From: jsnow@moons.sim.es.com (John Snow)
Subject: BYU Report: BYU vs. Fresno State
Keywords: BYU football
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation
Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1992 15:47:13 GMT

BYU hosted WAC newcomer Fresno State in BYU's homecoming game
Saturday. The last time these two teams played each other was 33 years
ago. Fresno State is no stranger to the state of Utah, having moved to
the WAC from the Big West conference where they faced Utah State every
year. 

Fresno is a good, solid football team and is a very welcome addition
to the WAC. The Bulldogs have the 3rd best scoring offense in the
country, averaging 43 points per game.

BYU kicked off to Fresno and BYU's defense held the bulldogs without a
first down, forcing them to punt. QB Ryan Hancock started BYU's first
possession with a pass to tight end Byron Rex, back after sitting out
the Utah State game for disciplinary reasons, gaining 12 yards and a
first down. Then, BYU showed its game plan by going to the rushing
game. And what a game plan it was! Kalin Hall carried for 11 yards
then for 17 yards. Jamal Willis joined the act with a couple of
carries to the Fresno 20 yard line. Then it was Hall's turn again as
he carried for 5 then then 15 and a TD. Eight plays for 73 yards, and
only one play was a pass!

FSU took the kickoff and picked up a first down out to the 38 yard
line, but the drive was stopped with a QB sack and Fresno was forced
to punt again. The crowd was roaring for the great play by the
defense.

Mike Johnston, BYU's punt returner, returned the punt back to the
Fresno 49 yard line. BYU's second drive resembled the first as Hancock
hit Rex over the middle to the 27 yard line then BYU went to the
ground again with Willis carrying to the 17 then to the 11. Hancock
tried his hand at running the ball and carried the ball to the 5, but
the drive bogged down at that point and BYU settled for a field goal
to make the score 10-0.

Fresno started out on their third possession of the game and was
looking at 3rd down and 1 on their own 29 yard line. BYU was looking
for the short run up the middle and allowed the tight end to sneak
behind all the defenders. The bulldog QB, Dilfer, spotted him and
flipped the ball over BYU's heads. The big tight end lumbered down to
the BYU 17 before being overhauled. Two plays later, Fresno was in the
end zone to close the score to 10-7. The drive went 80 yards in 5
plays.

BYU took possession of the ball and went to the ground again - Hall
for 5, Willis for 7, Hall for 24, Hemuli for 12. Then Hancock warmed
up his arm and hit Drage for 16, Hemuli for 7, and finally Bryce Doman
for 5 to the 10 yard line. Again, the BYU drive bogged down inside the
10 yard line and BYU kicked another field goal to move the score to
13-7.

Fresno State, their confidence restored, mounted an impressive drive
which covered 80 yards in 9 plays culminating in a 28 yard TD pass
pulling the bulldogs even with the cougars. The extra point was missed
and the score remained 13-13.

BYU, feeling the heat put on by the bulldogs, answered back with an
equally impressive drive again mostly on the legs of Hall and Willis
with Willis breaking into the end zone from 7 yards out to make the
score 20-13. The drive covered the 73 yards in 10 plays.

FSU advanced the ball to the BYU 42 on their next possession, but
BYU's defense sacked Dilfer for a big loss and Fresno punted to the
BYU 10.

On BYU's first play from the 10, Hancock pitched the ball to Willis
who ran left for the sidline, turned upfield along the sideline, then
ran all the way back across the field all the way down to the Fresno
22 yard line, but the official said he stepped on the sideline at the
BYU 21 yard line. It was a great run anyway! A couple of plays later,
BYU was facing 3rd and 14. Hancock dropped back to pass and was hit as
he let it go. The pass wobbled downfield and was intercepted at the BYU
43.

Fresno moved the ball to the BYU 18 and then kicked a field goal to
make the score 20-16.

BYU took the kickoff for their last possession of the first half.
Facing 3rd and 10 from the BYU 23, Hancock dropped back 9 yards to
pass, seeing a big opening in front of him he started to run, but then
spotted Drage at mid-field and threw the ball down field. The Fresno
corner was in front of Drage and the safety was behind Drage and was
closing on him at an angle. It appeared that the safety had the best
chance of getting to the ball, but just as he was expecting the ball
to drop into his arms, Drage leaped in front of him and snagged the
ball. Drage then outran the corner to the end zone for a 77 yard TD
making the score 27-16. Eric Drage continues to be BYU's Mr. Clutch.
Drage leads the country in receiving, averaging 123 yards per game.

BYU played very well in the first half, scoring on 5 of their 6
possesions - the remaining possession ending in a turnover. BYU had
158 yards passing in the first half - half of that total coming on
Drage's TD reception. BYU did better than that rushing, with 191 yards
on the ground for a total of 349 yards in the first half. Fresno
played well in the first half also, scoring on 3 of its 6 possessions
with 201 yards passing and 50 yards rushing for 251 total.

BYU received the ball to start the second half, but the offense seemed
to be a little tired after the effort put forward in the first half.
BYU picked up a first down then punted. Fresno did the same as BYU's
defense didn't seem to be as lethargic as the offense.

BYU moved the ball a little better on their second possession,
advancing the ball to the Fresno 44 before punting.

Facing 3rd and 9 from the Fresno 11, Dilfer dropped back to pass. BYU
blitzed its linebackers, leaving the middle open for Dilfer to run.
And run he did! He ran all the way to the BYU 32. He followed that up
with a pass to the BYU 3 where the bulldogs ran the ball in for a TD.
A two point conversion was successful, pulling the bulldogs within 3
at 27-24.

After the kickoff, Hancock hit Rex over the middle for 10 yards. Then
he found Drage down to the Fresno 40. Willis took the pitch from
Hancock and made a fantastic run to the end zone, but again a great
run by Willis was called back, this one on a holding penalty. BYU
followd up the penalty by losing 13 yards on a screen pass to Hall.
Facing 2nd and 33, Hancock picked up 20 on a toss to Doman. On 3rd and
13, Hancock hit Otis Sterling for 45 yards to the 4 yard line. Willis
carried to the 1. On the next play, Willis went airborne over the
middle but was stopped short and pushed back. Willis's forward
momentum was stopped, he had a bulldog wrapped up around his legs and
was falling backwards when a Fresno player plucked the ball from his
hands and ran it out to the 13. My opinion - Willis was down, but the
ref didn't listen to me.

Fresno moves the ball from the 13 out to the 27 then, on 3rd and 10,
Dilfer throws downfield but underthrows it slightly. Patrick Mitchell
was beaten on the play, but the underthrow allowed him to be in the
right place at the right time to pick it off. If Dilfer had thrown the
ball 5 more yards, it would have been a TD, instead the cougars take
over on their own 37 to end the 3rd quarter.

On the first play of the 4th quarter, Hall makes a nice run to the
Fresno 40 yard line. Willis carries the ball to the 25 where the drive
bogs down and BYU kicks as field goal to stretch the lead to an
uncertain 6 points at 30-24.

Fresno, looking to take the lead, moves out to their own 47 yard line,
but on 3rd and 10, Nathan Hall sacks Dilfer and Fresno is forced to
punt the ball.

Holding on to the slim 6 point lead, BYU takes possession of the ball
with 9 minutes on the clock and mounts the Mother of All Drives. I've
never seen BYU play ball control like this! Hall carries for 4, for 3,
then 5. Willis carries for 10 then loses 5. A pass interference call
on Fresno gives BYU 15 yards. Hall for 5, Willis for 4, Hemuli for 7,
Hall for 3, Hall for 2.  A play later, BYU is looking at 4th and
inches at the 20 yard line.  Lavell could have attempted the field
goal and tried for the 9 point lead, but he elected to go for the 1st
down. Hancock kept it on the QB sneak and picked up the first. Willis
carries to the 10 then to 5.  Hall breaks into the end zone from 5
yards out for the TD. The extra point was missed making the score
36-24. BYU's drive covered 82 yards and consisted of 18 (yes eighteen)
plays, only one of them was a pass play! More importantly, the drive
consumed a whopping 8 minutes, more than half of the 4th quarter,
leaving the bulldogs only a minute left in which to try some
desperation passes.

The game ended with Derwin Gray intercepting Dilfer's hail Mary in the
end zone with no time left on the clock.

BYU ended up with more rushing yardage than passing yardage and Kalin
Hall and Jamal Willis both had over 100 yards - Hall with 157 yards on
20 carries and Willis with 129 yards on 30 carries (Jamal also had
about 90 yards called back). BYU's rushing game was very impressive
and the entire offense looked sharp except for the 3rd quarter where
they took a breather. That drive in the fourth quarter was just
amazing. I've never seen BYU use up so much time on a drive and keep
the ball out of the other team's hands! The offense cut down on their
turnovers - having just the one interception and Willis's fumble at
the one (he was down - really he was!)

The defense again played very well, keeping the 3rd best scoring team
in the country 19 points under their average.

The final stats looked like this:

			Fresno		BYU
First downs		19		31
Rushing			27-133		57-307
Passing yards		288		282
Return yards		0		52
Comp-Att-Ints		16-25-1		17-38-2
Punts			5-44		2-32
Penalties		5-40		4-25
Time of possession	21:57		38:03

Leading receivers for BYU were Rex (6-85), Drage (5-130), Doman
(2-21), and Sterling (1-41).

BYU, now 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the WAC, travels to Laramie next
Saturday to take on the Cowboys of Wyoming. Wyoming has struggled a
little this year, but is coming off a 35-21 victory over New Mexico.
Look for BYU to add to the Cowboys' misery.

Until next week - John




--
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John F. Snow                         INET:           jsnow@moons.sim.es.com
Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp.    
Salt Lake City, Utah                 America Online: JohnSnow  GEnie: J.SNOW2
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college