After 18 days and 22 practices, the Fresno State football team is taking shape to try to repeat as Mountain West Champions.
The Bulldogs engaged in their annual fall camp, which ended with a scrimmage Wednesday at Bulldog Stadium.
Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter, who is entering his third year with the Bulldogs, will look to lead his squad to a third-straight winning season, despite losing key players.
This year’s team will feature a good number of new faces at positions like quarterback, wide receiver, in the secondary and more variety in the backfield than the last couple of years.
Defensive backs fight for corner spots
With fall camp complete, some spots still need to be filled, and quarterback isn’t the only position that features competition.
The secondary will feature veteran safeties Derron Smith and Charles Washington, but the coaches are still uncertain of whom will start at the corner spots. With the two positions up for grabs, those in the mix include Curtis Riley, Jamal Ellis, Bryan Harper and freshman Malcolm Washington.
“We’ve had some guys nicked up, but our guys are competing,” DeRuyter said. “We have some really young, talented guys that are pushing. If an older guy doesn’t have a good day, then we’re going to have one of those young guys ahead of him. The competitions are going to be driving this thing.”
Smith, a senior defensive back, said he likes what he sees from his teammates in the secondary, so far, and enjoys watching them come in every day and battle for the starting jobs.
“I’ve seen a lot of good things [from the cornerbacks],” Smith said. “It’s a good competition, and we’ve had a few guys that have done some good things and made some plays. But it’s all about consistency so whoever is the most consistent at corner is who the coach is going to put on the field.”
Quarterback situation still progressing
One of the most anticipated camp competitions with eight days to go until the Bulldogs face USC is the quarterback battle between Brian Burrell and Duke transfer Brandon Connette.
Burrell sees the competition as friendly and an opportunity for them to grow as passers.
“Me and Brandon have actually become really close friends. We hang out a lot, and we’ve become close,” Burrell said. “It’s a competition, but we also want to see each other do well.”
Connette’s view is no different. The fifth-year senior said the competition is beneficial to both signal callers because it has allowed both of them to compete at a high level and, in the process, elevate their game.
“I think we’ve embraced our friendship more than the competition,” Connette said. “Over summer, we got to know each other really well. We’ve developed more of a friendship where we’re not as worried about who’s going to start but just trying to make each other better and try to win the Mountain West for a third year straight. I can honestly say from the time I first met Brian until now that I’ve improved so much as a quarterback because of him.”
DeRuyter has yet to name a starter for the Aug. 30 season opener. He insists that quarterbacks Burrell and Connette are still dead even in the competition for the starting job.
“It’s still the same situation,” DeRuyter said. “We probably won’t [name a starter right now].”
Wideouts ready for battle
With wide receiver Josh Harper being the only returning starting receiver from last season, other Bulldogs compete to fill the other two spots in the receiving corps.
Second- and third-year receivers Da’Mari Scott and Aaron Peck are wide receiverswho seek to emerge as starters and fill the voids left by Davante Adams and Isaiah Burse.
Peck, a junior, said he feels his skill set will help him come a long way and hopes to contribute greatly offensively this season.
“I feel like I’m able to do a lot,” Peck said. “I’m able to go up and make catches that are high balls. I can outjump smaller defenders. Also my goal-line presence would be important to this team. Hopefully I can kind of be what Davante was in the redzone.
“Just like any other year, the expectation is to do whatever is necessary to win another Mountain West Conference championship. We’re going to go out every game just like last year and play our hardest and make plays.”
The 6-foot-3, 213-pound receiver said he is ecstatic to kick off the 2014 campaign against the “big boys” (Those being USC, Utah and Nebraska, all members of power conferences) and show everyone what he and the Bulldogs are capable of doing.
“I’m super excited to play against some really good competition in our first three games. [By playing toughschools] we get an opportunity to show the nation what Fresno State is about.”
Scott, who is also competing for a starting role is only in his second year of the program, feels he is ready to step in and contribute to the offense.
“I have things I need to work on, so I’m just trying to come out here and get better,” Scott said. “I feel really comfortable with the playbook, I’m getting more familiar with the system, and I’m just coming out here every day and competing.”
Backfield features various options at RBs
Fresno State’s backfield may be a little crowded this season as there are about four or five running backs in the mix competing for carries.
Those include upperclassmen Josh Quezada, Marteze Waller, Malique Micenheimer and freshmen Dontel James and Kurt Scoby.
“They did a good job today,” running backs coach Joe Wade said of his group after Fresno State’s second scrimmage. “They took care of the ball and did good when they had opportunities to carry it, pass protect and catch it. Overall it was a good scrimmage.
“They’re a good young group of men. I expect a lot out of them this season, and they expect a lot out of themselves.”
Last season the Bulldogs utilized Quezada and Waller as their primary backs. Quezada led the Bulldog’s ground game in 2013 rushing for 807 yards on 155 carries, and Waller finished right behind him with 646 yards on 124 attempts.
However, the backfield could look slightly different this season as DeRuyter stated that there are some guys emerging in fall camp.
“We have to make our running game a viable threat, and it starts up front,” DeRuyter said. “We need to have backs that can carry the load, and I like our backs. I think we have four solid running backs that are going to give us a lot of different dimensions. They also have to be able to protect and catch the ball, and I believe all four can do all of those.”
Fourth-year Bulldog Micenheimer is also in the mix for time at running back this season. The 6-foot-1, 239-pound back said he likes the way his fellow backs are competing.
“Overall as a group, I feel like everyone is doing great things, but there are still some things we need to work on,” Micenheimer said. “As a group, we running backs just want to do whatever it takes to help the team win.”
Wade said just like any other year, the expectations are high for the Bulldogs.
This season not only features last season’s top rushers but new faces such as James and Scoby. Wade said those two younger guys could see time at running back depending on the situation.
Scoby is currently sidelined after suffering a concussion during the second scrimmage, but coach DeRuyter said the freshman back is expected to return in the coming weeks.
“Dontel has had a really good camp, and Kurtwas also having a good camp before he got hurt,” Wade said. “I’m really happy with how those guys are coming along.”
Smith, Harper elected captains for 2014 season by teammates
Headlining this year’s squad are seniors Smith and Harper, who were elected team captains.
“The fact that both of them were elected by their teammates is a testament to the fact that they’ve been doing that already,” DeRuyter said. “Derron was voted as captain last year, so he’s just kept that same mentality. As for Josh with being a senior and being a guy that was very productive for us last year, guys look to him for the leadership example. I think he’s going to do a nice job stepping up to that.”
“It’s a great honor [to be named captain],” Smith said. “Even before I was elected captain, Josh, I and a few other guys on the team kind of took a leadership approach this summer in the summer workouts and even at the start of camp. To be named captain by your peers is an honor, but we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
Other than being elected captains, Smith and Harper were named to several watch lists this summer. Smith was voted as the Mountain West Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, named to four preseason All-America teams and made the watch list for six national awards including the Jim Thorpe Award, given at the end of the season to the top defensive back in the country.
Harper, on the other hand, was named to the Bilentnikoff Award watch, which is awarded to the most outstanding receiver in college football.
“[Being elected a captain] means a lot to me,” Harper said. “It means that the team looks at me as a leader. In order for me to take on that role, I have to lead by example and be more vocal.”
The ‘Dogs will open the season next Saturday against first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian and the USC Trojans in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
