For Bulldogs, Muti and Cronk to the left could set the run game right
Fresno State offensive line coach Ryan Grubb had a chance to tinker some in the spring, move some pieces around, work some different combinations, find some answers.
Center, right guard and right tackle all were in play.
The Bulldogs also ended the spring with Netane Muti and Christian Cronk switching spots on the left side of the line, with Muti moving out to tackle and Cronk in to guard, and though the numbers in that position group have improved to a point there are 18 linemen in fall camp and options abound, that will not change.
The reason: the run game.
“That’s a big hope to me, that we can have more of a presence to really force (offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer) and coach (Jeff) Tedford to think, ‘Hey, we probably could run the ball a few more times,’ “ Grubb said.
“I know those two like to throw it a little bit, but that’s on us to prove that. The guys know that. If we’re not running the ball, it’s not because coach DeBoer doesn’t want to, it’s because we’re not proving consistently that we can be a dominant running team. In my eyes, that’s the step we have to take and that’s what we need to focus on.”
Fresno State in its 10-4 turnaround last season rushed for more than 2,000 yards for the first time since 2014, finishing the season with 2,170.
But it was ranked only eighth in the Mountain West Conference with 155.0 rushing yards per game and ninth with 4.2 yards per play.
The Bulldogs had only six rushing plays of 20 yards or better, the fewest in the conference. Only one team in the nation had fewer - Western Kentucky, with none.
Muti at tackle and Cronk at guard could be a boon to that run game.
“I do think there’s potential to have an even better year,” Grubb said. “I don’t know whether we protect as well or better, but one of the reason to move Muti to tackle was run game. There’s a dominant guy that you can run outside zone behind and your down blocks are crushing and not just sticking. Nothing against David (Patterson) or Cronk last year, Muti is a different kind of breed there.”
To the right, the Bulldogs have Markus Boyer back working with the No. 1 offensive line at center with Micah St. Andrew at right guard and Syrus Tuitele at right tackle.
Logan Hughes has started camp at left tackle with the No. 2 line, with Quireo Woodley at left guard, Matt Smith at center, Marc David Bien-Amie at right tackle and Nick Abbs, the transfer from Fresno City College, at right tackle.
St. Andrew in camp will get reps at center, as he did in the spring when Boyer was sidelined by injury. Boyer will get some reps at right guard when St. Andrew is at center, and Woodley and Bien-Amie are at this point in the mix for that guard spot.