Mathews punishes Spartans, Bulldogs roll

After another dominant performance, the NCAA Divsion I rushing leader is none other than Ryan Mathews.

The junior Fresno State tailback bulldozed the San Jose State (1-5, 0-2 WAC) defense in his three quarters of work en route to a 233-yard, one-touchdown night in the Bulldogs’ 41-21 win, Saturday night.

Mathews averaged 11.7 yards per carry and now has 974 on the season through six games, 59 more than second-best (Pittsburgh’s Dion Butler, who has 915 in seven games).

“I think he’s a very, very special player,” Fresno coach Pat Hill said. “He’s pretty close to 1,000 yards after six games and he only played one quarter against (UC) Davis, two and a half against Hawaii and not much of the second half (Saturday). He’s proven himself to be a premium running back. He’s really strong.”

The Spartans’ defense found out just how strong Mathews — and the entire Bulldog running game — was Saturday night, surrendering 302 yards on the ground. Mathews got the bulk of his yardage out of jumbo packages featuring two and three tight ends. Junior starting tight end Vince Pascoe teamed with fellow tight end Isaac Kinter and the Bulldog offensive line to open gargantuan holes, allowing Mathews to get to the second and third levels with consistency.

“The tight ends, I count them as linemen, too. I’ve got the best tight ends and linemen in the nation,” Mathews said. “They did a real good job of putting people on their backs and keying their assignments and just breaking me free. I wouldn’t trade them for anybody.”

The Bakersfield native’s biggest chunk of yardage came in the final minutes of the first half when he dashed 59 yards untouched behind his eight-man blocking front, putting the ’Dogs (3-3, 2-1 WAC) up 28-14.

“I was just reading my blocks. My linemen were pulling, my fullback, (270-pound Reynard) Camp, man, is a beast. I owe a lot of credit to him, too. He did the work. I just saw a hole and just hit it. I was thinking to myself, ‘I don’t wanna get caught.’ That’d be embarrassing. It’s little stuff like that that enters your mind,” he said.

Mathews’ success also opened the door for two wide-open touchdown receptions, to Devon Wylie and Marlon Moore, respectively, in Fresno’s 31-point first half.

Wylie, open by more than five yards in the end zone, hauled in a 27-yard lob from Ryan Colburn in the first quarter while Moore, who caught two TDs on the night, found himself alone on a corner route after a playaction fake to Mathews. Moore scored from 23 yards out in the second quarter then caught a four-yard touchdown from backup quarterback Ebahn Feathers on the first play of the fourth quarter.

San Jose safety Duke Ihenacho’s tackle had Feathers falling to the ground but the freshman managed to flip a pass to Moore in the corner of the end zone.

While the Bulldog receivers were getting open on their limited opportunities, their Spartan counterparts found little space.

Top receiver Kevin Jurovich, who had 37 receptions and 463 yards coming in, was held without a catch by Bulldog cornerbacks Desia Dunn and A.J. Jefferson while No. 2 receiver Jalal Beauchman had four catches and a touchdown in the first quarter, which ended with the Spartans up 14-7, but was held to just one the rest of the way.

“We studied film, we knew what they were gonna do,” Dunn said. “It took us a little while in the first quarter to break down everything they were trying to hit against us, but as soon as we got in a groove, we were good.

“I was able to watch (Jurovich’s) favorite moves and what we likes to do. I didn’t think he was that good against aggressive corners so I tried to play aggressive with them as much as I could, depending on the coverage.”

After the 14-point opening quarter, the Spartans didn’t find the end zone again until the final seconds.

Fresno takes on New Mexico State (3-4, 1-2 WAC) at 7:15 p.m., next Saturday, at New Mexico State.