In college football, 12 wins is a big number.
Fresno State had never been there with its two chances in 96 seasons ending in well-spaced bowl losses — the first in 2001, the second in 2013.
But the Bulldogs, riding a formula that had carried them through to a Mountain West Conference championship, got there and overcame three third-quarter turnovers with it all on the line on Saturday in the Las Vegas Bowl.
They got there on the legs of Ronnie Rivers, the bowl MVP who scored two second half touchdowns, including a 68-yard blast in the fourth quarter that put the Bulldogs ahead for good in a 31-20 win against Arizona State.