Fresno State Beats Virginia in MPC Bowl

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Posted 6:18AM on Tuesday, December 28, 2004

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Fresno State coach Pat Hill cringes when anyone applies the "mid-major" label to his Bulldogs or the Western Athletic Conference. It doesn't fit, he insists, and certainly not after Fresno State notched another win over the big boys. Paul Pinegar threw five TD passes, including a 25-yarder to Stephen Spach on Fresno State's first play of overtime, and the Bulldogs beat No. 18 Virginia 37-34 in the MPC Computers Bowl on Monday. "Because of the way we finished the season and the opponent we had, this was another big win," Hill said. Fresno State (9-3) closed with six straight wins and added the Cavaliers (8-4) of the Atlantic Coast Conference to a list of victims that in recent years has included Colorado, Oregon State, Wisconsin, Washington and Kansas State. "I believe the Western Athletic Conference is good football," said Hill, noting Boise State is 36-2 the last three years. "I've said this several times: Teams in our conference don't have to take a back seat to anybody." Also Monday, Connecticut beat Toledo 39-10 in the Motor City Bowl. On Tuesday night, Miami of Ohio will face Iowa State in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., and Notre Dame will play Oregon State in the Insight Bowl in Phoenix. Virginia started 5-0 and had hoped to land a Bowl Championship Series bid before ACC losses to Florida State, Virginia Tech and Miami. The 2,000-mile trip to play on the blue turf in Boise was considered a disappointment by some fans. It looked great after Wali Lundy's 20-yard TD run put the Cavaliers up 31-24 midway through the fourth period. Fresno State had been threatening throughout the second half. Brent Visintainer kicked a career-long 49-yard field goal on the final play before halftime, pulling the Bulldogs to 21-10. "That last drive right before the half was critical," Hill said. "Kicking that field goal gave us the momentum." Tailbacks Wendell Mathis and Bryson Sumlin established Fresno State's ground game in the second half and that helped the Bulldogs find an offensive rhythm and open the passing lanes for Pinegar. "I think they committed to the run in August," Virginia coach Al Groh said. Pinegar was fabulous, completing 23 of 36 passes for 235 yards without an interception. He led the Bulldogs back from a 21-7 second-quarter deficit and his five TD passes were a record for the game, formerly known as the Humanitarian Bowl. Fresno State's defense, meanwhile, disrupted Virginia's offense after adjusting to the flow of the game. Quarterback Marques Hagans was solid: 162 yards passing with one TD and 85 yards rushing with an 8-yard bootleg TD. But the bigger Cavaliers couldn't overwhelm the Bulldogs and eventually wore down. "I hate to go out like this," said Virginia receiver Michael McGrew, a senior. "But give credit to Fresno's defense. They were doing different things in the second half to stop our running game - our bread-and-butter the whole year." Virginia got the first possession of overtime, taking a 34-31 lead on a 26-yard field goal by Connor Hughes. Hill knew immediately that he wanted to take a shot at the end zone and win with a quick strike. Pinegar froze the defense with a play-action call and zipped a pass inside the 5 to Spach. The burly tight end fought past would-be tacklers and dropped into the end zone. That's when the Bulldogs stormed off the sideline in celebration while the Cavaliers were left dazed. "When you catch the ball in that situation, you're just looking for the end zone," Spach said. "You just keep on running. I knew I was really close." Pinegar directed a 16-play, 83-yard drive late in the fourth period. On fourth-and-goal at the 3, he rolled right and connected with Jaron Fairman for a TD with 11 seconds remaining. "My last option was to tuck it and run, but that would have been tough sledding to get in," Pinegar said. "Jaron made a great catch. After he caught it, they swiped at his arm but he did a great job to hold on." Visintainer added the point after, and it was tied at 31. "We never panicked when we were down 14 points," said Pinegar, who was harshly criticized when Fresno State lost three straight games after a 3-0 start. "We knew we just needed to stop making mistakes." Motor City Bowl Connecticut 39, Toledo 10 At Detroit, Dan Orlovsky threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns, and Matt Nuzie kicked a career-best four field goals in Connecticut's first bowl appearance since becoming a full Division I-A team three years ago. The Huskies (8-4) held the Rockets (9-4) to just 78 yards on the ground. Keron Henry led Connecticut's receivers with nine catches for 109 yards, and Cornell Brockington ran for 72 yards.