Sports

'Dogs' Open MW Play with 27-9 Win Over Nevada

GOBULLDOGS.COM - Opening the game with 27 unanswered points, Fresno State won its Mountain West opener 27-9 over Nevada on Saturday night at Valley Children's Stadium. The Bulldog defense held Nevada's offense scoreless for more than 59 minutes while holding the Wolf Pack to 220 yards of offense. The 'Dogs were relentless with their pressure, recording their most sacks in a game (7) since 2013.

Jaelen Gill and Malik Sherrod finished with career-high games. Gill collected eight catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Sherrod had 123 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Mikey Keene threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns on 26-of-34 attempts.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Nevada received the opening kick and strung together 18 plays to eat up just over nine minutes of play time, but Fresno State's defense was able to keep them off the board following a sack near midfield by Chrishawn Gordon.

Facing a third-and-1 at its own 35-yard line on its opening possession, Fresno State's Mikey Keene connected with Jaelen Gill in the flat on a screen pass. Gill did the rest, racing 65 yards down the sideline for a touchdown to put the Bulldogs up 7-0 with 2:12 remaining in the quarter.

Malik Sherrod ran for a 72-yard touchdown, playing to the whistle after not being ruled down on a tuck-and-roll play. Sherrod's score put Fresno State up 14-0 with 4:15 left in the opening half.

Fresno State carried the 14-0 lead into the locker room at the half.

Following an interception on their opening drive of the third quarter, the Bulldogs scored on their next three possessions. Dylan Lynch scored the first two with his leg, connecting from 48 and 40 yards. With 12:37 remaining in the game, Gill caught his second touchdown of the night, a 12-yard reception from Keene.

Nevada scored its first points of the game on a safety with 8:22 left and added a touchdown with 11 seconds on the clock to make the score 27-9.

UP NEXT
Fresno State doesn't play a game at Valley Children's Stadium until Oct. 28 against UNLV. The Bulldogs head to Wyoming on Oct. 7 and Utah State on Oct. 13 before the bye week.