Fresno State vs. Colorado State: Things to watch including getting Cropper involved

Fresno State did not have to worry about the tight end position last week – Hawaii, in its run-and-gun offense, doesn’t have any on its roster.

But Colorado State has one of the best in the Mountain West in Trey McBride, who led conference tight ends in receptions last year and heads into his junior season as a legitimate candidate for the Mackey Award.

At 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds, McBride is a difficult matchup and a year ago caught two passes against the Bulldogs including a 69-yard touchdown on the Rams’ first series. And, while Colorado State coach Steve Addazio has been known to load up a workhorse running back, history suggests that the tight end will also be a prominent feature of the Rams’ offense when they line up against Fresno State on Thursday night at Bulldog Stadium.

Addazio was at Boston College last season and tight ends accounted for 39% (63 of 161) of the Eagles’ receptions. Wideouts, by comparison, had just six more catches and 42.9% (69 of 161) of the Eagles’ total receptions. A tight end also has been first or second on the team in receptions in each of the past three years.

McBride can be a weapon on any down and distance, and it doesn’t matter where the Rams are on the field. He had only one catch last season in the red zone – a 4-yard touchdown against Air Force – and more receptions on first and second downs than on third-down plays.

He also had six explosive pass plays of 20 or more yards including the 69-yard touchdown in a 41-31 victory over the Bulldogs, a 42-yard touchdown in a 35-21 victory at New Mexico and a 28-yard touchdown in a 31-24 loss to Boise State.

Here are three more things to watch …

BULLDOGS’ PLAYER ROTATIONS

There were a few surprises in the Bulldogs’ opening loss to Hawaii including the player rotations on offense, primarily with Jalen Cropper.

The sophomore slot receiver is one of the Bulldogs’ more explosive playmakers in the run game and the pass game. There was, and is expected to be, more of an emphasis on getting Cropper more involved in the pass game after he caught just 15 passes in 10 games last season.

But while the Bulldogs’ slot receivers were targeted a team-high 12 times, Erik Brooks had eight targets and Cropper only four.

Targets, receptions and yards against Hawaii …

• 8 – Erik Brooks, 3 for 46
• 4 – Keric Wheatfall, 3 for 73
• 4 – Juan Rodriguez, 3 for 24 and 1 TD
• 4 – Jalen Cropper, 2 for 21
• 2 – Chris Coleman, 1 for 51
• 2 – Josh Kelly, 1 for 26
• 2 – Jordan Mims, 2 for 8
• 1 – Jamal Glaspie, 1 for 32
• 1 – Ronnie Rivers, 1 for 8

“We want to get (Cropper) involved more,” coach Kalen DeBoer said. “The overall number of snaps may be limited, but when he’s in there we want to get involved more than what we did.

“He’s an explosive player and certainly when you look and talk as a staff on Sunday, that’s one of the guys that (we) need to always make sure he’s part of the plan and that plan was executed. That’s certainly something we talked about Sunday.”

Brooks can be a productive player, as well. Only three of those eight targets turned into receptions, but he averaged 15.3 yards per catch and all three resulted in a first down.

But Cropper has an explosive presence, when he’s on the field. He did not have enough rushing plays and receptions to qualify last season (a minimum of 5.0 plays per game played), but at 15.4 yards per play he would have led the Mountain West in yards per play from scrimmage. San Jose State wideout Tre Walker led the conference at 14.7.

“You go down the list at that receiver position, we do have good depth and I think what happens, you get in a rotation a little bit, and a certain play is called and the guy just subbed out,” DeBoer said. “You need to time those things up and make sure the right personnel is on the field for certain concepts, for sure.”

SECOND-DOWN DEFENSE

One of the numbers that sticks out from the Bulldogs’ opening loss to Hawaii is their lack of success on third downs. The Rainbow Warriors converted 11 of 16, 68.6%. But only six of those plays were a third-and-long, with Hawaii needing seven or more yards to extend a drive.

Fresno State had its chances to knock the Hawaii offense off schedule on second downs and set up more advantageous situations, and plenty of them, and this is what happened on second-down plays …

• Rushing – 19 for 133, 7.0 ypp.
  
  
• Passing – 9 of 12 for 104 yards, 8.7 ypp
  
  

In theory, the Bulldogs’ chances of getting off the field will improve in those third-down situations, especially against a Colorado State offense that has yet to play a game and wasn’t all that proficient at it last season. But they have to get there first.

CAN HAENER BEND LEARNING CURVE?

Fresno State struggled to execute in the red zone in its loss to Hawaii and while not all of that should land on the quarterback, Jake Haener did complete only 3 of 8 passes (37.5%) when inside the Rainbow Warriors’ 20-yard line.

Improvement usually comes with experience – just look at the quarterbacks who flourished there in the first week of Mountain West play …

• Boise State quarterback Hank Bachmeier was 3 of 3 with two touchdowns in the red zone; last season as a freshman he was 8 of 25 (32%).
• San Jose State quarterback Nick Starkel was 4 of 4 with two touchdowns; last season in eight games at Arkansas he was 8 of 23 (34.8%).
• Nevada quarterback Carson Strong was 4 of 6 with two touchdowns; last season in his first season as a starter he was 22 of 53 (41.5%).

Haener, who ran the Bulldogs’ scout team last year, is working with only a little more than three weeks of on-field practice time in the offense so that experience is lacking.

But the Bulldogs do potentially have a wild card to play with the fourth-year junior – his ability to make plays with his feet, much in the way Marcus McMaryion did when leading the Bulldogs to 12 wins and a conference championship in 2018.

The Bulldogs’ red zone production took a huge jump during McMaryion’s senior season when he hit 72.2% of his red zone passes, up from just 47.2% the year before, and scored eight touchdowns on designed rushing plays.

The red zone quarterback runs were something the Bulldogs put into play late in his junior year – he scored rushing touchdowns from 1, 8, 1 and 6 yards, all in the final two games.

But with McMaryion more of a factor in the run game the Bulldogs’ touchdown percentage in the red zone shot up to 73.7% in 2018 from 54.7% in ‘17, and they kicked fewer short field goals.

Haener does have quarterback run in the arsenal – he rushed 10 times against Hawaii, not counting three sacks, and averaged 5.4 yards on those plays including runs of 16 and 11 yards.

FRESNO STATE-COLORADO STATE MATCHUP

Where and when: Bulldog Stadium, 7 p.m. Thursday

TV/Radio: CBS Sports Network/ESPN940AM

Fans: No fans are allowed to attend due to state coronavirus guidelines

Records: Bulldogs 0-1, 0-1 in Mountain West, Rams 0-0, 0-0

Series: Colorado State leads 10-5

Last meeting: The Rams racked up 500 yards of offense and outscored the Bulldogs 17-3 in the final quarter to win 41-31 in 2019

Coaches: Kalen DeBoer (0-1), Steve Addazio (0-0, 57-55 in 9 seasons at two FBS programs)

Line: Colorado State -1.5

This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 11:33 AM.