Warszawski’s postgame thoughts: Starting QB? Who cares? Fresno State can’t stop run

The top-secret, closely guarded identity of Fresno State’s starting quarterback mattered very little Saturday night at Spartan Stadium.

Zack Greenlee, Ford Childress, Kilton Anderson, who cares? None of them play defense. None of them tackle.

With San Jose State running back Tyler Ervin running wild for a school-record 300 yards and three touchdowns, the Spartans hammered the Bulldogs 49-23 in Fresno State’s Mountain West Conference opener.

Honestly, the game wasn’t really that close. Not when you look at the final stats and see the Spartans racked up 543 yards of total offense and 33 first downs compared to Fresno State’s 247 and 13.

For the record, Childress started and played most of the game while Anderson made a first-half cameo. Greenlee warmed up during pregame but spent the rest of the evening on the sideline in a baseball cap.

The Bulldogs did make it a one-score game (28-23) on a nifty Houdini act by Jamire Jordan on a trick play with 8:36 left in the third quarter. But San Jose State was unfazed, answering with consecutive touchdown drives to put the game out of reach.

On the Spartans touchdown that made it 43-24, Ervin ran nine straight times before Joe Gray threw a 9-yard scoring pass to Billy Freeman on play action.

It was assumed Marteze Waller would have similar running success, given the Spartans allowed an average of 285.7 rushing yards in their first three games. Instead, Waller was limited to 72 yards on 19 carries.

With another road game next week at San Diego State, Fresno State’s main goal of reaching the MW championship is already on the ropes.

Halftime

This was supposed to be the week Fresno State finally played a opponent that was on its level.

After two quarters, that looks to have been a giant assumption. San Jose State dominated the first half and led 21-10 at halftime Saturday night at Spartan Stadium. The Bulldogs’ only touchdown came following a turnover.

Ford Childress started the game at quarterback – ending the cloak of mystery surrounding Zack Greenlee’s status – but the coaches didn’t let him do much besides hand off. And when Childress did throw deep, he overthrew his receivers.

Kilton Anderson also ran the ball a couple times, and it was his 17-yard scamper that triggered Fresno State’s only points: a 7-yard pass from Childress to Jamire Jordan.

That was pretty much the lone Bulldogs highlight, besides two long kickoff returns by Da’Mari Scott (66 yards) and Jordan (47). But Fresno State could not capitalize either time on that excellent field position.

The halftime stats tell the story. San Jose State had 279 yards and 17 first downs compared to 93 total yards and four first downs for the Bulldogs.

Fresno State looked disorganized and in disarray most of the half.

On San Jose State’s first touchdown, the first of two scores by tailback Tyler Ervin, the Bulldogs had just 10 players on the field. You could see the coaches frantically trying to signal timeout.

Pregame

Obviously the big story at Spartan Stadium is whether Zack Greenlee starts or even plays in Saturday night’s game at San Jose State.

Fresno State ensured it would be the big story by letting this affair drag out all week, which was completely unnecessary.

(Note to the “Let the process play out” crowd. Uh, there is no process. If Greenlee had done something serious, then there would be a legal process. But he didn’t. Drunk and disorderly is a minor citation, as minor as it gets, and it’s highly unlikely Greenlee will be charged. So that’s nothing but a smokescreen.)

Writing this at 5:30 p.m., two hours before kickoff, I have no inside information on Greenlee’s status but would be pretty surprised if he starts. Maybe we’ll see him in the second half, or not at all. If Greenlee doesn’t play, look for Ford Childress and Kilton Anderson to split the snaps behind center.

The Bulldogs’ quarterback situation, and how it impacts the rest of the offense, is one of the big things I’ll be watching out for.

Two more:

Return to the scene of the loss – San Jose State’s 62-52 victory over Fresno State in 2013 is arguably the biggest loss in school history because it ruined a perfect season and cost the Bulldogs a $3 million BCS payday.

Could that defeat haunt the Bulldogs on Saturday? Long snapper Dylan Detwiler doesn’t think so.

“Obviously it’s not a good memory, but we’ll be just fine going into Spartan Stadium again,” Detwiler said this week. “There’s not many guys on this team that actually played in that game. We’ll be fine. We’re good.”

The senior is correct. The Bulldogs’ current roster contains five players (Bo Bonnheim, Justin Northern, Kyrie Wilson, Ejiro Ederaine and Jamal Ellis) who started the 2013 game and another nine who played in it (Dalen Jones, Da’Mari Scott, Malique Micenheimer, Marteze Waller, Brandon Hughes, Todd Hunt, Justin Johnson, Garrett Swanson and Detwiler).

Battle of the backs – Fresno State’s best player is Waller. San Jose State’s is tailback Tyler Ervin. Waller averages 102.3 rushing yards per game. Ervin averages 113.7, and his 6.4-yard per carry average eclipses Waller’s 4.7.

With the Spartans quarterback situation also in flux (starter Sean Potter is questionable), that would leave you to believe this will be the Ervin and Waller show.

Whichever offense runs the ball the best, and whichever defense does the best job stopping the run, wins this game.

This story was originally published September 26, 2015 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Warszawski’s postgame thoughts: Starting QB? Who cares? Fresno State can’t stop run."