FRESNO STATE AT TULSA, 5 p.m. Saturday at H.A. Chapman Stadium

KEYS TO SUCCESS

FOR FRESNO STATE

Stop the run and force Tulsa quarterback Cody Green to make plays in the pass game. Green has some big-time weapons on the outside but has completed only 54.5% of his throws against teams ranked 107th in the FBS (Tulane) and 89th in the FCS (Nicholls State) in total defense.

FOR TULSA

When the Bulldogs have the football, win first down. If Tulsa can get Fresno State into second- and third-and-long situations it can get after quarterback Derek Carr and scuttle an offense that still ranks only 112th in the bowl subdivision in third-down conversion percentage at 26.32 (10 of 38).

PROJECTED STARTERS

FRESNO STATE

Quarterback: Derek Carr

Backfield: Robbie Rouse, RB

Wide receivers: Josh Harper, Isaiah Burse, Aaron Peck, Davante Adams

Tight end: Marcel Jensen

Offensive line: Austin Wentworth, LT; Matt Hunt, LG; Lars Bramer, C; Richard Helepiko, RG; Cody Wichmann, RT

Defensive line: Anthony Williams, DE; Tyeler Davison, NG; Andy Jennings, DE

Linebackers: Shawn Plummer or Tristan Okpalaugo, OLB; Travis Brown, MLB; Jeremiah Toma or Patrick Su'a or Kyrie Wilson, MLB; Donavon Lewis, OLB

Secondary: L.J. Jones, CB; Phillip Thomas, SS; Derron Smith, FS; Sean Alston, CB

Special teams: Quentin Breshears, PK; Garrett Swanson, KO; Andrew Shapiro, P; Chad Preacher, LS; Andrew Shapiro, PH; Isaiah Burse, KR or Milton Knox, KR; Isaiah Burse, PR

TULSA

Quarterback: Cody Green

Backfield: Je'Terian Douglas, RB; Willie Carter, HB

Wide receivers: Keyarris Garrett, Thomas Roberson

Tight end: Charlie Copa

Offensive line: Jared Grigg, LT; Gabe Moyer, LG; Trent Dupy, C; Stetson Burnett, RG; Brian DeShane, RT

Defensive line: Jared St. John, DE; Daeshon Bufford, DT; Derrick Jackson, DT; Cory Dorris, DE

Linebackers: DeWitt Jennings, ILB; Trent Martin, ILB; DeAundre Brown, OLB

Secondary: Dexter McCoil, CB; Demarco Nelson, FS; Lowell Rose, CB; John Flanders, CB

Special teams: Cole Way, KO; Daniel Schwarz, PK; Cole Way, P; Reymundo Higuera, DS; Cole Way, H; Trey Watts, KR; Marco Nelson, PR

TAILGATING

• Fresno State last played at Tulsa on Sept. 22, 2001. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 11 at the time and won 37-18, but it's not the game that necessarily stands out. It was the first weekend of college football games following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

Bulldogs coach Tim DeRuyter wasn't at Fresno State then, but he was an assistant coaching defensive backs at Navy and remembers well that week.

"It was really hitting close to home for me and my family," DeRuyter said. "We didn't play that first week. We were originally scheduled to play Northwestern and I remember driving to work the next day and instead of going through the Academy gates normally, they had a Marine in full battle uniform, sandbags piled up, and an M-60 trained on everybody coming through the gates.

"You realized things had changed that day. When we went out on the practice fields, we were right on the Chesapeake Bay, there was a cruiser stationed maybe a quarter of a mile off of our practice field with surface-to-air missiles trained to shoot down anything that would come over the Academy."

That Saturday -- when Fresno State was beating Tulsa behind 314 passing yards from David Carr -- Navy lost at home to Boston College, a secondary concern.

"The mentality was somebody from the outside can't tell us to change our lifestyle. You know, college football is Americana, and for us to be able to stare down that threat and say, 'Hey, we're still going to press on and do what we do,' that was big."

• In the victory last week over Colorado, the Bulldogs had a 300-yard passer, a 100-yard rusher and a 100-yard receiver for the 17th time in school history.