Fresno State Bulldogs vs. New Mexico: Lobos reeling, but it’s not a snap, and things to watch
Fresno State had issues rushing the football and in pass protection in a striking loss to Boise State. It also came out of that game banged up on the offensive line, and that could be a problem on Saturday when the Bulldogs take on the New Mexico Lobos needing a victory to stay in the West Division race in the Mountain West Conference.
Starting center Bula Schmidt suffered a laceration on his snapping hand against the Broncos that required stitches at halftime. Backup Matt Smith has been dealing with a knee injury.
The Bulldogs do have options at center including junior Tyrone Sampson and even moving right guard Mose Vavao in at center, and Schmidt and Sampson could play guard.
But if Schmidt can’t grip or snap the football by game day, there are not a lot of banked reps against a 3-3-5 defense to put up against New Mexico defensive coordinator Rocky Long and a testy scheme that is difficult to decipher for even the most experienced centers.
Compounding that potential issue, Boise State had a lot of success against the interior of the Bulldogs’ offensive line with tackles Jackson Cravens, Divine Obichere and Scott Matlock accounting for three of the Broncos’ five sacks.
And, Fresno State offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said, Long has been more aggressive this season than he was even at San Diego State when putting together Top 3 defenses in the conference year after year.
The Lobos have a productive tackle in Langston Murray and a very disruptive force off the edge in Joey Noble. The 245-pound defensive end is leading the conference with 13.0 tackles for loss and has 40 pressures including 13 hits on a quarterback, according to Pro Football Focus. The 13 hits rank second in the nation among edge rushers, behind only the 15 for San Diego State end Cameron Thomas.
Who the Bulldogs are able to play, and any changes at the center and guard positions, will be critical.
Schmidt obviously would be optimal – he was the starter when the Bulldogs rolled up 485 yards in a victory against San Diego State and its 3-3-5, the most the Aztecs have allowed this season by more than 100 yards.
His ability to snap the football is a concern, however.
“The whole thing will be the O-line,” Grubb said. “It will be if those guys can jell together and take care of business up front, and if they do it will be a great night and if they don’t it will be a long night. But I have confidence we’re going to get it done. This week in practice we’re giving them insanely hard looks, and we need to, because Coach Long isn’t holding anything back. It’s going to be a tough night at the office, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Waking up the ‘Dogs pass game
The Bulldogs’ pass protection obviously plays into successes throwing the football, and there is a huge difference with quarterback Jake Haener throwing when in a clean pocket and when under pressure.
Those numbers, according to Pro Football Focus …
Clean pocket: 212 of 300 (70.7%) 8.8 yards per attempt, 24 touchdowns, 6 interceptions;
Pressure: 41 of 83 (49.4%), 6.4 YPA, 1 TD, 3 interceptions.
But that is not the only issue with the Bulldogs’ passing game, which has lost some sharpness even with the strengths of Haener and a group of wideouts that includes Jalen Cropper, Josh Kelly, Keric Wheatfall and Zane Pope.
Fresno State still has one of the top passing offenses in the Mountain West and the nation, ranked second and ninth. But the Bulldogs have connected on less than 60% of their pass plays in two games in a row and four of five.
Needing to win its final two games to have a shot at winning the West Division and berth in the Mountain West Conference championship game, can the Bulldogs recapture some of that edge?
There have been quarterbacks over the past month who are nowhere near as proficient throwing the football as Haener when on his game who have proven plays are there to be made against New Mexico, given time.
UNLV, for instance, has hit only 20 explosive pass plays of 20 or more this season and ranks eighth in the Mountain West in passing offense, but hit a 75-yard touchdown in beating the Lobos last week.
New Mexico’s QB1
New Mexico coach Danny Gonzales said at a news conference on Tuesday that redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Chavez “will be fine for Saturday,” according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Chavez had injured his right ankle last week in the Lobos’ loss to UNLV, severely limiting the New Mexico offense, which generated only 38 yards of total offense in the second half after he went down. The Lobos rushed the football 17 times for just 10 yards and completed 7 of 12 passes for 28 yards, were 1 of 7 converting on third downs and had only four first downs over the final two quarters.
When Chavez was in the game New Mexico churned out 179 yards and two touchdowns on 23 plays over five series, averaging 7.8 yards per play, with most of it coming on the ground.
The New Mexico quarterback doesn’t appear to be 100% with the ankle, but he was able to practice. “Isaiah is a tough kid,” Gonzales told the Journal. “He was able to move around. We limited his reps so that the swelling won’t continue.”
That opens up some interesting questions for the Bulldogs, who had few answers for Chavez last season.
As a true freshman walk-on in his second career game and first career start, Chavez hit 14 of 18 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 95 yards and another score in a 49-39 victory.
Quarterback run game has been less of an issue for Fresno State than it was last season when Chevan Cordeiro rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns on 13 plays for Hawaii, Todd Centeio rushed for 90 yards on 13 plays for Colorado State and Max Gilliam rushed for 139 yards and one touchdown on 16 plays for UNLV.
But if Chavez’s mobility is not limited, he could cause some problems for the Bulldogs. If it is, he could be an easy target behind an offensive line that last week allowed 11 tackles for loss and eight sacks. And, UNLV is nowhere close to the Bulldogs’ defense in either area, even after its big game last week in its first victory of the season.
Fresno State is leading the Mountain West with 76.0 tackles for loss and fourth in sacks with 26.0, while the Rebels are ninth with 47.0 TFLs and 12th and last with only 15.0 sacks.
Bulldogs’ defensive ends Arron Mosby and David Perales are tied for third in the Mountain West with 11.5 TFLs going into the game, and tackle Kevin Atkins is tied for fifth with 11.0.
Rivers watch
Fresno State running back Ronnie Rivers already has set the school record for career touchdowns, breaking a tie with Anthony Daigle on a 61-yard touchdown reception in a 45-0 season-opening shut over over UConn.
It was Rivers’ 45th career touchdown, and he has since pushed that mark to 49.
But there is a familial target out there slowly coming into reach, one the super-senior running back has had in his sights for some time. Rivers with 3,281 career rushing yards is third on the Bulldogs’ all-time rushing list and trailing his father Ron Rivers by just 192 yards.
Can he get there against the Lobos in what could be his final game in Bulldog Stadium?
New Mexico is allowing 140.4 rushing yards per game, but over the past season-plus with Long running the defense it has struggled at times. The Lobos allowed 142 rushing yards to Air Force running back Brad Roberts, 117 to Texas A&M’s Isaiah Spiller and 111 to San Diego State’s Greg Bell this season, and 177 yards to the Falcons’ Roberts and 154 yards to Wyoming’s Trey Smith last season.
Fresno State vs. New Mexico
When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
Where: Bulldog Stadium
TV: Stadium/CW59 (Ari Wolfe, JJ Raterink)
Find it fast: AT&T (Channels 59, 1059), Comcast (705, 1059), DirecTV (59), Dish Network (59)
Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler, Pat Hill, Cameron Worrell)
Find it fast: Fresno (AM 1340), Bakersfield (AM 970), Visalia (AM 1130), Modesto (FM 92.9), Stockton (AM 1280), Bulldogs app, iHeartMedia app
The coaches: Kalen DeBoer (10-6 in second season), (Danny Gonzales 5-11 in second season)
The records: Fresno State 7-3, 4-2 in MW; New Mexico 3-6, 1-4
The series: Fresno State leads 13-5
Last meeting: New Mexico won 49-39 in 2020
The line: Fresno State minus-25
Tickets: 559-278-DOGS or gobulldogs.com