The ‘Dogs will try to get on the right track against Hawaii this Saturday

Fresno State is in its final season in the Western Athletic Conference and the ‘Dogs have free-fallen from being a preseason contender for the title to losing to a WAC opponent the program has never succumbed to.

After suffering losses to three straight WAC opponents, the ‘Dogs are looking change the mentality of the team.

Head coach Pat Hill emphasized how poor execution has plagued the Bulldogs this season and he is planning on using the remainder of 2011 to focus on improving Fresno State from within rather than worrying about who the next opponent is.

Fresno State has been on a recent three-game losing streak where it came up short against conference opponents Nevada, Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State. Hill has seen the decline in the Fresno State’s play from the beginning of the season to the present.

“[Against Louisiana Tech] we didn’t play with the type of execution we played with earlier in the season,” Hill said. “We’re going to get back to working on the fundamentals.”

After the loss to Louisiana Tech, the ‘Dogs needed to win their final four games to become bowl eligible. The first team on the schedule was New Mexico State, who had never defeated Fresno State. The Aggies got their first win against the ‘Dogs in a high-scoring affair, 48-45.

“If we get better at our fundamentals and we get better at teaching what we do and not worry about the other people so much, I hope we can get better as a football team,” Hill said. “I still have great belief and confidence that this team can finish strong.”

The offense hasn’t provided much of the problem during the recent losing streak as the ‘Dogs had 495 yards of total offense with sophomore quarterback Derek Carr throwing for a career-high 391 yards and three touchdowns.

Certain in-game situations have dictated where Fresno State’s focus will be regarding the offensive side of the ball. Throughout the season, it has seemed like the ‘Dogs have run the ball a lot, but in reality they have only run the ball 31 more times than they have passed the ball. Carr talked about it not mattering whether or not the offense is unbalanced as long as Fresno State gets the victory.

“It’s the same, whatever it takes to win,” Carr said. “If it’s running the ball or throwing the ball, me and Robbie feel comfortable doing both.”

The offense has tried to follow the same balanced approach of allowing an even amount of passing plays and running plays.

Running back Robbie Rouse has had at least 20 rushing attempts in eight of the 10 games this year and has run for at least two rushing touchdowns on three different occasions this year.

Throughout the season, the Bulldog offense has shown flashes of brilliance, scoring at least 21 points in all but one game in 2011.

Although the offense is putting points on the board, it has only turned into three wins, two of which have come from teams with losing records while the third belongs to a team that currently plays in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Despite the consistency of the offense, the team has lacked the same explosiveness that it had last year when it put up more than 30 points six times. This year the Bulldogs have reached the 30-point mark only three times so far. Passing game coordinator Jeff Grady recognizes that Fresno State needs to put up more points to have a chance to get more wins, especially with the defensive struggles.

“We definitely need to put more points on the board,” Grady said. “We need to be more efficient.”