Fresno State Salvages Win Over Oregon State, 24-20

CORVALLIS, Ore. —  To hear Coach Jim Sweeney talk, you’d have thought his Fresno State Bulldogs lost the game.

“That’s a super example of what a wishbone can do,” he said after his team escaped with a 24-20 victory over Oregon State Saturday night. “That’s control the ball and keep it out of the opponent’s hands.”

Mark Barsotti threw two second-half touchdown passes to Marty Thompson, the last with 3:06 to play, to give the Bulldogs (3-0) the come-from-behind victory.

Oregon State (0-3), seeking its first victory under Coach Jerry Pettibone, led most of the game until Barsotti’s game-winning, nine-yard scoring pass.

“The winner’s not always on the scoreboard,” Sweeney said. “They had a winning effort.”

Said Pettibone: “This team grew up a lot tonight.”

Fresno State went 62 yards in nine plays for the winning score, aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty against Oregon State’s Joseph Kearney.

The Beavers used a 57-yard touchdown run on a fake punt by Dennis Edwards to take a 17-7 lead earlier in the third quarter.