November 2, 1992
Originally published by The Daily Collegian (Fresno State)
When Fresno State football came out with the "Four Quarter Football" slogan for the 1992 season, they weren't kidding.
It wasn't until Anthony Daigle pounded home a three-yard touchdown run with 2:39 to go that the Bulldogs 42-31 barnburner win over Wyoming was sealed, and the Red Wave's 31,088 patrons could breathe a long sigh of relief.
The Bulldogs were looking to post their second straight win for the first time this season, and it looked early on that they were going to do it in pinball-machine style--with a 28-point gorge in the first 15 minutes.
Quarterback Trent Dilfer and company drew blood on the first two possessions, mixing it up well. After Ron Rivers sliced for 22 yards on his first three carries, wideout Michael Ross had time to get behind the Cowboys' secondary for a 52-yard strike. Boom--the 'Dogs were up 7-0.
On the next drive, the Bulldogs drove 73 yards in six plays to another score. Dilfer hit Malcolm Seabron on a 27-yard TD pass to rise up 14-0.
They would get another on Anthony Daigle's one-yard TD blast. It was 21-0. On the ensuing kickoff, Wyoming's Ryan Christopherson couldn't hang on to the short kick and the Bulldogs' Gabe Romero recovered.
"That was an area which gave us trouble all night long," Wyoming head coach Joe Tiller said.
The turnover led to a six-yard scamper by Rivers to put the Bulldogs ahead 28-0 and Wyoming in a gaping hole that looked to be growing wider by each Bulldog possession. Dilfer was perfect in his first seven attempts for 139 yards.
"Our offensive line has to get the credit," FSU head coach Jim Sweeney said. "They make the good backs we have look great. We also caught the ball extremely well."
In the second quarter, the Cowboys began to chip away at the FSU lead. A 70-yard. 11-play drive was capped by Hughes running a one-yard keeper and putting Wyoming on the board to make it 28-7.
The Cowboys' receiving threat, Ryan Yarborough, who is the country's top wideout in scoring and TD catches while only a junior, had yet to make an impact. So Hughes hit him in the end zone on a five-yard TD pass and the score stood at 28-14. Yarborough would not have a heart-stopping night, being held to six catches for 73 yards.
Dilfer had thrown a surgical-precision sensational game in the first 30 minutes, with 16 for 20 passing and 227 yards, which would be decent game totals for lesser quarterbacks. He would finish the night 19 for 30 and 282 yards. In the third quarter, Wyoming crept closer. Too close. Kris Mindlin's 27-yard field goal made it a 28-17 game.
Wyoming then went 85 yards in nine plays to another score. Driver got a two-yard TD run and then the two-point conversion.
Suddenly, the Cowboys were knocking on the door with 25 unanswered points.
If the 'Dogs didn't realize it earlier, they had to now--they were in a ball game. They hadn't been on the board since the first quarter and the momentum had shifted to Wyoming.
With the score 35-31, the Bulldogs put on a clock-eating, run-only drive that took six minutes, and Daigle had his third touchdown run to put the game out of reach. Linebacker Wendell Valentine ended all doubt by scooping up a fumble by the Cowboys' Yarborough with 2:31 to go.
"It looked like it was going to be so easy," said Sweeney. "I was thinking: New Mexico (last year's 94-17) rout all over again. We were having the night to do it, too. They (the Cowboys) could have laid down and died, but they didn't. That guy on the sideline (Tiller) has too much character to let them quit."
Tiller said that the Bulldogs would cause many a problem in the WAC in the years to come.
"I have tremendous respect for Fresno State. Offensively, they are explosive and can score at any time. Defensively, they make the plays when big plays have to be made. I credit FSU for finding a way to win. Good teams find ways to win, and that's what they did," Tiller said.
"I was frightened to death," Sweeney said of the Cowboys' comeback.
"This is the best we've ever played over four quarters here. I don't know whether any past Bulldog team could beat this team tonight."
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