When Bulldogs make it back to field, they’ll have a healed-up O-line ready to run

Back in March when the Fresno State Bulldogs were scheduled to go through spring practices they didn’t have enough healthy offensive linemen to run two full groups at a time, a first team and a second.

A rough 2019 had taken a toll on a unit that had 11 players start at least one game, including four at left guard and three at left tackle, right guard and center; there were injuries and in some cases surgeries, then rehab.

Not all were ready, at that point, to return to the football field.

“It would have been tough to have for sure a second offensive line,” coach Kalen DeBoer said. “But even at times one full offensive line would have been a challenge, especially for the entirety of spring practice.”

But as the Bulldogs inch their way toward getting back on campus and the practice field amid the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the key pieces along that line have been cleared to resume football activities, which is one thing they have going for them in a potential 2020 college football season.

“Having that time off has been beneficial to those guys,” DeBoer said. “They’ve been able to still do rehab at different places where they live, so our trainers have been in constant contact with whoever the doctors are or who the trainers are in their hometowns, and some of them are here in Fresno as well. The reports seem to be that we’re healing up well.”

Included on that list are center Matt Smith and right tackle Syrus Tuitele, who played their last football of the 2019 season in a 41-38 victory at Hawaii.

Fresno State, 4-4 at that point, didn’t win another game.

The Bulldogs, who lost left guard and NFL Draft pick Netane Muti to injury after just three games, still were averaging 180.5 rushing yards per game at 5.4 yards per play when Smith and Tuitele went down.

Fresno State was fourth in the Mountain West in rushing yards per game at that point, behind three teams (Air Force, Wyoming and New Mexico) that rushed the football between 6.7 and 26.3 more times a game than the Bulldogs had. Fresno State also was tied for first in the conference in yards per rushing play.

The Bulldogs had a solid game at the end at San Jose State, but in their final four games with Smith and Tuitele sidelined those numbers dropped to 116.8 yards per game and 3.6 yards per play.

The Bulldogs in that final stretch did play San Diego State, the top rushing defense in the Mountain West. But they also played Nevada, Utah State and San Jose State, which were ranked fifth, 10th and 12th in the conference in rushing defense.

And, three of those four losses at the end of the season were by a touchdown or less — and two of them by two points or less, close contests in which a strong running game could have made a difference.

Fresno State in that stretch also lost Quireo Woodley, a 10-game starter at right guard, to injury at San Diego State. Tackle Dontae Bull was in and out of the lineup.

“We were doing some mixing and matching,” Sapolu said.

The Bulldogs had a different starting lineup up front in all four of those games and in the two-deep for the final game at San Jose State there were three players listed at different positions.

Better health no doubt will bring better results with a group that is led by its seniors – Smith, Tuitele, Alex Akingbulu and Nick Abbs – who are pushing it through Zoom meetings and text messages while the players are working out and doing drill work on their own due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bulldogs will have experience, they will have credible depth. They’ll also have their health from the start.

“I think it’s awesome,” Sapolu said. “What comes with that is competition. A lot of those guys got game reps and a lot of those guys have grown another year in this program. It’s going to be fun to see those guys go at it.”

This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 5:00 PM.