Fresno State and San Jose State have been playing each other in football since 1921, but last night may have been the final time this rivalry will be played in Fresno. With the Bulldogs moving to the PAC-12 conference in 2026, the schedule becomes tougher for both teams to find time to play each other. If this is to be the final fight over the Valley Trophy, Bulldog fans provided their fans with quite the show as they decimated the Spartans 33-10 on a night with Bulldog great Ron Cox inducted into the Ring of Honor, and the great Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. in the stands. Let’s recap the game, and see how the Dogs moved back into conference contention.
The first minute of the ballgame couldn’t have gone much worse for the Bulldogs, as San Jose was on the board before most fans even found their seats. Quarterback Walker Eget hit Justin Lockhart on a deep 3rd down conversion, then Nick Nash caught the subsequent pass in the endzone to go ahead 7-0 less than one minute into the game. It would be the last SJSU score for the next 54 minutes of game time.
I’ve spoken at length in the past about the inconsistency of Mikey Keene this season, and the various ways that it’s lost games so far in 2024. Last night though looked far more like the preseason all-MWC QB we expected to see. Keene was poised in the pocket, took what the defense gave him, wasn’t afraid to escape pressure, and threw for 275yds and 3TDs on the night. 9 different players caught passes from Keene, and he even managed to run for a first down during the game. Jalen Moss and Mac Dalena remain the top targets for the Bulldogs, but we also saw three tight ends and three running backs catch passes during the game. An average completion of 6.7 yds doesn’t exactly leap off the page, but it shows that Keene did exactly what was required of him, and didn’t involve forcing anything down the field. He did have one interception on the night, but that was after the ball bounced off of two different players, so it’s a bit tough to put that blame on Keene…