FRESNO -  Behind 28 points off five turnovers, Fresno State cruised past UNLV, 56-27, on Friday night at Bulldog Stadium. The 'Dogs scored 21 of those points during a nine-minute span in the second half as their lead ballooned from eight to 36 points.

True freshman Levelle Bailey produced his first two takeaways of the year, and first two of the game, picking up a fumble and grabbing an interception both in the first quarter. Bailey's interception was the first of three on the night for Fresno State. Justin Rice forced a fumble and recovered a fumble in the same game for the second time this season - the recovery was an 18-yard touchdown return which gave Fresno State a 15-point advantage late in the third quarter that began a stretch of 28-unanswered points for the 'Dogs. The junior linebacker led Fresno State in tackles for the fourth time in the last five games as he racked up 10.

The Bulldogs' ground game, which had been averaging 141.2 yards per game, totaled 260 on the night compared to UNLV's 157. Fresno State's backfield accounted for six touchdowns, the most since the 2018 season opener, with three coming from Josh Hokit, two from Ronnie Rivers and one from Jorge Reyna. The senior quarterback also threw one touchdown to go with his 229 yards through the air. Jalen Cropper led the 'Dogs in rushing for the second game this season, carrying the ball twice with one an 82-yard gain that left the Bulldogs with first-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Keric Wheatfall led the receiving corps with 86 yards on four catches.

How It Happened
UNLV opened up the scoring on the game's first possession. A 45-yard pass play from Kenyon Oblad to Noah Bean set the Rebels up in the red zone. A stand by the Bulldogs' defense would force the visitors to settle for a 22-yard field goal from Daniel Gutierrez.

The Bulldogs used a short field to score their first points of the game thanks to Bailey's first career interception, which gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game with 7:46 on the clock. A five-play, 25-yard drive capped by a seven-yard touchdown run from Rivers.

UNLV would answer with a 13-play drive that finished with a 12-yard slant to Randall Grimes that put the visitors on top 10-7 less than two minutes into the second quarter. The 'Dogs would quickly respond with an 82-yard sprint from Jalen Cropper that set Fresno State up at the 1-yard line. Josh Hokit would punch in the touchdown to regain the lead for the Bulldogs, 14-10, less than a minute after UNLV scored.

Midway through the quarter after forcing a three-and-out, the Bulldogs carried the ball three times for 58 yards, which included a 40-yard scamper from Reyna to help extend their advantage. Rivers scored his second rushing touchdown of the first half on an 11-yard score to push the Bulldogs' lead to 21-10.

The Rebels would cut their deficit with less than two minutes to play in the half behind a 60-yard catch-and-run from Oblad to Bean. But as the offensive continued to roll, the Bulldogs used four consecutive completions on the ensuing possession, followed by a three-yard rushing touchdown by Reyna to end a five-play drive that lasted just one minute, three seconds that left 37 seconds on the clock before halftime.

Like the start of the game, UNLV would score first on a field goal from Gutierrez. The 22-yard attempt would cut Fresno State's lead to 28-20 just over six minutes into the third quarter. Following a 10-play drive that ended with a missed field goal for the Bulldogs, Keiti Iakopo forced a fumble on UNLV's first play which Justin Rice scooped up and returned 18 yards for a touchdown to put the 'Dogs in front by 15 points.

With UNLV trailing 35-20 early in the fourth quarter, they faced a fourth-and-15 on the Bulldogs' 33-yard line and did not convert to turn the ball over on downs to Fresno State. The Bulldogs capitalized on the momentum swing on the next play as Reyna found Derrion Grim for a 53-yard gain. Two plays later, the Bulldog quarterback connected with Jared Rice for a 12-yard touchdown to push the lead to 42-20 with 12:12 on the clock.

Arron Mosby and Juju Hughes ended the Rebels' next two drives with interceptions, allowing Hokit to turn both into short touchdown runs as the lead grew to 56-20 with 10 minutes to play. The Rebels would add a late touchdown as the score finished 56-27.

Notable

• The Bulldogs improve to 13-2 at Bulldog Stadium under Jeff Tedford.
• Fresno State improved to 9-3 all-time in home games against the Rebels.
• The 'Dogs improve to 6-2 in MW home openers with Saturday's win.
• Reyna posted his third game this season not throwing an interception.
• Tedford improved to 15-3 against MW opponents.
• The Bulldogs' five turnovers gained is the most since the 2018 season opener.
• Bailey became the first player to recover a fumble and record an interception in the same game since Mike Bell on Oct. 14, 2017, versus New Mexico.
• Ju. Rice forced his fourth fumble of the season, while Bailey recovered his first career fumble. It was the Bulldog's first turnover gained since the Wylan Free's interception at New Mexico State, on Sept. 28.
• Ronnie Rivers scored his third and fourth touchdowns of the season - it was Rivers' fifth career-multi rushing score game, and first since the 2018 Las Vegas Bowl versus Arizona State on Dec. 15, 2018.
• Jalen Cropper, who recorded a 79-yard run earlier this season - the 13th-longest run from scrimmage in school history - sprinted to an 82-yard run (tackled at the 1-yard line) and set the 10th-longest run from scrimmage in program history. It bumped his 79-yard run to the 14th longest.
• Hokit's registered his second career three-touchdown rushing performance - last time was against San Diego State in 2017.
• Ju. Rice recovered a fumble and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown. It was the first fumble recovered and returned for a touchdown by a Bulldog since Ejiro Ederaine did it against San Diego State on Oct. 26, 2013.
• Mosby recorded his second career interception. His first career INT was a 95-yard touchdown return. His second was an interception returned 16 yards to the UNLV 1-yard line.

Quotable
Jeff Tedford, head coach
Opening statement...
"It was a good team effort. I thought the defense played really well to create turnovers and make big plays there, and give us good field position. When you can score points off of turnovers, like the scoop-and-score that Justin [Rice] had, that is big. Turnovers were key. We didn't have any and we gained five. It was a really good team effort tonight. I thought we were efficient in running the football. Jorge [Reyna] protected the football and didn't get sacked tonight. It was good for us to come home and rebound. It has been a really long week of work. It was nice for the team to be able to bounce back and I am proud of them and happy for them. It is always nice to see all of the hard work pay off. I am happy for them."

Justin Rice, Jr., LB
On tonight's game...
"We got back to our basics. Our defense got out there and played real physical creating turnovers. That helps our offense, getting our offense back the ball three times inside our own 50, that only produces points and they did their job when they got the ball. We feed off each other and the greater they play, the better we play, it is a real team game and we proved it tonight."

Juju Hughes, Sr., S
On what clicked that allowed the 'Dogs to have a second-half scoring surge....
"You have to lock in and focus on the little things. It is the small things more than the big things. The small details make the whole thing work together. We saw what they were doing, talked about it the little things and saw how we played in the second half."

Box Score

Up Next
Fresno State will return to Bulldog Stadium on Oct. 26 to host Colorado State on Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. PT and will broadcast on ESPNU.

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