Fresno State sloppiness to be expected, but not biggest issue in opening loss to Hawaii
Fresno State has a lot to clean up following a 34-19 season-opening football loss to Hawaii, which to some degree was to be expected given the late start the Bulldogs had with no spring practices and no organized team activities over the summer.
The Bulldogs’ offense on Saturday was able to make a few big plays in the pass game, but was hurt by turnovers, struggled with penalties in the first half, to execute in the red zone in the second and finish drives throughout.
The defense allowed the Rainbow Warriors to convert 11 of 16 third-down plays into first downs, allowed eight explosive plays of 20 or more yards and was just bludgeoned by a Hawaii run game that most years and most games is a complementary piece to the puzzle.
With a lead in the second half, the Rainbow Warriors just kept pounding the ball on the ground. They rushed it 53 times, most since they had 54 in a 2015 victory over Louisiana-Monroe. They gained 323 yards on those plays, most since they had 344 in a 2016 victory over Nevada.
“They started running with six, seven offensive linemen in the game – that’s one thing we didn’t see, but other than that we expected everything else,” said defensive end Kwami Jones, who had three first-half sacks.
Hawaii, running wild
Oh, and that team was ninth in the Mountain West last season in rushing.
That, of all, might be the Bulldogs’ biggest problem as it moves through their eight-game schedule against Mountain West Conference opponents in this year of COVID-19.
Coach Kalen DeBoer can fix a lot of what worked against his team.
They’ll watch it on film, correct it in meetings and on the practice field, and rep it until it goes away, or is less of an issue at least.
There’s a lot there to work on.
“As we got through this, as I told the guys, there’s a choice to make here,” said DeBoer, who along with his staff now has four days to prepare for a game on Thursday night against Colorado State. “It’s a decision that we’re going to flip on the film (Sunday) and we’re going to watch and we’re going to learn so much from what happened tonight.
“There are so many scenarios that we just haven’t been in. We haven’t been in those and had a chance to rep them together, learn from it on film and I think there’s a big piece where I’m happy we’re playing on Thursday. Yeah, you want the preparation, but we aren’t going to know what (Colorado State) is going to be doing either, because there’s no film.”
They should probably expect to see a run-heavy game plan again, though. It would be no surprise from the Rams, who had their opening game against New Mexico canceled due to COVID-19, even without the Bulldogs’ results against Hawaii.
Can Bulldogs fix what’s broken?
Colorado State coach Steve Addazio was at Boston College last season when it led the Atlantic Coast Conference and was sixth in the nation with 659 rushing attempts, averaging 50.7 per game.
That could very well be the Bulldogs’ biggest challenge – and there might not be a cleanup for the depth issues and inexperience on defense.
Fresno State had five players on that side of the ball make their first starts.
Aside from the 11 of 16 on third downs, Hawaii continually ran itself out of trouble when the Bulldogs had a chance to knock it off schedule.
In the second half, when Hawaii rushed the ball on 38 of 48 plays, it had a second-and-7 and rushed for 9, a second-and-9 and rushed for 22, a second-and-7 and rushed for 8 and a second-and-6 and rushed for 11.
Fresno State could not slow it down.
The Bulldogs had a quick lead, after recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff. But once Hawaii got ahead, they had a hard time getting off the field.
The Rainbow Warriors had a 13-play, 73-yard drive in the second quarter that ended with a field goal. They had a 14-play, 76-yard drive that ended with a touchdown in the third quarter. And they had a 12-play, 70-yard drive that ended with another TD in the fourth quarter.
By the numbers
90.0 – Percentage of rushing plays by Fresno State running backs that went to senior Ronnie Rivers (18 of 20), who has company in the backfield this season from Jordan Mims and Jevon Bigelow.
7 – Hawaii quarterback Chevan Cordeiro had two stretches where he completed seven consecutive passes, finishing 20 of 30 for 229 yards. The most passes Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener hit in a row: four.
17 – Points off turnovers for Hawaii
8 – Targets for Bulldogs’ No. 2 slot receiver Erik Brooks, a team-high. Brooks finished with three receptions for 46 yards. Jalen Cropper, Keric Wheatfall and tight end Juan Rodriguez were each targeted four times.
7.0 – Yards per play on first down for the Bulldogs, a number inflated by quarterback Jake Haener, who was 7 of 11 for 146 yards on first downs.
552 – Yards of offense for Hawaii, which is the most allowed by the Bulldogs since it allowed 555 to the Rainbow Warriors last season.
6 – Points scored by Fresno State on three second-half trips into the red zone.
9 – Tackles including six solo for linebacker Sherwin King, the Sunnyside High grad. King was one of the five Bulldogs on defense to make their first career starts.
68.8 – Hawaii converted 11 of 16 third down plays including two 3rd-and-9s and one 3rd-and-8. That is the highest allowed by the Bulldogs since a loss at San Jose State in 2015 when the Spartans were 7 of 10.
Mountain West Week 1
Hawaii 34, Fresno State 19 (summary)
San Jose State 17, Air Force 6
Colorado State at New Mexico, canceled
Next for Fresno State
Thursday, 7 p.m. vs. Colorado State at Bulldog Stadium (no fans), CBS Sports Network