Fresno State sees correctable errors as problem in the return of big plays

Fresno State was able to stymie Abilene Christian, an FCS football team. The Bulldogs in winning that game allowed only 247 yards of offense and one explosive play of 20 or more yards, a 22-yard pass not to a wideout but to a running back that found space slipping out of the backfield and took advantage of it.

But they were the ones a bit overwhelmed on Saturday when the big mistakes in the passing game returned and Ole Miss rolled up 607 yards of offense and 73 points, 59 of that coming against the defense.

The Rebels had six pass plays of 20 or more yards including touchdowns of 50 and 44 yards from Chad Kelly to Quinton Adeboyejo and four other pass plays of between 15 and 20 yards, which after film review the Bulldogs were attributing to correctable errors with their technique.

“There were times,” free safety Shannon Edwards said, “where they beat us because we weren’t disciplined in our techniques and not trusting what we were supposed to do.”

Coach Tim DeRuyter put the exact same thing a different way.

“Our guys, right now if you talk to them, on the board they know exactly what the technique is and they’ll line up where they’re supposed to,” he said. “But you get in the heat of battle and sometimes guys tend to lose their minds and we did that too many times, especially early in the game. As we got settled in, the sanity returned, but early on we had some temporary insanity out there.”

But knowing the root of the problem doesn’t solve it, and it’s worth noting that the Bulldogs started a fifth-year senior (Charles Washington) and a fourth-year junior (Jamal Ellis) at the cornerback spots and a senior (Edwards) and a fourth-year junior (Dalen Jones) at free and strong safety.

The Bulldogs coach found a positive in the way the Bulldogs fought back, didn’t crumble as they did a few times last season when they allowed 54 pass plays of 20 or more yards, which accounted for 1,815 of the 3,557 passing yards allowed. That’s 51 percent of the passing yards allowed on just 54 plays, and the Bulldogs defended 403 pass attempts last season with 243 completions.

At least they know what has to be fixed.

“We have to play our technique better,” DeRuyter said. “A couple of situations, our alignment and leverage was wrong and some of the times our eyes were wrong and I think quite frankly just our perception of how fast they were was wrong.

“By the time we turned and ran we were losing that foot race. Utah has excellent players, too, but that might be the best receiving corps I’ve seen in coaching college football. Very impressed with them and Kelly threw the ball on the money. There were a couple of throws that I thought, ‘Oh, Thank God he overthrew it’ and then I said, ‘Oh my God, the guy caught up to it.’ He threw it so far I thought there’s no way he was caching up, but he had that extra gear.

“I’m sure Utah will test us vertically and it’s something we’ll work at all week to get better at.”

Waller carries load – Running back Marteze Waller carried the football a career-high 28 times in the Bulldogs’ loss at Ole Miss, generating 91 yards while also catching three passes for 40 yards and one touchdown.

He has 50 carries over the first two games, which are the most by any Mountain West Conference running back by 10 over San Diego State junior Donnel Pumphrey.

But that does not signal any change in how those reps will be distributed this season.

One, they were trying to get him into a rhythm.

“Sometimes when you go three-and-out, you have to leave the guy in there so he can get going and get the rhythm of the game,” running backs coach Ron Antoine said. “Obviously, he stayed in a little bit more, a few series in a row there where we might have subbed him if the drives were longer. But, initially, when the drives are quick, you have to leave in him there and let him get going.”

Two, Waller had 20 of those 28 carries in the first half, when Dustin Garrison was suspended after he was called for a personal foul and ejected for throwing a punch in the opener against Abilene Christian. The Bulldogs got Malique Micenheimer (eight) and Garrison (nine) reps in the second half.

“I think that’s probably a little bit high,” DeRuyter said, of the 28 plays. “A lot of those things are (zone read) plays where we probably could have pulled some of those. Had he gotten that many carries and Dustin been available earlier we might have worked him into that second quarter a little bit earlier.

“I think 20 to 25 is probably our comfort zone. He obviously handled 28 against a very physical team but we probably want to have a little bit of a lighter load so he can sustain it over the season.”

Tickets available for Utes – Fresno State still has a number of tickets available for its Blackout game against Utah on Saturday, and two special ticket packages available.

Fans can purchase four end zone seats for $99 and receive an official Blackout T-Shirt or four seats between the 10- and 20-yard lines for $149 and receive a T-shirt.

“Good seats are still available for the Blackout game Saturday and fans will be able to purchase both ticket promotions until Friday afternoon and receive a free official blackout shirt,” said Paul Ladwig, senior associate athletics director/external relations.

The T-shirts are available while supplies last.

Fresno State had 32,547 for its opener against Abilene Christian. It sold out its 2014 opener against Nebraska with 41,031 in the seats and had 33,098 for its 2013 opener against Rutgers.

Etc. – Redshirt freshman receiver Keyan Williams, who suffered a head injury in the loss at Ole Miss, did not practice on Monday is doubtful to play this week.

▪ How good were those Derek Carr teams? Fresno State has averaged 508.7 yards and 40.8 points a game during a run at Bulldog Stadium in which it has gone 18-2 under DeRuyter. This, despite averaging 410.1 yards and 30.9 points over the past seven games.

▪ Utah coach Kyle Whittingham on evaluating the Bulldogs off tape from their 73-21 loss at Ole Miss: “I learned that Mississippi is a very good team, I can tell you that much. They have a lot of great athletes out there. They were dominant, but other than that, the game got out of hand so quickly it really wasn’t competitive after the first few minutes. There are still things you learn schematically and matchup-wise with (Fresno State) personnel. You can take something from every game, but that game did get out of hand quickly.”

▪ In the Bulldogs’ loss last season at Utah, the Utes racked up seven sacks totaling minus-34 yards. In its first two games, Fresno State has allowed just one sack.

▪ Waller has caught four passes in the first two games, an aspect of his game that has improved significantly since his freshman season. “From the day he stepped on campus here in Fresno, it’s night and day,” Antoine said. “I think everybody held their breath when he first got here and we threw him the ball, but now you expect him to catch everything. You have to attribute that to him, working to do it and knowing what he needed to improve in that area, and (Coach Joe Wade) working with him for his first few years.”

This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Fresno State sees correctable errors as problem in the return of big plays."