Fresno State falls to New Mexico on senior day, out of the hunt for the Mountain West title
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno State entered the game back in control of its own destiny to make the Mountain West (MW) Championship Game but a 25-17 loss to New Mexico (4-7, MW 2-5) knocks the Bulldogs (8-3, 4-3) out of the hunt for the conference title.
Thanks to UNLV's win over Air Force and a series of favorable tiebreakers, the Bulldogs would have made it back into the MW title game on December 2 if they could have won its final two games but those title dreams were put to bed after an embarrassing home loss to UNM, the first since 1994.
How it happened:
With Mikey Keene out following a head injury suffered at San Jose State, Logan Fife was the starting quarterback. The junior QB ran for a 1-yard rushing touchdown on a broken play. It capped an 8-play 77-yard drive that included a 53-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Jalen Moss.
After the defense forced a three and out, Erik Brooks returned the punt 39 yards to set up the Dogs at UNM's 25. The drive would end with a missed 39-yard field goal try from Dylan Lynch ending his streak of eigth straight made field goal.
On the Dogs next drive, Malik Sherrod ran in a 6-yard touchdown capping a 7-play, 78-yard drive. The Lobos outgained the Dogs 266 yards to 167 yards in the first half leading with Fresno State just holding a 14-12 lead at the half.
Levelle Bailey intercepted Dylan Hopkins and was in the midst of a great return before Andrew Harrison punched the ball out from behind the senior linebacker. It was the first fumble of the season for the 2023 Fresno State football team. Five plays later Dean Clark intercepted Hopkins for the 2nd Bulldogs pick in three minutes.
For the second straight game the Fresno State defense failed to stop the run. A week after giving up 313 to San Jose State, the Dogs surrendered 335 yards on the ground, 518 yards of total offense.
Fife was 9/16 throwing for 125 yards before Keene came in to the game with 8:50 to play. After a three and out on his first drive, Keene finished 7/12 passing for 47 yards.
Up next is the season finale.
Fresno State makes its first trip to Snapdragon Stadium to take on San Diego State (3-6, 1-6).
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