In their final Mountain West conference game Saturday, the Fresno State football team routed rival San Jose State, 41-14, keeping the Valley Trophy for another year.

Thus concludes the Bulldogs’ 14-year run in the conference, and fittingly, they said goodbye by defeating the conference foe they’ve beaten the most.

Fresno State has played as well as its defense has performed this season, and that was no different in the 1st half Saturday.

Simeon Harris’ 4th interception of the year set up a Dylan Lynch field goal. Two plays later, Al’Zillion Hamilton grabbed his 4th INT, and San Joaquin Memorial HS grad Brandon Ramirez barrelled in for a rushing touchdown off the turnover.

At that point, Fresno State built a 13-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter, before E.J. Warner tossed his MW-leading 11th interception that San Jose State returned for a touchdown.

Warner bounced back by passing for a 37-yard touchdown to Josiah Freeman, who scored the 2-point conversion to push the Bulldogs ahead, 21-7 at halftime.

Ethan Tierney recorded his 1st interception as a Bulldog in the 3rd quarter, and Lynch connected on his 3rd field goal of the night shortly after.

Warner fumbled early in the 4th quarter to set up San Jose State in Bulldog territory. The Spartans cashed in on the takeaway with a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the Bulldog lead to 24-14.

When it wasn’t defending a short field, though, the Bulldog defense was dominant.

Harris snagged another interception in the final minutes, as did Bullard HS grad Jayden Davis, and Merced native Elijah Gilliam scored two TD’s in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

Fresno State recorded 5 interceptions on defense Saturday, its most in a game since shutting out Arizona State in 2023 (29-0).

Warner finished the game completing 15-of-20 pass attempts for 138 yards and one touchdown pass against two turnovers.

The game was won in the trenches. Fresno State totaled 259 rushing yards on 53 carries, its most in a conference game since totaling 285 on the ground at New Mexico in 2022.

Fresno State (8-4, 5-3 MW) will learn its bowl game a week from Sunday.