Fresno State updates status of Jalen Cropper, Ronnie Rivers. Will they be ready for Boise State?

Fresno State is expecting to have its full arsenal of weapons available on Saturday for a Mountain West showdown against Boise State including wideout Jalen Cropper and running back Ronnie Rivers, the Bulldogs’ leading receiver and rusher, who at the start of the week are working back from injuries.

“He’s looking good. I talked to Jalen late last night and he was doing good,” offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. “He came in the training room (Monday), was loosening it up and we’re confident that he will play.”

Cropper went down with a knee injury in the third quarter of the Bulldogs’ 30-20 victory at San Diego State, which put them in first place in the West Division of the Mountain West Conference ahead of the Aztecs and Nevada.

The former Buchanan High standout is the Bulldogs’ most targeted receiver by a large margin with 86 passes thrown in his direction and obviously a key component in an offense that is ranked second in the conference in passing and in scoring.

Cropper has caught 61 passes for 664 yards with 10 receiving touchdowns, the most in the conference and tied for second in the nation. Josh Kelly is second on the team with 59 targets and Keric Wheatfall is third with 42, but the Bulldogs’ other wideouts have 11 touchdown receptions combined – Wheatfall and Zane Pope both have three, Kelly and Erik Brooks both have two and Ty Jones has one.

Cropper, like Rivers last week, will be evaluated through the week of practice.

Bulldogs’ Rivers also closer to return from injury

The Bulldogs’ leading rusher did not play in the victory at San Diego State, but had made progress through the week coming back from an ankle injury. The question by Saturday was not whether he could play, but how much.

“I think for Ronnie, meeting with (trainer Martin Caine) toward the end of the week, it wasn’t necessarily that Ronnie couldn’t go, it just would have been in a limited capacity,” Grubb said. “And then, of course, that was a huge game and we needed all hands on deck, but I think that speaks to the confidence that we have in Jordan Mims, too, that he was going to be able to be a huge factor in that game and he was.

“For Ronnie what you don’t want if he can only be limited, he gets out there and he further aggravates the injury you set him back for the remainder of the season. I don’t think that’s a prudent decision.”

Rivers has rushed for 573 yards and four touchdowns and is fourth on the team with 25 receptions for 254 yards and one touchdown, a 61-yard strike against UConn.

Mims, in a lead role, rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over the Aztecs and on Monday was selected for a second week in a row as the Mountain West offensive player of the week, with Bulldogs’ safety Evan Williams the conference’s defensive player of the week.

With both running backs available the workload could likely be split much as it was in 2017 and ‘18 when they were freshmen and sophomores or vary depending on how a game is going – over those two seasons Mims had a total of 302 plays and Rivers had 301 when combining rushing, receiving and in punt or kickoff return roles.

“With who gets the most touches, I think that’s just how the game plays out,” coach Kalen DeBoer said. “I really feel like Ronnie is right at that point of being able to be back out there, hopefully a full-go (Tuesday) with practice.

“Having to balance between the two, having more carries here the last three games in particular, in the Wyoming game both of them got a lot of touches and so hopefully that’s what we can do, get both of them their chances and their opportunities, come off the sideline, get a breather and the next guy is back out there.”