Fresno State plummets in national football polls after loss at Hawaii, falling out of Top 25
Fresno State plunged out of the national polls following its 27-24 loss at Hawaii, part of a wild week in which nine ranked teams lost including four that were in the top 10.
The Bulldogs, who turned the football over six times including three in the red zone, went from No. 18 to No. 35 on Sunday in the Associated Press Top 25, ranked among other schools receiving votes.
In the Coaches Poll, Fresno State went from No. 21 to No. 36, again, among others receiving votes.
The Bulldogs at least didn’t fall quite as far as UCLA, which was ranked No. 20 in the AP poll and the Coaches Poll, ahead of Fresno State despite its loss to the ’Dogs at the Rose Bowl in the latter. The Bruins, who fell to 3-2 with a home loss to Arizona State, received just one vote in the AP Top 25 and were not even listed among 19 schools among others receiving votes in the Coaches Poll.
Alabama remains No. 1 in both polls, followed in the AP Top 25 by Georgia, Iowa, Penn State and Cincinnati and in the Coaches Poll by Georgia, Iowa, Penn State and Oklahoma.
In the AP Poll, nine teams that were ranked in Week 5 lost – No. 3 Oregon, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 10 Florida, No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 18 Fresno State, No. 19 Oklahoma State and No. 20 UCLA.
Can the Bulldogs make it back into the Top 25?
Fresno State, which will play at Wyoming on Oct. 16 coming out of a bye week, does have the meatier portion of its schedule in the second half of the season and can grab some attention-grabbing wins.
It has Nevada at Bulldog Stadium and San Diego State on the road in back-to-back weeks Oct. 23 and Oct. 30, though San Jose State looks like a one-hit wonder at 3-2 and averaging just 21.8 points per game and Boise State appears to have become just another team at 2-3 with losses to two unranked teams.
The Bulldogs likely would have to win out, though the Mountain West Conference has had three-loss teams appear in the final rankings in the past.
Is there a path for Bulldogs back into Top 25?
Boise State was 10-3 in 2018 and finished the season ranked No. 23 in the AP Top 25 and it was 11-3 in 2017 and finished ranked No. 22, and San Diego State was 11-3 in 2016 and No. 25.
The Broncos in 2017 and San Diego State in 2016 won conference championships, while Boise State in 2018 lost to Fresno State in the title game. The Bulldogs that season were 12-2 and finished No. 18 in the AP Top 25.
But the focus for Fresno State should be getting healthy before getting into the second half of the season, starting with quarterback Jake Haener, who suffered a left ankle injury in the third quarter of the loss at Hawaii.
Haener, who is fourth in the nation in passing at 371.7 yards per game, was able to return to the game. But coach Kalen DeBoer said afterward that the bye week was coming at an opportune time.
“We do need a little bit of a break, mentally and physically,” DeBoer said. “The coaches can go do some recruiting, and then later in the week, we get back to work, once we get some guys a little healthier.
“We’ve been going probably eight weeks strong when you look at fall camp. They did have one day away, that was last Saturday, otherwise, they would have been going non-stop since Aug. 30th or 31st. They need this break.”