After Fresno State’s second loss against Nebraska, the ‘Dogs
are looking to get their first win of the season and could
rely heavily Robbie Rouse on Saturday.
Dalton Runberg / The Collegian

Breakdown: Fighting Sioux

North Dakota will be playing its second game against a Western Athletic Conference opponent after losing against Idaho last week, 44-14.

Next season, North Dakota will be making the jump to a new conference just like Fresno State. The Fighting Sioux will be a Big Sky member a year from now. The Big Sky is one of the top conferences in the Football Championship Subdivison.

North Dakota is led by their head coach Chris Mussman, who is in his fourth season as the face of the Fighting Sioux program. On offense the Fighting Sioux’s top signal caller is sophomore Joey Bradley. He beat fifth-year senior Brent Goska for the starting role. Junior running back Mitch Sutton will try to provide balance for Bradley in his third career collegiate start.

On defense, North Dakota has some veterans at key positions in defensive lineman Ross Brenneman and linebacker Mitch Goertz. Brenneman leads the team with two sacks on the season and Goertz leads North Dakota with 17 tackles.

They will lead the Fighting Sioux into a tough environmentand will have their hands full on Saturday.

Breakdown: Bulldogs

Fresno State is coming off a loss against Nebraska, but the ‘Dogs showed improvements in some key areas.

Most of the improvement was on the offensive side of the ball with the offensive line protecting quarter Derek Carr better than in the season opener. Carr wasn’t sack ed in the game and was only hit once against one of the top defenses in the nation. The only downside is Fresno State lost guard Matt Hunt with an ankle injury. The ‘Dogs will be without him for the North Dakota game.

Fresno State also improved in sustaining longer drives and having more of a rhythm as a unit. Junior running back Robbie Rouse carried the offense against Nebraska. He finished the game with 36 carries for 169 yards and helped take the pressure off of Carr. The defense was another story, giving up more yards to quarterback Taylor Martinez and company than against California. Nebraska’s offense accumulated 444 yards last Saturday.

Now, the defense has to focus on this game and try to get back on the same page before the Bulldogs travel to Moscow, Idaho to face the Vandals in their first Western Athletic Conference game of the season.

Keys to Victory

1. Minimize mistakes
The Fighting Sioux will be treating this contest as Fresno State did the Nebraska game so the ‘Dogs can’t look past North Dakota. Fresno State needs to win the turnover battle and limit the penalties it avoids allowing North Dakota the chance at the upset.

2. Continue with run game
Fresno State held its own at the point of attack with junior Robbie Rouse finding running room against one of the top defenses in the nation against Nebraska.

3. Limit the ‘Big Play’
In first two games, the ‘Dogs have been prone to give up the big play allowing both offenses to score on plays of 20 yards or more. Fresno State will have to limit the big plays by North Dakota.

Position Match-ups

When Fresno State runs:
Advantage – Fresno State
Junior Robbie Rouse had his best game of the season last Saturday against Nebraska’s vaunted defense. He will have plenty of opportunities to match that on Saturday.

When North Dakota runs:
Advantage – Fresno State
Fresno State’s run defense had trouble stopping Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez, but it faces North Dakota running back Mitch Sutton, who only has 131 yards in two games.

When Fresno State passes:
Advantage – Fresno State
QB Derek Carr has attempted 74 passes in two games and its safe to say Carr will continue to chuck it up against North Dakota.

When North Dakota passes:
Advantage – North Dakota
Fresno State had some lapses in the secondary against Nebraska and with junior safety Terrance Dennis suspended the ‘Dogs will be light in the defensive backfield.

Special teams:
Advantage – Even
Fresno State senior Kevin Goessling hit three big field goals against the Cornhuskers and will look to continue that production on Saturday.