Saturday in Fresno, Calif., the Fresno State Bulldogs purged ghosts that have haunted their program since a 1990 defeat to NIU.

Ever since the Huskies clobbered the Bulldogs 73-18 last year, 1991’s season-opening rematch has been eagerly anticipated—at least by Fresno State.

Payback came in the form of a 55-7 win in which the Bulldogs racked up 638 total yards to NIU’s 181.

“Going into the game, the question was ‘will we go out and compete?'” NIU head coach Charlie Sadler said. “The answer was, ‘we didn’t.'”

Fresno wasted little time in its quest for revenge. Quarterback Mark Barsotti engineered a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive on the game’s opening possession. Lorenzo Neal ran it in from the one to make it 7-0 at the 9:00 mark.

After the Bulldogs made it 14-0 on a 13-yard Barsotti to Marty Thompson pass, the Huskies enjoyed their only highlight of the night.

After NIU’s Rakeem Short had a 23-yard kickoff return, Steve Rodgers took quarterback Stacey McKinney’s pitch to Fresno’s 21 for a 46-yard gain. One play later, McKinney sprinted 17 yards for NIU’s first 1991 score. Willy Roy Jr. converted the extra point to make it 14-7 late in the first quarter.

It would get no closer. The Bulldogs poured through the Huskies’ defense en route to a 34-7 halftime lead. Fresno tallied 21 unanswered second-half points to seal the win.

“Fresno is a very good football team, they will win ten or eleven games,” Sadler said, “but they’re not a 55-7 team better than we are.”

The Huskies young offense had its problems (three fumbles, only eight first downs), but NIU’s expected strength, the defense, also struggled.

“The defense has to play with emotion and intensity, (yet)—we weren’t a very aggressive football team,” Sadler said. “As a result, Fresno ran at us, scored points, kept the offense off the field and got us out of our offensive game plan.”

Barsotti finished 15 of 20 with 224 yards and three TDs. McKinney, making his first start for NIU, went 0-for-6 through the air and was sacked three times.

“We didn’t play up to our expectations. Offensively, we weren’t in sync,” McKinney said. “It wasn’t what Fresno did; things just didn’t go well.”

NIU safety Jeff Taylor echoed McKinney in blaming the loss on a poor performance. “We knew (Fresno’s) system, we just couldn’t execute,” Taylor said. “It was a lack of determination on our part. People were not giving their all.”

Fullback Adam Dach, who was expected to be NIU’s workhorse, had only eight carries for 33 yards. “When you look up and you’re behind 34-7, you’re not going to catch up by running the fullback,” Sadler said in explaining Dach’s quiet night.

Although the ‘91 debut of the Huskies, and of Sadler as a head coach, resulted in a 48-point loss, the rookie coach chalked up Saturday’s game as a learning experience. “Hopefully,” Sadler said, “we will grow from this.”