UPDATED, 6:49 p.m.: Official stats have Mathews with 185 yards on 23 carries. So I was off by one. Sue if you want, but I don't think you'll get anywhere.
I'm headed out, but check The Californian tomorrow morning for a story about Ryan. In the meantime, for those interested, here's the link where you can purchase those "No. 21 Heisman Hopeful" T-shirts.

UPDATED, 5:12 p.m.: Ryan Mathews and the Fresno State offensive line have put this game on ice. Mathews carried twice for a first down, and then converted a third-and-7 with an 11-yard scamper to seal the deal. Knees from here, and FSU survives 31-27.
Again, it's unofficial, but I've got Mathews down for 184 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner on 23 carries.

UPDATED, 5:04 p.m.: As bad as the Fresno State defense was in the first half, it has really stepped up in the second half. That's another stop on a three-and-out. 3:35 and ticking on the clock, and Utah State is going to punt and try to get the ball back. Not a good situation for the Aggies.
Fresno State has it at its own 6 with 3:13 left. Utah State has two timeouts.

UPDATED, 5:00 p.m.: By my count, that's now 160 yards rushing for Mathews, his eighth 100-yard game in as many tries this season.

UPDATED, 4:59 p.m.: Ryan Mathews might have just saved the day for the Bulldogs. He carried once for 6 yards, then finally got loose in the secondary and went wild, getting 47 yards to the USU 25. We'll see what the Bulldogs can do with it. Pass interference on Utah State will give the Bulldogs the ball first-and-goal at the 10. Inside of five minutes to play now.
Mathews again. Touchdown. Slipped through two linebackers, and if they touched him, it was just a scrape. Fresno State takes a 31-27 lead with 4:53 left. It's on the Bulldogs' defense now.

UPDATED, 4:55 p.m.: A big stop on an option pitch sets up fourth-and-1 for Utah State. They'll go for it. Taking a huge risk from their own 47. Timeout first. Fresno State also burned its first timeout on defense on this drive, by the way.
We'll see if the Aggies will keep the offense on the field out of the TO. There's 6:10 left, and if they don't get it, Fresno State will be within 15 yards of tying field-goal range. If they do, though, they can keep milking the clock. Punt formation it is. OK, now Fresno State's second timeout. There was some apparent confusion there on defense, maybe expecting a fake? No, it was because they had 12 men on the field. Boy, would that have been costly. Rather burn the timeout, even though that leaves them with just one.
The punt takes an enormous Utah State bounce and goes all the way to the 3-yard line. 5:59 left, and Fresno State has a lot of green in front of it if it wants to even this game or even take the lead.
Nevermind on that. Apparently, the ball hit a Utah State player at the 22. Fresno State will get the ball there. That's a huge break for Fresno, but still a long way to go.

UPDATED, 4:47 p.m.: All of Fresno State's victories have come by 20 points or more. They're 0-4 in games decided by less than that big number, a trend they'll have to reverse to get a win here. And while the Bulldogs' defense has recovered nicely from a bad first half, pitching a shutout in the second, the offense is the problem now. A three-and-out, and FSU has to punt again. Time is becoming more and more of a factor. 7:49 left.

UPDATED, 4:43 p.m.: The Aggies are showing no fear here, risking a deep play-action pass down the right sideline from the 1 on first down. Incomplete. RB Robert Turbin leaps out to the 3 on second down. Jefferson made the tackle, by the way. BIG third down here as we go inside 11 minutes. Converted, pass from Borel to a big tight end on a drag, Kellen Bartlett.
A couple of runs sets up another third down, this one six yards to go. And an open man, Mikahil Morgan, drops the ball. Was running before he secured it, and Fresno State has an important stop. A good punt, though, and though Chastin West had a nifty return, the Bulldogs are back at their own 39. Still good field position with 9:18 left.

UPDATED, 4:37 p.m.: Fourth-and-inches for Fresno State at the USU 47, and they're going for it. Big boys sub in. And a false-start penalty. What a killer. It was Devon Cunningham, and now the Bulldogs will have to punt. All the ingredients for an upset are here, and Utah State is going to have the ball with 11:37 left. But — and this is big too — the Bulldogs were able to down the punt at the USU 1-yard line. So the Aggies have a hole to dig out of on offense. Still 27-24.

UPDATED, 4:31 p.m.: What a bullet dodged there by Fresno State, which forces an incomplete pass with some tight coverage from Isaiah Green on third down and then watches Chris Ulinski's 31-yard field goal attempt sail wide left to keep the score 27-24. Bulldogs take over, and Mathews is back in there. Injury scare averted, apparently.

UPDATED, 4:27 p.m.: No Ryan Mathews on that last drive. Fresno State goes three-and-out with Anthony Harding at tailback, and the timing of that is very strange to me. FSU often gets its other backs some carries, but Mathews ran so well on the last drive that I wonder if he wasn't banged up. Something to keep an eye on, anyway.
As the third quarter clock melts away, Utah State has a third-and-5 from inside the 40 after a Matt Akers tackle. Akers is a redshirt freshman from Liberty playing defensive end. But the Aggies convert the first down, Diondre Borel to Nnamdi Gwacham. Another first down later, the third quarter ends. Utah State is in the red zone to begin the fourth, up by three.

UPDATED, 4:18 p.m.: A.J. Jefferson made about the first open-field tackle on Diondre Borel on a first-down play that Fresno State has all game, but now the Utah State QB is moving the ball through the air, down to the FSU 41.
Crowd is easily the loudest it has been all game, by the way, and Fresno State makes a big stop. Bakersfield High grad Phillip Thomas, the Bulldogs' nickelback, made a third-down tackle for loss to get FSU out of the drive.
Bulldogs' ball again, back at their own 11. 4:08 to go in a fast-moving third quarter.

UPDATED, 4:12 p.m.: Three more plays, and Fresno State scores. There's that Bulldogs ground game. Mathews busted a counter play for 24 yards down to the 3, and Lonyae Miller went in untouched from there to cut the Utah State lead to 27-24. Mathews has 48 yards in the second half already after just 40 in the first half.

UPDATED, 4:08 p.m.: We didn't have a punt from either team in the entire first half, but both teams are forced to kick it away on their first second-half possession. Fresno State ball again.
There's lots of time left in this game, but this feels like an important drive. After the defense finally found a way to contain Diondre Borel, who reminds me a lot of Missouri quarterback Brad Smith from when I was in school there — very mobile, hard to tackle, strong arm, not necissarily the most accurate guy in the world. A good drive here and Fresno State would have some real momentum.
First play, a 36-yard catch and run from Seyi Ajirotutu. Second play, a 13-yard bulldozing run from Ryan Mathews. This is a good start.

UPDATED, 4:01 p.m.: Well, Mathews got carries on second and third down on the Bulldogs' first series, but he came up two yards short of the first down (after no gain on a first-down passing play). Colburn still is in there, by the way. Don't think we've seen anything drastic enough for Carr to come in yet.
But if Fresno State's D can't come up with a big play, it might be time for drastic measures soon.

UPDATED, 3:55 p.m.: I just re-read what I wrote in the previous update and want to clarify: I don't think Ryan Colburn is playing poorly. For the most part, he's done a nice job, both today and on the season. The Bulldogs are 4-3, and in at least two of those losses, the defense has been more to blame than Colburn or anyone else. That's the case again for the deficit today, with Utah State racking up 363 first-half yards, 179 of them on the ground.
But it just seems like Colburn is being set up to fail. Every time he makes a mistake or doesn't execute, someone somewhere thinks of Carr, who's a big-time recruit and the brother of a popular former Fresno State great. That's not fair to Colburn.
The other thing I want to add is more of a question: Where is Ryan Mathews? I know Utah State dominated time of possession in this game, nearly 20 minutes to just more than 10, but Mathews has eight touches. There have been 23 other offensive plays where the Bulldogs haven't utilized their best player. Yes, balance is important, and yes, there are other playmakers in this offense, but that still seems low to me, especially considering Mathews has performed well when he has gotten the ball.
Second half kick-off is in two minutes. FSU gets the ball first. We'll see how it shakes out.

UPDATED, 3:36 p.m.: It didn't take long for a few boo-birds to turn on Ryan Colburn and Fresno State offense there. Colburn didn't look good in the two-minute drill, and though the Bulldogs converted a couple of third downs, Colburn threw a bad interception and gave the Aggies a shot at points before halftime.
Diondre Borel rallies his guys down into field-goal range with a few seconds left, also in part thanks to a pass-interference call in the end zone on A.J. Jefferson. Not a good first half for that former Viking. And Chris Ulinski hits a 23-yard field goal as first-half time expires to make it 27-17 Aggies. Big-time turnaround in this second quarter. More boos as the teams head to their locker rooms.
Don't get me wrong: Ryan Colburn has played well for the most part in this first half. But he's flashing some of the inconsistency that has Bulldog fans waiting for Derek Carr to get his chance. Will Pat Hill's hand be forced? It almost seems like Colburn is hurt by the perception that Carr can do better, even when the starter's playing well. And maybe Carr will get his chance. I don't think it'll happen right away, but if Colburn struggles on another drive, there will be pressure on Hill to give the freshman from BCHS a try.

UPDATED, 3:23 p.m.: If you want an upset, you've got to play well and get a few breaks, and that Jefferson fumble just might help Utah State to a halftime lead here. The Aggies took seven plays to punch in a touchdown with 1:57 remaining in the half. It's 24-17. We'll see how Fresno State responds here in front of what's become a bit of a stunned crowd (it has gotten a bit bigger, by the way, though still pretty small).

UPDATED, 3:17 p.m.: Robert Turbin busts loose for 36 more yards on another third-and-1, and two plays later, he gets in from a yard out on third-and-goal to tie us up, 17-17 with 5:02 to play in the half. Fresno State's defense has looked porous, even as they've made a couple of big plays. Turbin and mobile QB Diondre Borel have really come through when they've needed to on offense.
I know the passing game is working, but it might be time to get the nation's leading rusher some more carries on this drive before the half. He's had seven touches, five of them rushes.
Or not. Mathews' West High teammate, A.J. Jefferson, had a big kickoff return there, but perhaps the last man he had to beat stripped him of the ball. USU recovers the fumble and has it back at the Fresno State 40. Ouch.

UPDATED, 3:05 p.m.: They actually count an incompletion against the quarterback on an intentional-grounding penalty (the defender also gets a sack, which is kind of a double standard, if you ask me), so Colburn didn't have a perfect first quarter after all. All the stats I give you here are my own and thus unofficial, by the way. I'll update with official stats as I get them. Colburn is unofficially 11-of-14 for 170 yards now, still very good numbers. And Ryan Mathews has five carries for 41 yards, plus the 26 receiving yards.
And though that last Bulldogs drive stalled at the USU 33, Kevin Goessling nailed a 50-yard field goal to give Fresno a 17-10 lead. Special teams, folks. Utah State missed a mid-range field goal and Fresno State hit a long one. That will make a huge difference in the course of a game, and it's given the Bulldogs a full touchdown lead here with 9:48 to go before halftime.

UPDATED, 2:54 p.m.: An amazing diving catch near the sideline from USU's Xavier Bowman sets the Aggies up at the 20, but Fresno State's D stiffens from there, and they get a stop when Chris Ulinski pulls his 32-yard field goal attempt wide to the left. Any stop is a big stop in a game like this, and the Bulldogs have the first one. Now we'll see if Colburn and Mathews can separate from Utah State a little bit.

UPDATED, 2:48 p.m.: Looked like Fresno State, aided by Utah State penalties, had the first stop of the game, but Chris Carter's sack on third-and-27 came with a face-mask penalty attached. That's a personal foul and an automatic first down. Pat Hill must want to pull his mustache out at this point. First quarter over, still 14-0, but the Aggies have a first down in Bulldog territory.

UPDATED, 2:40 p.m.: No matter on the long down-and-distance. Pass to Mathews in the flat, makes a man miss, 15 yards. Pass to Ajirotutu, leaping catch in the end zone, 18  yards, touchdown. 14-10, STILL 4:21 left in the first quarter.
By the way that's two catches for 26 yards for Mathews, who had just five catches for 68 yards coming in. He's also got four carries for 33 yards and a TD. Colburn, by the way, is 8-for-8 passing for 147 yards and a TD already. Wow. Everything working for Fresno State, except the defense. There's another first down for USU.

UPDATED, 2:34 p.m.: I know a lot of us in Bakersfield would like to see Derek Carr get his chance at quarterback in a close game, but with the way Ryan Colburn is playing, there's no reason. He's made mistakes early in games this year, but not today. He was spot-on on the play-action to Ajirotutu on the first play of the game, and he just hit Chastin West on a seam route with beautiful touch from the lefty QB. That set Fresno State up in Utah State territory, and with the Bulldogs sporting a balanced offense, they moved the ball down quickly in position for another score. From there, though Colburn took an intentional-grounding penalty (he was going to be sacked, so it wasn't really a bad play), and FSU takes a timeout facing a second-and-22.

UPDATED, 2:24 p.m.: By the way, they're passing out or selling, I'm not sure which, "Ryan Mathews Heisman Hopeful" T-shirts out there. I've seen a few of them. I had heard in the past month that there wasn't really a budget for a Heisman campaign for Mathews, but it's good to see they're doing something.
Meanwhile, a long kickoff return and a bomb complete to Stanley Morrison gives Utah State a first-and-goal. This thing is a shootout. The pass went for 54 yards, and Morrison beat West High's A.J. Jefferson in coverage.
Jefferson did make the touchdown-saving tackle at the 5, though, but Utah State converted a third-and-goal on a pass from Diondre Borel to Xavier Bowman to retake the lead. It's 10-7, still with 8:20 to play in the first quarter. Could be a long, offense-filled afternoon.

UPDATED, 2:19 p.m.: Ryan Colburn looks just fine on the first drive for Fresno State, and so does Ryan Mathews. Colburn used play action to deke the Utah State defense, then went deep up top to Seyi Ajirotutu for 46 yards. An 11-yard pass to Mathews, then a 14-yard Mathews run, and then a 9-yard tackle play that ended with Mathews diving for the pile-on and the touchdown. Just like that, 7-3 Fresno State. Mathews is helped by the threat of a passing attack, and though Colburn has made his mistakes, he has undoubtedly been providing that this season.

UPDATED, 2:14 p.m.: On the first drive of the game, it looked like Utah State's Robert Turbin is the nation's leading rusher, not Ryan Mathews. Turbin carried for a 43-yard gain on third-and-1 on a counter play. He ran up the gut for 16 yards on the next play, and two plays after that, the Aggies had first-and-goal at the 4. Fresno State stiffened from there, though, and the Bulldogs force USU to kick a 26-yard field goal. Nice response by the FSU defense, and it's 3-0 Utah State.

UPDATED, 1:58 p.m.: A couple of things: First, it's either a very small or very late-arriving crowd on Halloween afternoon (or both). Even the student section isn't half-full.
Also, a couple of fun facts. This is Fresno State's first Halloween game at home since 1992. It's the second straight week and the third week this season they've played a team nicknamed the Aggies (UC Davis to start the season and New Mexico State last Saturday). Coincindentally, it's also the second straight week Utah State has played a team named the Bulldogs (Louisiana Tech being the other).  Pretty funny stuff.
As for the game itself,  I don't think we'll see a real barn-burner. Utah State lost to New Mexico State three weeks ago, and FSU beat those other Aggies 34-3 last week. That should tell you a lot, though USU (2-5 overall) has given Texas A&M, Utah and Nevada tough games this year.
My pick? Fresno State keeps rolling, 41-24.

ORIGINAL POST: About 20 minutes from gametime here at Bulldog Stadium, where Utah State is in town to try its hand against red-hot West High grad Ryan Mathews and his Fresno State team. The Bulldogs have won three in a row after a 1-3 start and are mowing through the WAC; Mathews is mowing through everything in his path. He leads the nation in rushing with 1,131 yards, and he might keep that lead even if he didn't play today. But he will, and he'll probably rack up more yardage.

There's also some increasing talk up here about Bakersfield Christian grad Derek Carr getting some more playing time at quarterback. Fresno State coach Pat Hill was asked earlier in the week if he thought about pulling inconsistent starter Ryan Colburn, and he hesitated for a few seconds before giving a drawn-out "Naah. I don't think so." Doesn't sound too convincing to me, and Hill also has talked before about getting Carr some action other than mop-up time. Maybe today will be the day.

Keep it here for updates on the game and for Bakersfield's favorite Bulldog sons.