With Hawaii coming into Bulldog Stadium, a shell of their former selves, you would have thought the 'Dogs would have a relatively easy time with the Warriors, send them back to Hawaii with a 1-4 record. Unfortunately, that's not what happened on this night.
Fresno State had to play this game minus star running back Ryan Mathews, and tonight it showed just how important he is to this Bulldog offense. They would turn the ball over four times in the first half, by the time the night was over, Fresno State would have six turnovers, three of which were fumbles as Hawaii would snatch a 32-29 overtime win over the 22nd ranked Bulldogs.
They had their opportunities to put points up on the board early in the first half but would have three straight and four of their last 5 drives in the first half stopped by turnovers, two of which were fumbles lost by Lonyae Miller and quarterback Tom Brandstater. The second half started just the way the first half ended, with yet another turnover, an interception. Two possessions later and 1 play in, yet another Bulldog turnover and yet another fumble. So four of their last five 1st half possessions and two of their first three 2nd half possessions ended in turnovers. That's just the way the night would go for Fresno State.
With just under a minute left, the Bulldogs had a chance to put the game on ice and sneak away with their third straight close victory, but Hawaii would block a 36 yard field goal attempt which would send the game into overtime. Fresno State would get possession first and would have a chance to go up by three with a 40 yard field goal, Kevin Goessling would miss but was given another chance after Hawaii was called for roughing the kicker. It didn't do much good as Goessling would miss again, this from 35 yards, his third miss of the night and sixth in the last two home games (he missed three against Wisconsin). Hawaii would nail the game winning field goal in overtime, sending the Bulldog crowd home shocked at what they had just witnessed.
The lone bright spot were running backs Lonyae Miller and Anthony Harding. Miller would carry the ball 20 times for 162 yards and 2 TD's while Harding had 22 carries for 158 yards and 1 TD. For quarterback Tom Brandstater, a night that he is going to want back a night he's going to want to redo, he was 12/24 for 208 yards but did not throw one touchdown pass tonight and was intercepted three times as well as losing a fumble, turning the ball over four times tonight on his own. This was by far his worst game of the season and he picked a bad team to have an off night against.
For Hawaii (2-3, 1-0), they will return to home and will host Louisiana Tech (2-2, 0-1) this coming Saturday.
The Bulldogs will go right back to practice this week and will get ready to host Idaho this coming Saturday at Bulldog Stadium. For the first time all season, Fresno State will open the game against the Vandals unranked as I'm sure they'll fall out of the polls come tomorrow morning.
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