Fresno State Holds Off SMU, 20-11
Nov 1 | Football
DALLAS (SMU) - Despite 136 yards from Keylon Kincade and limiting Fresno State to 245 total yards, the Bulldogs topped host SMU, 20-11, on Saturday, Nov. 1, at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
SMU jumped out to a 5-0 lead early on a safety and 37-yard field goal from Chris McMurtray and held a 5-3 halftime edge on the Bulldogs. The first-quarter safety was the second of the season for the Ponies and was just the second safety recorded by the Mustangs since 1982.
Fresno rallied in the second half, scoring 15 straight points to take a 20-5 lead at the 12:23 mark of the fourth quarter.
Back-up quarterback Tate Wallis led SMU back, however, hitting Chris Cunningham on a 61-yard pass to set up a Wallis TD dive with 10:48 remaining to cut the lead to 20-11. The 61-yard completion was SMU's longest play from scrimmage in 2003.
SMU was hounded by turnovers throughout the game, losing the ball three time to the Bulldogs. SMU's defense stepped up, however, and picked off Fresno QB Paul Pinegar twice.
For the game, Kincade had 136 yards on 28 carries, pushing him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season, making Kincade just the fourth player in school history to record multiple 1,000-yard seasons joining Eric Dickerson, Reggie Dupard and Alvin Maxson. It was also his sixth 100-yard rushing game of the season and his third straight game going over the century mark.
Starting signal caller Chris Phillips was 0-of-2 passing, but was second on the team with 49 yards rushing.
Defensively, Jamey Harper led SMU with a season-high 16 stops from the safety position.
With the win, Fresno improves to 5-4, 3-1 in WAC play, while SMU falls to 0-9, 0-6 in conference. Up next for the Ponies are the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, who host SMU on Saturday, Nov. 8.
