Fresno State Football Game Preview

By Darrell Copeland III
The Collegian

Bulldogs

Fresno State has had to live with the bitter taste of defeat for two weeks now, something it hadn’t anticipated entering its fourth game of the season.

At this point, the Bulldogs are stuck with two choices — pack it in and just show up for the remaining games, or take out the frustration of two losses on whoever lines up across the ball from them.

If talk from the team in the last two weeks means anything, Colorado State should have its hands full of rabid Bulldogs come game time. Of course it doesn’t help the Rams’ cause that defensive tackle Erik Sandie essentially called out Bulldogs center Kyle Young this week, saying he has faced better centers before.

Because of this, expect the Bulldogs to run effectively up the middle against the Rams. It will take at least nine men in the box for the Rams to slow down Bulldogs running back Dwayne Wright.

Because of inconsistencies on either side of the ball for Fresno State, head coach Pat Hill has said that non-starters who have played well may see more time. But don’t expect too many shake-ups in the lineups. Most substitutions will likely be made on situational downs.

Those situational inconsistencies can be seen most evidently on third downs, where the Bulldogs have struggled for most of the season on both sides of the ball. This is where the adjustments for the Bulldogs must start.

Third Downs (offense):

Because of a lack of offensive conversions, Fresno State’s defense has been forced to be on the field longer than Hill would like. Many of the third down failures have come when the Bulldogs have needed a pass completion, so quarterback Tom Brandstater will need to increase his production most of all on these downs. Executing on offense for the Bulldogs may be arguably the most important aspect of the game. This will put the Bulldogs in more positions to score and keep the opposing teams’ defense on the field, creating a fatigue problem that would be hard to overcome.

Third Downs (defense):

What the Bulldogs are trying to overcome on offense, they are trying to prevent on defense. When addressing the media, Hill routinely makes it a priority to announce the importance of his defense getting off the field on third downs. The depressing effect that routinely allowing an offense to convert on third down has may be the biggest thing to overcome. Fresno State has worked specifically on these situations in practice, so look for the defense to fly to the ball and be much more aggressive.

Special Teams Execution:

It really is easy to take for granted this area of the game, especially when it comes to Fresno State. One bad outing can be chalked up to just a lack of concentration, or something that only takes minor adjustments to fix. But after back to back games with multiple special teams glitches, there is now a surprising concern to fix what’s gone wrong. Expect this area to soon become a strength for the Bulldogs once again.

Fresno State is in dire need of a victory, and a win against a quality program like Colorado State would help. The defense will need to return to its gang-tackling, big-hit style of old to be dominant again.

Rams

Just like Fresno State, the Rams are coming off a bye week, so both teams have had a bit of extra time to prepare for their respective opponents. This does, however, eliminate any advantage that either team would have had with extra preparation time.

Colorado State has been very inconsistent when it comes to the offensive side of the ball.

The Rams have averaged a mere 76 yards per game on the ground this season, an area that has been a strength for the Bulldogs this season. The Colorado State running attack has lacked any explosiveness, as the running game has only produced nine runs of 10 or more yards this season. The team’s long of 35 by Nnamdi Ohaeri came in the Rams’ season-opening victory over Division I-AA Weber State.

Stopping the run has been another story for the Rams. The Colorado State defense ranks 12th nationally in rushing yards allowed at 69.3 yards per game.

For the Rams’ sake however, they better realize Dwayne Wright, not Anthony Wright, is in the backfield for the Bulldogs.

A story on Colorado State’s athletic site identified the Bulldogs running back as the “talented Anthony Wright,” earlier this week.

No matter who the Bulldogs have featured in the past, the Rams have proved to be a tough task for Fresno State to overcome in the past.

Here is what the Rams will have to offer come game time, Saturday:

Line play:

The Rams have allowed 13 quarterback sacks through three games this season, an average of over four sacks per game. The Colorado State defense has tallied the same amount, getting to the quarterback 13 times itself.

Role play:

The strength of the Rams football team no doubt is the defense, and perhaps the biggest reason for success there is its ability to stay disciplined. Each of the 11 men on defense for the Rams have done a great job handling their own individual roles, meaning over pursuit is not a problem. The importance of an individual filling his own gap and holding down his given area is often underrated. This has limited opponents to a minimal amount of big plays.

Offensive inconsistency:

Rams quarterback Caleb Hanie has been very efficient with his passes, but the results have not really been reflected in his statistics. Hanie has thrown three interceptions and only one touchdown, despite his 70 percent completion rate. Much of this has been due to the lack of a running game, which allows the defense to drop more defenders into pass coverage, hence more interceptions.

In three games for the Rams, no running back has 100 yards — combined, let alone in a game. The leader in this category is sophomore Gartrell Johnson, who has a total of 64 rushing yards and three touchdowns scored. Even with the sluggish running game, the Rams will be looking to establish the run against Fresno State, especially after a bye week in which they had extra time to iron out any faulty components.

The Rams will be anxious for a victory in Bulldog Stadium. Expect them to be running on all cylinders when game time comes, Saturday.

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