Monday, Sep. 22, 2008

Fresno State football survives wild shootout with upstart Toledo

By DANIEL LYGHT
The Fresno Bee

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Fresno State center Joe Bernardi sat on the bench Saturday night holding left tackle Bobby Lepori's hand.

When Bulldogs linebacker Nico Herron made the game-saving play, deflecting a 2-point conversion pass into the artificial turf to end the second overtime and the game, red and white pandemonium broke out on the Bulldogs' sideline and poured onto the field.

Herron's deflection sealed the No. 25 Bulldogs' 55-54 win at Toledo, which entering the game was 4-0 against ranked teams at home.

Fresno State had a 10-point lead with 3:29 to play, but had to punt on fourth-and-9, giving Toledo one last ray of hope.

Rockets quarterback Aaron Opelt connected with All-Mid-American Conference receiver Stephen Williams for a 44-yard score on the next drive, then the Rockets ran a surprise onside kick with

2:52 to play. The Rockets recovered and kicked a 33-yard field goal to force overtime.

The teams traded scores in both of the overtime periods, but after his team's second score Toledo coach

Tom Amstutz made the call to go for the 2-pointer.

"It was time for the game to go," Amstutz said. "That's the one thing about college overtimes, you get to a point where it gets a little bit dangerous for the players. It was time to decide the game."