and it also was making severance payments to former coach Tim DeRuyter through a contract extension that was fully guaranteed and was negotiated by Castro when president.

In total, athletics department severance payments paid were $1,255,981 in 2017 and $648,156 in 2018.

Tedford this season also has a base salary of $1.5 million, ranking only fifth in the Mountain West.

How to watch

Kickoff: Saturday, 1 p.m.

TV: Fox (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman, Petros Papadakis)

• Find it fast: Channels 26 on AT&T Uverse, 6, 706, 1026 on Comcast, 26 on DirecTV, 5263 on Dish Network

Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler, Pat Hill, Cameron Worrell)

• Find it fast: 1400 AM in Visalia/Tulare; 1340 AM in Fresno; 1280 AM in Stockton; 970 AM in Bakersfield; 92.9 FM in Modesto; 96.7 FM in Fresno

Injury update

Fresno State defensive end David Perales, who suffered an ankle injury last week in a victory over Wyoming, is in uniform and going through pregame.

Left tackle Jacob Spomer, who has started every game for the Bulldogs and also was injured last week, is expected to start. If he does, Fresno State likely will have the same starting lineup up front for a fifth game in a row after playing five different starting offensive line combos in six games.

Option left

Fresno State defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle did not divulge much about the Bulldogs’ game plan against the Boise State run game and the role of quarterback Taylen Green in it. But it would appear that on the Broncos’ option plays, the escape hatch is to the left.

Green has rushed outside the left tackle 25 times and 14 of those plays have gone for a first down, 10 for 10 or more yards and six for touchdowns.

“We’ve studied them,” Coyle said after the Bulldogs’ Wednesday practice. “We know what they have kind of gravitated toward over the season and it’s just a matter of not allowing them to create big plays, not allowing him to create plays outside of the normal schemes where he can run and convert first downs and things like that.

“But they also have the element of the designed quarterback runs in which, when he does decide to keep the ball, you hold your breath because he’s got that really good speed, deceptive speed. He’s such a long strider, he’s such a big man, that you don’t think he’s going that fast and he’s out- running everybody on the field. It’s a big challenge. We have to keep him contained and we’re working like crazy to do that.”

Midweek, Coyle liked where the Bulldogs were with the game plan.

“We’re just coming off one of our best Wednesday practices of the year right now,” he said. “I’m very pleased with the attention to detail, the way the guys are locked in. They certainly sense the importance of the game and are doing everything thing they can do get prepared.

“So far so good. We still have a couple days left to try to sharpen things up, but it has been a good week so far.”

In the red zone

Fresno State has picked up its red zone offense over the past four games, improvement that will be put to a test against Boise State. The Bulldogs scored only three touchdowns in eight red zone series against San Diego State, the first game back from an ankle injury for quarterback Jake Haener.

But since then, they have 19 scores and 13 touchdowns in 20 series, a 65% TD percentage.

The Broncos have allowed opponents to score a touchdown on 40.7% of their red zone possessions this season, ranking second in the conference and fifth in the nation.

Boise State has allowed opponents to hit 38.5% of their red zone passes (10 of 26) with one touchdown allowed and three interceptions, and rush for 3.3 yards per play (55 for 179) with 10 TDs.

Haener streaking

Haener has not thrown an interception since the fourth quarter of the Bulldogs’ 32-28 victory over San Diego State on Oct. 29, and has a streak of 151 consecutive pass attempts without a pick.

That is the seventh-longest streak within a season in school history - Derek Carr went 306 pass attempts without an interception in 2013.

Boise State has five interceptions in its past two games, with three against Wyoming and two against Utah State. It also has at least one takeaway in eight games in a row, its longest streak since an 18-game stretch in 2014 and ‘15.

New faces

Haener and safety Evan Williams did not play against Boise State in the first matchup between these teams due to injuries. But they were not the only Bulldogs that did not play in that 40-20 loss on Oct. 8, and are available to play in the championship game. Here’s the list …

Haener

Williams

Defensive tackle Leonard Payne

Cornerback Cameron Lockridge

Cornerback Carlton Johnson

Linebacker Justin Houston

With a win …

Fresno State has won three Mountain West championships, and is one behind Boise State, Brigham Young, Texas Christian and Utah for most all-time.

The big 1-4-0

Boise State is 13-0 under coach Andy Avalos when rushing for 140 yards or more, including 7-0 this season.

Fresno State has allowed at least 140 rushing yards in a game eight times this season, but is coming into the title game off a big effort against Wyoming. The Cowboys, second in the conference in averaging 5.1 yards per rush, could muster only 87 yards on 29 plays in a 30-0 loss to Fresno State, averaging just 3.0 yards per play.

The Bulldogs have not had much success slowing the Broncos’ run game, during and before Avalos’ run as coach. The past 10, game by game …

2022 - 52 for 316 (6.1 ypp), with 2 TDs

2021 - 50 for 187 (3.7), with 3

2018 - 44 for 179 (4.1), with 2

2018 - 55 for 225 (4.1), with 1

2017 - 31 for 107 (3.5), with 1

2017 - 38 for 109 (2.9), with 2

2014 - 51 for 264 (5.2), with 2

2014 - 33 for 149 (4.5), with 3

2013 - 53 for 200 (3.8), with 4

2012 - 42 for 215 (5.2), with 1

Passing fancy

Boise State is allowing 158.8 yards per game and is ranked third in the nation in passing defense, but it has played eight teams that are ranked 100th in the nation or lower in passing offense in Oregon State (103rd), Utah State (105th), Colorado State (108th), Nevada (115th), San Diego State (119th), Wyoming (125th), New Mexico (128th) and Air Force (131st).

The highest-ranked FBS team it has matched up against is BYU, which is 33rd in the nation in passing offense.

The Bulldogs are No. 24.

Air Force is ranked second in passing defense, but No. 1 is Texas A&M. The Aggies are allowing 156.2 yards per game, and they have played six teams ranked in the top 60 in passing offense in Mississippi State (11th), Alabama (23rd). South Carolina (41st), Appalachian State (47th), LSU (55th) and Miami (57th).