Fresno State in danger of missing bowl game after baffling loss to Air Force
Of all of Fresno State's losses suffered this century, getting beat by an Air Force team that had only one win this late into the season might go down as one of the Bulldogs' worst.
Fresno State's defense simply could not stop Air Force's one-dimensional attack, a suddenly potent ground game that churned 344 rushing yards and chewed up 45 minutes, 8 seconds of the play clock.
Meanwhile, Bulldogs quarterback Mikey Keene went from playing solid for three quarters in the limited time that the Bulldogs had the ball to making a handful of boneheaded mistakes in the fourth quarter to stifle a late rally.
Add that combination together and Fresno State lost 36-28 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Col.
Opening kickoff occurred amid a starting field temperature of 26 degrees and snow pushed off from the field but still in the stadium.
In hindsight, Fresno State fans might've been happier if a blizzard prevented the game from taking place.
How bad was this Fresno State loss?
Air Force (2-7, 1-4) hadn't beaten any team from the Football Bowl Subdivision (college football's top level of play) until playing Fresno State. The Falcons' only other win this season occurred during the season opener against Merrimack.
Air Force wasn't just bad prior to playing Fresno State.
The Falcons were the worst in the nation, ranking dead last among 133 FBS teams after entering Saturday's game with a mere average of 13.75 points per game.
They also were third-to-last in the nation in offense at 284.5 total yards per game and the fourth worst in first downs (126 first downs in 8 games for an average of 15.75 per game).
But against Fresno State, Air Force scored almost three times as much as its season average, and amassed 358 total yards and 24 first downs.
That's what can happen when a team owns possession of the ball for more than 75% of a game.
Air Force got to execute 86 plays on offense, while Fresno State had just 38 offensive plays, which became a season low. Fresno State already was coming off a then season-low 52 plays last week in a 21-20 loss to Hawaii, which ran 89 plays.
With the latest baffling loss, Fresno State (5-5, 3-3) suddenly becomes in danger of missing a bowl game.
The Bulldogs have needed just one more win since earning their fifth victory on Oct. 26.
But with losses to Hawaii and Air Force going into this upcoming bye week, does Fresno State have the fortitude to beat either of its final two regular-season opponents in Colorado State (6-3, 4-0) or UCLA (4-5)?
And can Keene play any better?
The junior completed 23 of 26 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns to one interception against Air Force.
Yet despite completing 88.5% of his passes, Keene also committed some blunders during the fourth quarter when Fresno State took possession of the ball down 33-21 with 8:51 remaining.
Keene took a sack for a 4-yard loss to start off that important drive.
Then he scrambled around on the following play and stayed in bounds to log a 0-yard run — rather than throw the ball out of bounds or run out of bounds to stop the clock.
Two plays later on fourth-and-11 and Fresno State in dire need of a first down, Keene held onto the ball too long and got sacked for a 13-yard loss.
Still, Fresno State managed to cut the Air Force lead to 8 points when Keene connected with Mac Dalena on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 38 seconds remaining.
But the Bulldogs were unable to recover the ensuing onside kick.
Fresno State linebacker Tuasivi Nomura finished with a game-high 18 tackles, including 9 solo.
Fellow linebacker Malachi Langley had 13 tackles.
And teammates Jayden Davis and Devo Bridges added 11 and 10 tackles, respectively.
Despite the impressive tackling stats, Fresno State managed just two tackles behind the line of scrimmage among Air Force's 86 plays.
The Bulldogs defense also was not able to generate any sacks or force any turnovers.
The Bulldogs are winless in games that their defense failed to force a turnover.
