Gillick finished Fresno State’s comeback. The last chance stalled.

The touchdowns came at the end of real work

Julius Gillick scored from seven and two yards against San Diego State on October 17. The first finished a ten-play, 75-yard drive; the second capped an eleven-play, 75-yard possession and tied the game 23–23 with 5:02 remaining.

Fresno State lost 26–23, but those drives distinguish its comeback from a few isolated late gains. After falling behind 13–0, the Bulldogs built possessions that required several successful assignments and then supplied a runner who finished the remaining short distance.

The backfield had more than one contributor

Bryson Donelson rushed thirteen times for 62 yards and a four-yard touchdown. Rayshon Luke added 47 yards on ten carries. Gillick’s six attempts produced 25 yards and the two scores. Different workloads contributed to the same effort to make the ground game useful near the finish.

A missed extra point followed the tying touchdown. San Diego State then used a ten-play, forty-yard drive lasting 3:48, with two third-down conversions, before Cooper DiLeva made a 53-yard field goal with 57 seconds left. Fresno State’s long scoring possession had not removed the need for a separate defensive finish.

Gillick’s short-yardage success gave the longer possessions a dependable destination, but reaching that destination still required the offense to preserve several earlier downs.

Protection shaped the last chance

The Bulldogs’ final possession began with a sack, followed by a nine-yard completion to Ezekiel Avit and two incompletions. San Diego State recorded six sacks overall, three by Kai Wallin. The final sequence left too little usable progress to answer the field goal.

Fresno State is 4–3 overall and 1–2 in the Pac-12, with Oregon State next on October 31 after a bye. The running finishes are worth retaining, but the offense needs enough protection to choose how to use the next late possession. Gillick had shown he could complete a drive’s last few yards. The Bulldogs’ final problem was never getting another drive to the point where that strength could decide it.