On Saturday across the sidelines, in some ways, will be a reflection of Fresno State’s up-tempo, no-huddle, no-nonsense spread offense.
Wyoming (4-4, 2-2 Mountain West Conference) operates under it with junior Brett Smith behind shotgun. The Cowboys, under head coach Dave Christiansen, rank 21st in the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing yards (297.4 per game) and rushing yards (218.9).
That, Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter said, is where the Bulldogs’ spread differs with the Cowboys’ version.
Smith anchors Wyoming’s balanced attack. This season, he has passed for 2,367 yards and 19 touchdowns and has rushed for 431 yards (second-best on the team) on 78 attempts, averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
“It’s similar. A lot of their spread concepts are similar, but every spread team has its nuances. You go down to Arizona with Coach [Rich] Rodriguez, they’re more of an option run like Oregon is. Dave is more of a 50-50. They’re running for 200 yards. They’re going to spread you out to run, and they’re going to spread you out for their play-action pass and throw it. They use a lot more run game with their quarterback than what we do. They move the ball on everybody … it’s going to be a challenge.
“The nice thing for our defense is going against our offense, I think we kind of understand the tempo part of it and the spread concepts. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to be able to create some stops. These kinds of games, you don’t worry so much about the statistics.
The Cowboys have an advantage — time is on their side. Wyoming enters the contest on a two-game losing streak (they dropped contests against Colorado State and at San Jose State), but fresh off a bye week.
Fresno State played at San Diego State, which also had an extra week to rejuvenate and prepare for the Bulldogs, with the Aztecs presenting a few wrinkles the Bulldogs had not accounted for. The Aztecs went with a different game plan from what the film indicated. They played their defensive front standing up during periods of the game and used a stacked interior rush, rattling the Bulldogs into a slower-than-usual first half performance.
DeRuyter is aware of the challenge.
“I think any time you give someone two weeks to prepare for you, it gives them a slight advantage,” DeRuyter said. “I know we appreciate having that extra week to study that opponent.”
Bulldogs not worried about cold weather
It’s going to be cold in Laramie.
Early forecasts show Saturday’s low at 30 degrees at the 7,200-feet-above-elevation War Memorial Stadium.
The Bulldogs are no strangers to playing under extreme cold weather — they played at Colorado State and at Nevada last year, where temperatures dipped to the low 20s in Reno — but they aren’t acclimated with them either.
Fresno State, used to playing at home beneath the hot Valley sun, will have heaters on the sideline, DeRuyter said. At Nevada last season, Bulldogs were equipped with hand warmers, as well.
The Bulldogs won both of those games by comfortable margins.
“I reminded our guys after the game, during the game, I didn’t know what the temperature was during kickoff, but both those games I think it dipped down into the teens or the 20s and we went 2-0,” DeRuyter said. “Our guys apparently like that weather. I know some of the guys in my coaching staff don’t. That’s fine. We’ll be ready.”
“… You need to stay warm. You don’t want to go from being hot and sweaty to being cold and your muscles tighten up.”