Fresno State quick hits: ’Dogs in a rush with Bull; Johnson and wide outs in for test

Dontae Bull, a 6-foot-7, 305-pound offensive lineman from Victoria, British Columbia, has enrolled at Fresno State and will be in practice on Wednesday.

Because of the late start, Bull will not see the field this season. But the Bulldogs wanted to get him started in the program rather than wait until the spring semester when he could enroll as a grayshirt. He signed a national letter of intent with Fresno State in February.

“We want to get him in the loop, get him in the weight room, start getting him physically ready,” coach Jeff Tedford said. “He’ll be another body out here to help us. We’ll get him into school, knock out some school stuff with him, but it’s just to get him in the flow of everything.

“Having him up there and not around a real intense football environment where he was living, it’s good to get him here and get him going.”

Tide tester – Wide out KeeSean Johnson is leading the Mountain West Conference in receiving after reeling in seven passes for 120 yards in the Bulldogs’ season-opening rout of Incarnate Word.

More notable than those numbers and that standing is a couple of those catches came on 50-50 balls, contested catches, which were a focus for the fourth-year junior when going through the offseason strength and conditioning program.

That work will get a more earnest test on Saturday when the Bulldogs play at No. 1 Alabama.

“It’s a big game for me and for our team as well, to see where our competition level is,” Johnson said. “I feel like we’ll be expecting a little man coverage but we’ll keep honing in on the film and get more comfortable with the defense they run.”

Freshmen OK after wreck – Freshman wide out Patrick Elima-Jeune and freshman defensive end Damien DeGruy were held out of practice after sustaining injuries in an automobile accident on Sunday night on Shaw Avenue.

“They had a green light and somebody ran a red light right in front of them,” Tedford said. “I think they should be OK. Patrick had his shoulder banged up a little bit. Damien has kind of a whiplash and then his knees are a little sore from hitting the dashboard or hitting something. Asa (Fuller), the kicker, he was driving and he’s fine. They all had their seat belts on, thank God.”

Road woes – The Bulldogs have not won a road game since a 42-14 victory at Hawaii in 2015 and have won just one of their past 15 games played away from home. They lost the past seven since that win over the Rainbow Warriors by 27.9 points per game, and they lost the seven before that win by 28.6 points.

Fresno State will travel to Alabama on Thursday for Saturday’s game. The Crimson Tide will be playing a 17th consecutive game at the top of the polls dating to Jan. 11, 2016.

This story was originally published September 5, 2017 at 2:07 PM with the headline "Fresno State quick hits: ’Dogs in a rush with Bull; Johnson and wide outs in for test."