Fresno State Football puts on a clinic, rout New Mexico State 48-0 on Heroes Night

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno State Bulldogs improved to (2-1) on the season after shutting out New Mexico State 48-0 inside Valley Children's Stadium Saturday night.

The last time the Bulldogs played New Mexico State, Fresno State walked off the field in Albuquerque with a 37-10 over the Aggies in the 2023 New Mexico Bowl.

A special flag football game was held just outside of the stadium in honor of Heroes Night.

At the time, Interim Head Coach Tim Skipper was essentially filling in for Head Coach Jeff Tedford after he temporarily stepped away due to health concerns.

Flash forward to Saturday night - Skipper was once again leading the Bulldogs against the Aggies, this time at home for the first time since 2010.

Fresno State started its opening drive much like last week against Sacramento State, with QB Mikey Keene finding Senior WR Mac Dalena on a 69-yard TD pass on the second play of the drive to make it 7-0 with 12:04 left in the first.

Minutes later, Bulldog RB Elijah Gilliam would fumble the ball, but WR Raylen Sharpe recovered to take it 56 yards inside the 5-yard line.

Gilliam finished the 2-play drive with a 4-yard rushing touchdown to go up 14-0 with 9:55 left in the first.

Later in the second quarter, RB Malik Sherrod stormed off for a 48-yard run to the NM State 7-yard line. Sherrod capped off the 6-play drive with a 7-yard rushing touchdown to go up three scores, 21-0 Bulldogs.

With 4:20 left in the second, WR Mac Dalena continued his hot start, grabbing another receiving touchdown from Mikey Keene on a 13-yard score.

Bulldogs went into halftime up 31-0 over the Aggies with 349 total yards of offense and never looked back.

Junior QB Mikey Keene finished the night 12/22 with 221 yards passing and 2 touchdowns.

Dalena once again led the WR group with 2 receptions for 82 yards and 2 scores.

Senior RB Malik Sherrod led the ground game, going 113 yards with a TD on just 15 carries.

It marked his first 100-yard game since November of 2023 in a loss against San Diego State on the road.

Fresno State also tallied 525 total yards of offense.

Cornerback Cam Lockridge once again a ballhawk for the Bulldog defense, hauling in 2 interceptions on the night.

Up next for the Bulldogs - another New Mexico team in the land of enchantment. Fresno State will open Mountain West Conference play against the (0-3) New Mexico Lobos next Saturday from University Stadium.