Fresno State football shows explosive promise. Here’s why it could be a factor in 2020

It’s all potential at this point, but eight practices into fall football camp, Fresno State is pushing a narrative tied to the explosive abilities of its outside receivers.

“Being explosive, that’s our goal,” said Bulldogs offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb in a Thursday zoom call.

“We want to absolutely strain every inch of the field on the defense. That might be with a fly sweep, it might be with a four-vertical concept or it might be pulling people apart and running power down the middle when they start to stress themselves with the outside.”

That without a doubt is there with a group that includes Keric Wheatfall, Jalen Cropper, Chris Coleman, Emoryie Edwards, Zane Pope, Josh Kelly.

But that also was the case a year ago before injuries piled up and with a first-year quarterback in either Jake Haener or Ben Wooldridge, the Bulldogs are going to have to prove they can put those pieces together once the season starts Oct. 24 against Hawaii.

Fresno State last season had 39 explosive pass plays of 20 or more yards, tied with New Mexico for seventh in the Mountain West.

The Lobos obviously were not proficient at passing the football – they hit only 49.2% of their passes and had an efficiency rating of 112.53, ranking 11th in the conference in both categories.

But that is the company kept by the Bulldogs in a 4-8 season.

Their two longest pass plays – 53 yards, from quarterback Jorge Reyna to Derrion Grim in a victory over UNLV at Bulldog Stadium and to Pope in a loss at San Diego State. Fresno State was the only team in the conference that did not have a pass play that went for 60 or more yards – Colorado State led with seven.

In 2020, opportunities figure to be there. In a COVID-19 abbreviated eight-game schedule against Mountain West opponents, the Bulldogs play four of the five worst teams in the conference a year ago at allowing explosive pass plays.

They get New Mexico, 12th and last with 58 plays including two of 80-plus yards. They get Nevada, 11th with 52. They get Hawaii and UNLV, ninth and eighth with 47 and 43.

“One of the best parts for us, in 2017 and ‘18 we worked our tail off as an offensive staff to disguise and hide KeeSean (Johnson, now in the NFL), moving him to different positions so opposing defenses couldn’t get a bead on him,” Grubb said.

“I think there’s enough guys with true explosive power to be able to get behind defenses and scare them a little bit that just the versatility of how we can line people up and run the same concepts and push the football to different places has been one of our biggest strengths on offense so far.”

A changing dynamic in backfield?

Ronnie Rivers heads into his senior season after leading Mountain West running backs with 13 rushing touchdowns in 2019.

“He worked his tail off during this time away,” Grubb said. “He put on a little weight – he’s up to 192 (pounds), has some power behind his pads, and still is as explosive as ever out of the backfield.”

But with Jordan Mims close to returning from a lower leg injury that had him on the sidelines for the final two games in 2018 and all of 2019 and the addition of former Central High star and Wyoming transfer Jevon Bigelow, the Bulldogs could have a different dynamic at the position this season.

Rivers last season carried the ball on 68.3% of the Bulldogs’ rushing plays by a running back, the highest percentage in the conference. He averaged 5.1 yards per play behind a banged-up offensive line and also had 43 receptions, the most by a running back in the Mountain West.

Does he touch the ball fewer times in 2020?

That is to be determined, but the Bulldogs do have more depth at the position than they did a year ago and could work all three in games.

In 2017, the first season under former coach Jeff Tedford, the Bulldogs had three running backs with 100 or more rushing plays, something that had not happened at Fresno State since 2008.

Mims led that group with 151 carries for 627 yards, Josh Hokit had 128 rushing plays for 583 yards and Rivers had 101 for 480 yards.

This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Fresno State football shows explosive promise. Here’s why it could be a factor in 2020."