The Fresno State football team will be holding its Spring Preview at Bulldog Stadium on Saturday, April 13, giving fans their first chance to see the returning Bulldogs and new crop of incoming players as they prepare for the 2019 season.
The Bulldogs have been holding practices since the start of March, and Saturday will be the final of their 15 allotted spring practices, as they build toward the summer program and fall camp.
Fresno State will once again be looking to extend its recent success, coming off a successful 2018 campaign that included a 12-2 record, Mountain West Conference title, a win in the Las Vegas Bowl against Arizona State and finishing the season ranked by the Associated Press at No. 18.
But that may be a tough task for the 2019 team, as the biggest question going into the spring is who will be the successor of former Bulldogs Marcus McMaryion and lead the ‘Dogs into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to face the University of Southern California for their first game of the season on August 31.
As of right now, the Bulldogs have three quarterbacks vying for the opportunity to be the signal caller on opening day — senior Jorge Reyna, redshirt freshmen Ben Wooldridge and Steven Comstock.
Of the three, Reyna is the only one who has appeared on the field for the Bulldogs. He played in 11 games in 2018, mostly in relief of McMaryion when the Bulldogs were ahead of opponents by a wide margin.
Along with McMaryion, the Bulldogs lost 27 players to graduation, plus playmaking juniors Jeff Allison and Mike Bell to the NFL Draft, which has led to much shuffling and ongoing position battles throughout the spring.
Head coach Jeff Tedford noted that there is more work to be done beyond the Spring Preview. In a post-practice interview for Fresno State Athletics, he said he is still looking to address the team’s many needs when it comes to the Bulldog depth charts.
“We’ll evaluate it and take a look, but, really, it’s not all done until fall camp,” said Tedford when asked about having a post spring depth chart. “Because you have new guys coming, but [the depth chart] gives you an idea how guys are improving, and where we feel they may fit. And then they go through the summer program and see if they continue to improve, and then we get to fall camp and it’s going to be the same thing. We really don’t know until we get two weeks from the game exactly how it’s going to play out.”
The final practice of the spring will be free to attend, and fans are encouraged to arrive early as the scrimmage will start at 10:30 a.m. The spring equipment sale located on the south side of Bulldog Stadium will begin at 8 a.m.