Dominant in the Dog House: Fresno State blanks New Mexico State before near sellout home crowd

Statistically speaking, Fresno State so far has been fielding one of the most dangerous receivers in all of college football.

Bulldogs senior Mac Dalena might be on the smaller size when compared to other top-level wideouts in the country. But this homegrown, 5-foot-11, 180-pounder simply keeps making big plays.

And like a good leader, Dalena set an example that many of his teammates would go on to follow Saturday as Fresno State cruised to a 48-0 nonconference victory against New Mexico State before an announced crowd of 39,079 at Valley Children’s Stadium.

The Bulldogs (2-1) were efficient, explosive and outright dominant — and it came the same week that Fresno State received its long awaited invite to join the Pac-12.

Dalena, the former San Joaquin Memorial High star, set the table by catching a 69-yard scoring strike on the Bulldogs’ second play from the line of scrimmage. He finished with 82 yards and two touchdowns on two catches.

In addition, Fresno State’s defense had arguably its most impressive performance in years while forcing five turnovers.

The Bulldogs run game had a big night, too.

But like last week, it was Dalena, with the help of quarterback Mikey Keene, who helped the Bulldogs play with confidence from the start and immediately energized the Red Wave with a deep-ball touchdown.

During Fresno State’s 46-30 victory against Sacramento State last week, Dalena hauled in a 75-yard scoring strike on the first play from scrimmage and just 10 seconds into the game.

Dalena finished that game with a career-high seven catches for 235 receiving yards, which was the most receiving yards since Las Vegas Raiders star receiver Davante Adams suited up for the Bulldogs in 2013.

That performance was largely why Dalena entered Saturday’s game ranked third in the Football Bowl Subdivision with an average of 151 receiving yards per game.

He also was fourth in the country with 302 total receiving yards on the season.

While Dalena continued to show early explosiveness for the Bulldogs on Saturday, it was Fresno State’s stout defense and emerging running game that helped take their team performance to a whole other level against the Aggies.

In addition to recording three interceptions and recovering two fumbles, the Bulldogs limited the Aggies to 138 total yards and 11 first downs.

Justin Houston had an interception, too. And Korey Foreman also forced a fumble

Fresno State now has recorded at least one shutout each season since defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle returned to the Bulldogs coaching staff entering the 2022 season. He previously coached at Fresno State in the early 2000s.

Saturday also will go down as the first shutout registered under interim coach Tim Skipper, who is trying to earn the job permanently.

Fresno State’s running game, meanwhile, finally produced.

Through the first two games combined, Fresno State totaled 164 rushing and averaged a mere 2.48 yards per carry.

Against New Mexico State, Fresno State’s running game generated 281 rushing yards and average of 6.5 yards per attempt.

Senior Malik Sherrod amassed 113 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries.

Junior Raylen Sharper added two carries for 74 rushing yards. He also had a team-high five catches for 58 receiving yards.

Keene, meanwhile, finished the night 12 of 22 for 221 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Perhaps the best stat for Keene was throwing no interceptions for the first time this season. He’d thrown a pick during each of his past four games dating back to last season, including two interceptions in each of the first two games this year.

Fresno State now has won 20 of its 21 meetings against New Mexico State and remains unbeaten in nine home games against the Aggies.