Fresno State beat Washington State 29-6 to win the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel. What happened, who was the player of the game, and what does it all mean?
Fresno State 29, Washington State 6 Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel What Happened, Player of the Game, What It All Means
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Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel What Happened
– Jake Haener threw two touchdown passes and Jordan Mims ran wild as Fresno State got up 16-0 in the first half and coasted from there. Washington State managed a one-yard Nakia Watson touchdown run late in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs answered with a touchdown drive of their own on the way to 13 unanswered points.
– Washington State couldn’t get the offense consistently moving. QB Cameron Ward was held to just 137 passing yards, the ground game ran for 45 yards, and overall, the lines couldn’t hold up against the Fresno State fronts.
– Fresno State controlled the clock and the game, coming up with third down stop after third down stop with a steady pass rush that kept pressuring Ward. On other side, Washington State was missing a slew of key parts – especially at linebacker and receiver – and it showed. The Cougars struggled way too much against Mims once he had a little space.
Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel Player of the Game
Jordan Mims, RB Fresno State
He ran 18 times for 209 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes for 27 yards.
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Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel Fun Stats
– Total Yards: Fresno State 501. – Washington State 182
– Fresno State QB Jake Haener completed 24-of-36 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns with no picks.
– Average Yards Per Carry: Fresno State 6.8 – Washington State 1.6
Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Presented by Stifel What It All Means
Washington State might have been missing several important players, but it was still ugly. The offense couldn’t move, the normally nasty defense couldn’t make up for it – not having a slew of good linebackers certainly didn’t help – and it was a rough way to finish.
For all of the good things the program did this season, it closed out with a blowout loss to rival Washington and then this. It’s the third bowl loss in a row for the program – the last win was in the 2018 Alamo under the late Mike Leach – and now it’s 2-6 in bowls since 2003.
Fresno State won its fourth bowl game in a row. It took six seasons to do it, but technically, it hasn’t lost a bowl since 2014.
With this, and with the way the program roared back after a rough start, it closed with a Mountain West title and a bowl win to make it a second straight ten-win season and the fourth double-digit victory campaign in six years. Three of those seasons came under head coach Jeff Tedford.
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