Warszawski: Blowout losses to Power Five teams begin to define Fresno State under DeRuyter

Tim DeRuyter’s first two seasons at Fresno State are symbolized by the pair of shiny Mountain West Conference championship trophies outside his office.

He can’t afford to have the next two symbolized by these unsightly pairings: 73-21, 55-19, 52-13, 59-27 and what might come Saturday night against No. 21 Utah at Bulldog Stadium.

Whether it’s Mississippi, Nebraska, USC or these Utes on the opposing sideline, the same thing keeps happening whenever Fresno State faces a Power Five Conference opponent: The Bulldogs fall behind so quickly and by so many scores that there’s no reason, besides habit, to contest the second half.

Power Five teams aren’t just a cut above these days. They’re a whole different beast.

Taken in succession (and you can add the 45-20 loss to USC in the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl, just for kicks) this string of humiliating defeats has had a demoralizing effect.

Not necessarily among Bulldogs players, though there were signs of that last season.

It’s Bulldogs fans who are growing demoralized and disenchanted, or teetering in that direction – at a time when the gung-ho athletic director is trying to sell his big, expensive vision of a renovated stadium and new football complex overlooking the south end zone.

So there’s a lot at stake Saturday. More than there probably should be for a September game that doesn’t count in the conference standings.

DeRuyter is correct when he says these Bulldogs, with their youthful passing game and a defense that has been torched more times than a cornfield, should be judged on how they perform against MW opponents.

But the fourth-year head coach doesn’t get that luxury when it comes to how he and his assistants are judged by the paying customers.

And right now, after watching their team get pounded by 7 1/2 touchdowns on national TV, many are pounding the gavel. I spoke to a group this week that picks the Bulldogs score as part of a weekly raffle. Someone suggested picking the score of Friday night’s Grizzlies game instead, because it would be “less painful.”

There was a time when Fresno State could step up in weight class without getting carried out on a stretcher. The Bulldogs even would manage the occasional upset.

Those days appear to be over, and there are several factors:

Style of play – These are not Pat Hill’s Bulldogs. Nothing is held close to the vest. Possessions aren’t valued like precious gems. That’s all well and good. Except when you play fast and loose, there’s a chance of things getting out of hand.

As we’ve seen.

Games that end up 38-6 (i.e. LSU in 2006) aren’t necessarily more competitive than those that end up 73-21. They just seem that way.

“There’s more risk,” DeRuyter said. “If we wanted to go slow, we’d lose by 28 instead of whatever. But that’s not what we’re going to do. We’re going to roll the dice a little bit and take calculated risks.”

No nonqualifiers – People forget this, but those Bulldogs teams from the late 1990s to early 2000s were bolstered by players who wouldn’t pass current admission standards.

Fresno State used to be one of the few schools that accepted academic non- and partial qualifiers, high school graduates whose GPAs and standardized test scores didn’t pass NCAA guidelines.

Alan Harper, Rodney Wright, Jason Stewart, Devon Banks, Nick Burley – and that’s just off the top of my head – were all-conference-caliber players who became Bulldogs instead of attending junior college.

It was the one recruiting advantage the Bulldogs used to have over Pac-12 schools. They no longer do.

Widening gap – Yes, Toledo can still upset Arkansas. Temple can still knock off Penn State. Jacksonville State can scare the bejeebers out of Auburn. But those are outliers. For the most part, the gap between the big boys and everyone else seems to be getting wider.

Now look at the Power Five teams the Bulldogs have faced since 2014. Each was nationally ranked. Not exactly Rutgers and Colorado, both defeated by Fresno State earlier in DeRuyter’s tenure. And even those wins come with an asterisk. Rutgers was still a member of the Big East two years ago, and that Colorado squad finished 1-11.

“It depends on who you’re matched up against,” DeRuyter said. “Two years we beat Rutgers and kicked the tail out of Colorado (in 2012). Those were not good Power Five teams. … Everything doesn’t stay homogenous. Every year things change.”

The only constant lately has been the enormous margin of victory – an average of 39.5 points – that Power Fives have enjoyed against Fresno State.

Saturday is a good opportunity to reverse the tailspin. Utah could be without injured quarterback Travis Wilson and may not be as explosive at receiver. Plus the game is at Bulldog Stadium, where DeRuyter is 18-2.

School officials must think so. That’s why they’re pulling out all the promotional and marketing stops by declaring the game a Blackout. Anything to spur ticket sales and drum up fan enthusiasm.

“Don’t get blown out!” isn’t much of a rallying cry. Neither is, “Just be competitive!”

But at this point, Bulldogs fans would settle for a reason to remain in their seats after halftime. Besides loyalty.

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Warszawski: Blowout losses to Power Five teams begin to define Fresno State under DeRuyter."