The Fresno State Bulldogs played an all-out style of football last season. What does that mean? That will be explained below. For now, the Bulldogs expect to be able to continue to do the kinds of things they’ve established the past two seasons, but especially last year, when they came within one win of advancing to the Bowl Championship Series. However, Fresno State will undertake that challenge without a star quarterback and a number one receiver. It’s going to be a year of transition in Fresno. How much of a transition? That’s the big question.
Strengths
The Bulldogs threw the ball a ton last season, and they are likely to do so again. The Bulldogs are mostly equipped to do this for a few basic reasons. First, they throw a lot of quick passes, so they don’t need to have offensive linemen who hold their pass blocks for many seconds at a time. Just being able to stop the initial blitz or the first reactions of the defense will often get Fresno State the ability to distribute the ball to the receiver on time and set up the blocks downfield. The other really important part about the quick-passing game of Fresno State is that without former star quarterback Derek Carr in the lineup this year, the new quarterback, whoever it turns out to be, can rely on the short passing game to establish confidence early in the season. As the year moves along, the quarterback can try to hit more long balls and spread out the defense. Fresno State’s quick-passing game also works because the Bulldogs have a lot of fast receivers. Josh Harper is probably going to be the top receiver this season. He was very productive last year, so he has a good chance of being a star on this roster.
Weaknesses
The Bulldogs could not play very consistent defense. At times, Fresno State played forcefully on defense, but against good offenses with quarterbacks who knew what they were doing, the Bulldogs got shredded. They wobbled against Boise State and won only because their offense was able to eke out a shootout victory. They got absolutely pulverized by San Jose State late in the season and were humiliated so much that the team’s unbeaten season until that point in late November was very quickly forgotten. The Bulldogs did register over 100 tackles for loss last season, but their attacking style on defense was more easily exploited than not. This is a defense that watched the offense do almost all of the work last year. Fresno State has to be better in each layer of its defense.
Schedule
The Bulldogs visit USC and Utah from the Pac-12 to start their season. They host Nebraska in week three. They need to find a way to win two of those games if they want to have a special season, and they need to win one in order to have a decent season. With a new quarterback in September, though, it’s going to be tough to win any of those games. The home game against San Diego State is likely going to decide the West Division of the Mountain West Conference. A road trip to Boise State will be daunting. The schedule is not a friendly one, though November is fairly easy.
Outlook
The schedule is just brutal. Fresno State would have wanted easy games to start and tough games to finish, but it’s just the opposite. The under looks like a good bet at this point.
Pick: Under 7.5 at +105
