Takeaways from Fresno State loss: Depleted roster was not Bulldogs’ biggest problem

By Robert Kuwada

Updated December 10, 2020 8:21 PM

The coronavirus cost Fresno State two games, both canceled, but it’s debatable whether it is now three after a 37-26 loss at Nevada on Saturday night in Reno.

The Bulldogs were shorthanded in some crucial spots and had to try to get by with a backup long snapper, a backup kicker, a backup punter, and of course that had an impact. The Bulldogs’ new specialists, coach Kalen DeBoer said, had one practice together. That’s it. A freshman wideout had to give long-snapping a try. Another freshman wideout had to handle the placekicking. Carson King, who at least is on the depth chart as the Bulldogs’ No. 2 punter, got his first chance to handle those duties.

It did not go well.

Fresno State defensive tackle Kevin Atkins tries to recover a fumble by Nevada quarterback Carson Strong in the Bulldogs’ 37-26 loss to the Wolf Pack Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA ATHLETICS

The Bulldogs (3-2) didn’t get their first punt off. Nevada took over at the Fresno State 40 and in four plays scored a touchdown.

Their second punt was blocked. Nevada (6-1) gained possession at the Bulldogs’ 21 and in three plays had another touchdown.

“We had one practice,” DeBoer said. “It’s that simple.”

DeBoer struggled to follow that up, starting, changing gears, stopping, starting again trying to explain it, to make sense of it.

Finally, he said, “It is what it is and our guys didn’t flinch. Some of those guys were excited about their opportunity and they gave it everything they could.

“That’s all I was asking from them. I’m proud of the efforts. Obviously, things didn’t work out in some of those areas, but that’s certainty understandable.”

Bulldogs’ big numbers don’t add up to win

Less understandable was all that happened after those two special teams plays, because the Bulldogs went into halftime and got through three quarters in a four-point game. It was 24-20, and despite some sizable advantages on the stat sheet and some big plays by a defense that forced three second-half turnovers inside its own 30 it could not get ahead.

Sizable might not even be an adequate adjective …

Fresno State had 599 total yards, Nevada 416.
It had 30 first downs, Nevada 14.
It ran 105 plays, Nevada 61.
It had 3 turnovers gained, Nevada 2.
It had possession for 35:01, Nevada 24:59.

The Bulldogs were 25-1 going back to 2012 when gaining 500 or more yards in a game, the only loss that 62-52 heart-breaker at San Jose State in 2013 that put an end to a 10-game winning streak at the start of the season.

The 30 first downs? They were 10-0. Make it 25 or more first downs and it’s 27-2.

Fresno State running back Ronnie Rivers rushed for 69 yards on 14 plays in the Bulldogs loss at Nevada Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. The loss knocked the Bulldogs out of contention for a spot in the Mountain West Conference championship game. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA ATHLETICS

The 100 plays? They’ve only done that once, against Idaho in 2013 when they ran 101 plays. They won that one 61-14.

Fresno State did have rivalry games against San Jose State for the Valley Trophy and San Diego State for the Old Oil Can Trophy canceled due to a positive COVID-19 test in the program and contact tracing protocols. That impacted practices – the Bulldogs did not have enough available players last week to run a scout team for their offense, or defense.

Injuries also played into the availability of some players and the Bulldogs’ depth, but was Nevada a coronavirus loss?

“We had a lot of guys unavailable and it’s a wide variety of things,” DeBoer said. “It’s things that have nothing to do with COVID, it’s some that do with contact tracing. There are some crazy situations that you can never even imagine that come up with why certain guys weren’t able to make the trip. Every single day, there’s a little something different.

“It’s a little bit of everything. I think there will be a few guys back for next week due to different things. But it’s still not an excuse for our guys. We had some marquee guys out there on the football field and in this day and age, 2020, you just have to roll with it. I just go back to this program expects to win every time we step on the football field.”

It was dropped passes, penalties, turnovers

The Bulldogs, who were knocked from contention for a spot in the Mountain West Conference championship game, just made too many mistakes in their first game in three weeks.

They dropped four passes including one at the Nevada 33, one in the end zone and one at the Nevada 49 on a third-down play. They fumbled three times, losing two including one at the Nevada 30. They had a 66-yard touchdown run by Ronnie Rivers negated by an illegal block by quarterback Jake Haener and that was the last the Bulldogs saw of their star running back, who had to leave the game with an apparent lower leg injury.

Nevada wideout Tory Horton, a Washington Union High grad, had three touchdown receptions in a victory over Fresno State on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA ATHLETICS

On the next play, the Bulldogs fumbled away the football.

The offensive line struggled at run blocking (the Bulldogs averaged 2.9 yards per play) and especially in pass protection. The Wolf Pack had just two sacks, but throughout chased, harassed and hit Haener, who still managed to complete 41 of 65 passes for 485 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

Nevada freshman Tory Horton, a Washington Union High grad, caught three touchdown passes including an 85-yard shot from Carson Strong on which he ended up wide open up the sideline when the Bulldogs cornerback stumbled biting hard on a stop-and-go route.

“We faced a defense that does a nice job and an offense that is right there at the top of the conference with us,” said DeBoer, who has made great strides with a team that had no spring practices and no summer workouts due to the conronavirus pandemic.

“There’s always learning moments. There were opportunities to make plays. The best thing that they did was throw the ball down the sideline. We stop a few of those and it’s a different football game. We take care of the football and catch a few more balls, it’s a different football game on the offensive side, as well.”

By the numbers

105 – Plays run by Fresno State. They were averaging 73.3 a game.

2 – Bulldogs with 100 or more receiving yards – Keric Wheatfall caught six passes for 113 yards and one touchdown and Jalen Cropper had seven receptions for 107 yards. It is the first time Fresno State has had two players with more than 100 receiving yards since Jordan Mims had 126 and KeeSean Johnson had 102 against Toledo in 2018.

5 – Touchdowns in six career games and in the first 12 receptions for Horton.

7 – Without its regular punter and field goal kicker, Fresno State ran seven plays on fourth downs, picking up a first down three times. The Bulldogs had attempted five fourth-down plays in their first four games this season.

62 – Rushing yards for Nevada, which was coming off a loss at Hawaii in which it rushed for 208 yards and was up against a Bulldogs defense that was ranked 11th in the Mountain West in rushing defense allowing 5.3 yards per play and 228.3 per game.

30 – First downs for the Bulldogs, its most against an FBS opponent since 2014 when it had 30 in a victory at New Mexico.

42.9 – Fresno State converted 9 of its 21 third-down plays into first downs, but it also was only 2 of 9 (22.2%) in the second half.

65 – Pass attempts by Jake Haener. Fresno State had not attempted 60 or more passes in a game since 2013 when Derek Carr was 39 of 60 for 460 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions in a 41-40 victory over Boise State.

2.9 – Yards per rush for Fresno State, the fourth time in five games this season the Bulldogs have not averaged even 3.5 yards per play on the ground. The season low is 1.9 against Colorado State.

3 – Times Nevada started a drive outside its own 40 yard line in the first half. The results – touchdown, touchdown, touchdown.