Fresno State breaks another Boise State hex, while QB Keene plays through injury

Fresno State finally broke another longstanding Boise State curse.

For the first time in 27 years, the Bulldogs won consecutive games against the rival Broncos after Fresno State held onto a 37-30 victory Saturday before a sellout crowd at Valley Children’s Stadium.

The Bulldogs win was preceded in the series by Fresno State beating Boise State 28-16 during last year’s Mountain West championship.

Fresno State led throughout Saturday night, including as large as a 27-10 advantage midway through the third quarter. Then the Bulldogs matched the Broncos’ scoring throughout most of the fourth before ending the night with a roar of cheers from the announced sellout crowd of 41,031.

With Saturday’s win, Fresno State also reclaimed the Milk Can trophy that’s competed for between the two programs during regular season games. The Bulldogs hadn’t won the Milk Can trophy since 2017, which was the last time Fresno State beat Boise State during the regular season.

Fresno State’s consecutive wins against Boise State is just the latest hex broken under Bulldogs coach Jeff Tedford.

During Tedford’s second season as Fresno State’s head coach in 2018, the Bulldogs won on Boise State’s blue turf for the first time in program history, while beating the Broncos 19-16 in overtime to capture the Mountain West championship.

Then in 2022, the Bulldogs repeated a similar feat by beating the Broncos once again at Boise State’s home field to win another Mountain West title.

Though Fresno State trails 9-17 in the all-time series against Boise State, the Bulldogs under Tedford are 4-4 against the Broncos.

Fresno State (8-1, 4-1), meanwhile, remains in the driver’s seat while trying to reach next month’s Mountain West championship. The two teams with the highest winning percentages in conference play advance to the title game.

Air Force (8-1, 5-0) currently is in first place. UNLV (7-2, 4-1) is tied with Fresno State for second place, but the Bulldogs would have the tiebreaker after beating the Rebels 31-24 last week.

Wyoming (6-3, 3-2) — the only team to beat Fresno State this season — currently is fourth in the standings.

Fresno State quarterback Mikey Keene completed 24 of 38 passes for 290 yards and one touchdown with one interception against Boise State.

Keene suffered a “huge hematoma” on his knee during the first half, according to Tedford, but continued to play.

Receiver Mac Dalena was the Bulldogs’ top receiver with six catches for 85 yards.

Teammate running back Malik Sherrod carried the ball 21 times for 132 yards (6.3 yard average) and one touchdown.

Sherrod’s biggest play, though, came on a kick return just as the first half was set to expire.

Sherrod returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown that gave Fresno State a 20-10 lead at halftime.

Fresno State’s defense, meanwhile, came up with two more turnovers with interceptions by Al’zillion Hamilton and Phoenix Jackson.

Fresno State entered the weekend tied for third in the nation (among Football Bowl Subdivision programs) in turnovers forced. The Bulldogs also were second in the nation in turnover margin.

Boise State (4-5, 3-2) is in danger of not being eligible for a bowl game after dropping below . 500.