Fresno State Gets Defensive in Upset of Big East Power Cincinnati

FRESNO, CALIF. -- It was in the hours before Fresno State's 28-14 comeback victory against Cincinnati on Saturday night, Bulldogs senior Chris Carter gathered his defense and gave them a pep talk probably heard in college locker rooms across the country.

"We said as a defense that we had to go out there with swagger," he said later. "All the top teams in the country -- which we consider ourselves -- have a certain swagger about them. That's what we wanted to have."

This particular pregame proclamation stood out because it would have seemed laughable to an outsider.

Fresno State among the best teams in the country? This is a program that hasn't been in the Associated Press top 20 since 2005 and has been ranked in the top 10 just once in its history.

The Bulldogs defense with a swagger? In its last 10 games against BCS automatic qualifying conference opponents, Fresno State had allowed averages of 32.1 points and 399.4 yards. They'd won half of those games, but that usually was because of a high-octane offense powered by first-round NFL Draft pick Ryan Mathews.

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But Carter proved to be prophetic. Against a Cincinnati team returning a host of playmakers from its 13-1 Sugar Bowl season a year ago, Fresno State's defense ranged from competitive to dominant: The Bulldogs sacked Cincinnati quarterback Zach Collaros eight times (2 1/2 from Carter and 4 from sophomore defensive tackle Logan Harrell) among 13 tackles for loss. They allowed 15 rushing yards and didn't surrender a point after spotting the Bearcats a 14-0 lead in the opening minutes of the second quarter.

"We've been working on spread offenses with mobile quarterbacks," Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. "I thought defensively, I couldn't ask for a better performance."

The 28 unanswered points were stunning, considering how easily Cincinnati had dominated the first quarter. After Collaros' five-yard touchdown scamper gave the Bearcats a two-score lead with 11:44 to play before halftime, Cincinnati had a 195-8 advantage in total yards. Fresno State didn't have a first down. The Bearcats, under new coach Butch Jones and new quarterback Collaros, seemed like they wouldn't miss Brian Kelly or Tony Pike at all.

Then a switch flipped. Fresno State rallied behind quarterback Ryan Colburn, who finished 18-of-24 for 247 yards and four touchdowns passing. Harrell sacked Collaros for a 20-yard loss. On the next possession, Carter ran down the shifty Bearcat and stripped him near the sideline. He scooped up the fumble with 39 seconds to go in the half, and Colburn tied the game with a 16-yard strike to Jamel Hamler with 16 ticks left.

The Bulldogs came back without the help of a running game, which produced just 49 yards on 30 carries. A year ago, Mathews led the nation with 150.7 rushing yards a game.

"It was completely different than I anticipated this game to be," Hill said. "The way our defense played gave us a chance to get back in this football game. But it wasn't long drive."

Nope -- it was big plays. By the second half, Fresno State was rolling. Colburn hit Devon Wylie early from 28 yards out in the third quarter for the go-ahead touchdown, and his perfect strike to Rashad Evans on the first play of the fourth quarter went for a 59-yard catch-and-run (pictured below right).

"It's a whole different mentality for me this year," Colburn said. "The end of the first half and beginning of the second half, we were just on an emotional high. Our defense sparked us, and once we got going, it was like we couldn't get our hands back on the ball fast enough."

But the real story was that defense. Just ask Collaros, who won four games in relief of Pike last year and hadn't lost a football game since his freshman year in high school.

"I don't really know what to say," Collaros said. " ... It's never a good feeling to lose, whether you lose every week or you haven't lost in two years."

Collaros finished 24-of-41 passing for 219 yards and a touchdown. But that was only when he actually was able to get rid of the ball.

Without blitzing, Fresno State managed to collapse the pocket on Collaros time after time in the second half. Eventually, he lost the will to run away. The Bulldogs sacked him three straight times on one possession in the fourth quarter and twice more on the next possession.

"I held onto the ball too long a couple of times," Collaros said. "We knew Chris Carter was a good player, and we put ourselves in some bad situations. It was a couple of mistakes here and there. We've got to stay out of third-and-longs."

By then, the swagger was in full force. Next on the checklist for Carter, Colburn and the Bulldogs can be the part about being one of the best teams in the country, just in time for the school's announcement that it will move to the Mountain West Conference.

"Every game for us is a statement game," Hill said. "Beating Cincinnati, a well-respected team from the Big East that was 13-1 last year with a lot of people back, that was a good win for Fresno State."