Utah State Grinds past Fresno State 17-10
Take away one late touchdown and Utah State wins 17-3. That is how little Fresno State had until the last two minutes.
Utah State had the game in hand by halftime, 14-0. Sesi Vailahi scored from 2 yards out at 14:50 of the second quarter, and McCae Hillstead ran in from the 3 at 9:47. There were no points in the first quarter, and none after that second touchdown before the break. Fresno State got on the board in the third with a 32-yard Manaki Watanabe field goal, and Kian Afrookhteh answered with a 43-yarder for Utah State with 4:21 left to make it 17-3.
Then came the part that made it a game. Jayden Mandal found Ezekiel Avit for a 12-yard touchdown with 1:30 left, and it was 17-10. That was the last score.
Fresno State outgained Utah State 278 yards to 273 and still lost, which tells you what it did with the ball. It threw for 262 and ran 27 times for 16 yards (sixteen), and Mandal finished with 7 carries for minus 10. Utah State ran 38 times for 156 and threw for 117. Neither team threw an interception or lost a fumble, so there was nobody to blame but the runners.
Utah State moves to 4-5 and Fresno State is 5-4. The winners got there on two rushing touchdowns and a 43-yard kick, which is not much, but it was enough. A squeaker, and an ugly one. Winning ugly counts the same as winning pretty, and Utah State will take it.