Fresno State Knocks Off Wac Opponent

Fresno State beats New Mexico State 37-7:

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) -- Fresno State used Paul Pinegar's finesse to start fast, then turned to its reliable runners to finish off New Mexico State in a soggy showdown Saturday night.

Pinegar threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter and later ran for another score, then handed off to Wendell Mathis and Bryson Sumlin to lead Fresno State to a 37-7 win over New Mexico State on Saturday night.

"Paul threw two beautiful (touchdown) passes in the first quarter, then we turned to smash-mouth football in the second half," Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. "I like the way we played. We hit well and we were very physical."

The Bulldogs (3-1, 1-0 Western Athletic) built an early 17-0 lead and coasted the rest of the way on a wet night, keeping the Aggies (0-6, 0-2) winless under first-year coach Hal Mumme.

A steady rain began 10 minutes before kickoff and continued much of the night. A crowd of only 8,312 fans showed up, but many left at halftime when Fresno State led 20-7. Only a few hundred watched the second half.

New Mexico State officials said it was the first rain at a home game in 12 years.

With the turf slippery, the Bulldogs relied on the legs of Mathis and Sumlin, who alternated on every series and each finished with 105 yards rushing. Each came in averaging 58 yards per game.

"The field condition was not conducive for us to do some things, so we had to go to the running backs and they both went over 100 yards," Hill said. "We need to get used to playing in weather like this because we may be in some games like this later in the year."

The Bulldogs also got three field goals by Clint Stitser, and Pinegar added a 1-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter. He finished with 112 yards passing, completing 10 of 19 passes.

The Aggies managed only 195 total yards, including 105 on the ground, and for another week New Mexico State struggled.

Fresno State's Emanuel Sanchez hit NMSU's Joey Vincent to force an early fumble that was recovered by Awan Diles, setting up the Bulldogs' first TD. Four plays later, Pinegar threw a TD pass to Adam Jennings.

Pinegar added a 19-yard TD pass to Jaron Fairman with 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter. In between the scoring plays, Stitser made a 38-yard field goal.

The Aggies trimmed the margin to 17-7 when Royal Gill threw a 3-yard TD pass to freshman A.J. Harris on a crossing pattern in the second period. That play capped a 10-play, 70-yard drive.

"With the exception of that one drive, we shut them down," Hill said.

But the Bulldogs led 20-7 after Stitser's 28-yard field goal just before halftime.

Mathis added the final score, darting untouched into the end zone on a 6-yard run with 5:56 remaining.