FRESNO, Calif. -- The expected Fresno State blowout never materialized. Instead, a breath of fresh air has been blown into UND's season.
Heavily favored Fresno couldn't exhale until Robbie Rouse's 18-yard first-down run in the final minute sealed the Bulldogs' 27-22 win over the Sioux on Saturday night at Bulldog Stadium, where the hometown team heard a loud round of boos because of its inability to put away the stubborn Sioux.
"We came into a pretty hostile environment and didn't bat an eye," UND coach Chris Mussman said. "I'm really proud of our guys and their effort. Hopefully, we can build on this."
The FCS Sioux dropped to 1-2, but UND's performance against a quality FBS program provides optimism for a program that is two weeks away from beginning its conference season. And it also was a performance that may serve as a gauge as to how UND will fare once it joins the Big Sky Conference next season.
View from the top
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UND trailed 21-9 at the half but mounted two second-half scoring drives and held a 22-21 lead in the fourth quarter. Rouse's 1-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter put the Bulldogs up 27-22. Rouse's run capped a 12-play, 71-yard drive.
That was the only drive Fresno managed all night. Its first two touchdowns came on long pass plays and the third was set up by Devon Wylie's 54-yard punt return.
"The punt return and the two big pass plays over the top really hurt," Mussman said. "If we don't give up those three plays, we're sitting pretty."
Fresno prefers to run the ball, but UND's defense gave up only 84 rushing yards on 35 attempts.
"When we kept things in front of us, we were pretty good," Mussman said of the Sioux defense. "It's not like we were stacking the box. We played real simple stuff but we were effective with it."
Rolling on the ground
Just as impressive was UND's ability to run the ball. The Sioux finished with 216 rushing yards, 145 coming from sophomore Jake Miller, who had to take over for the injured Mitch Sutton.
The rushing statistics revealed UND's impressive play up front on both sides of the ball.
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Fresno's performance didn't impress the 27,000-plus fans at Bulldog Stadium, especially after the Bulldogs had a shot at beating No. 11 Nebraska a week earlier.
"It's not what you want from a score standpoint," Fresno coach Pat Hill said. "But I knew this was going to be very tough."
But UND's performance won't mean much if the Sioux have a letdown this week against Black Hills State in the Potato Bowl. Black Hills enters with one win, that coming Saturday against South Dakota Mines.
"It's all about the process, how we prepare each week and how we prepare for each opponent," Mussman said. "We have to do that this week against Black Hills State. We have to prepare the same way we did against these guys."
