E.J. Warner threw for 214 yards and a touchdown and the Fresno State defense held the Miami (Ohio) offense to 192 total yards in an 18-3 win at the Arizona Bowl on Saturday afternoon in Tucson.
Warner, the son of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, completed 16 of 23 passes without a turnover.
“It’s awesome,” E.J. Warner said in his postgame interview. “It’s my first bowl game with these guys here. I love them all. A lot of ups and downs this year, but we persevered, got out with nine wins. (I’m) happy for all these guys, happy to be a part of it this year.”
Josiah Freeman caught seven passes for 143 yards for the Bulldogs (9-4), who came in with the 14th-best defense in the nation at 293.4 yards surrendered per game.
Miami freshman quarterback Thomas Gotkowski completed just 6 of 22 passes for 72 yards with an interception.
The RedHawks (7-7) were the defending Arizona Bowl champions.
The lone touchdown came with 11:12 left in the fourth quarter when Warner capped a 13-play, 70-yard drive by hitting Richie Anderson III with a 2-yard touchdown pass to stretch the lead to 15-3.
Shortly after Warner went into the medical tent after getting tackled following a 6-yard run, Dylan Lynch booted his fourth field goal of the game to extend it to 18-3 with 2:56 left in the game.
After the RedHawks forced a three-and-out on their first defensive series of the game, Keith Reynolds had a 32-yard run on Miami’s second offensive play to move into field-goal position. Dom Dzioban then booted a 33-yarder for a 3-0 lead with 9:09 left in the first quarter.
Lynch came back with field goals of 28, 23 and 25 yards in the second quarter to move the Bulldogs ahead 9-3 at the half.
A 51-yard completion from Warner to Freeman put the Bulldogs back in field-goal position on their first drive of the second half, but Lynch missed a 28-yard field goal try with 6:52 left in the third quarter.
Reynolds finished with 46 rushing yards on three carries to lead Miami’s ground attack.
Jordan Brunson, who came in with 724 rushing yards and four touchdowns for the RedHawks this season, was held to 43 yards on nine carries.
Fresno State first-year coach Matt Entz earned a $45,000 bonus for his team’s ninth victory and for winning the Arizona Bowl. He had already pocketed $110,000 in bonuses for winning eight games and qualifying for a bowl game.
–Field Level Media
