Fresno State Bulldogs vs. San Jose State: Hitting key pressure points, plus things to watch
The Fresno State pass rush has slowed over the past three games, though one, New Mexico, is a toss out. The Lobos attempted only eight passes, hit two, took a 34-7 beating and went on home.
But the Bulldogs defended 38 passes against San Diego State and 28 against Boise State and they had just two sacks, both against the Broncos, who went into that game seventh in the Mountain West Conference in sacks allowed with 18 and 2.3 per game.
With so much at stake in a Thanksgiving Day matchup, the Bulldogs — who would stay in the race for a West Division title in the Mountain West with a victory — will want to get that pass rush going again.
It is high on the list of things to watch and could have a significant impact on the San Jose State offense.
The Spartans have allowed just 18 sacks this season and at 1.6 per game are ranked third in the conference. But they have allowed quarterbacks Nick Starkel and Nick Nash to take a lot of hits, particularly from the middle to right side of a veteran offensive line with three graduate starters, one senior and one junior.
Right tackle Jaime Navarro, left guard Trevor Robbins and right guard Tyler Stevens have allowed 25, 24 and 22 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, and the Spartans are one of two teams in the conference with three starting linemen ranked in the top 15.
The San Jose State pass game has been impacted by the loss of Bailey Gaither and Tre Walker, deep ball threats who tied for third in the conference with eight pass receptions of 25 or more yards last season.
But the pressure also has impacted Starkel and Nash, and Fresno State has the ability to rack up sacks in bunches with five in a victory over Nevada, four in beating UConn and UNLV and three in a loss at Oregon and a win at Wyoming.
When pressured, Starkel has hit only 22 of 55 passes (40%). He has averaged just 3.8 yards per attempt and thrown one touchdown pass with five interceptions. Nash, who is more of a run threat in the Spartans’ offense, is just 13 of 34 (38.2%). He has averaged 6.0 yards per attempt with one touchdown and one interception.
There’s also this: When San Jose State has hit 60% of its passes this season it is 3-0, and when it has not it is 2-6.
Freshman on the hot corner
Fresno State true freshman cornerback Cale Sanders has started back-to-back games, had the first interception of his career in the Bulldogs’ victory over New Mexico and is worth a good look not only in this matchup but with an eye toward the next three football seasons.
Sanders, who emerged quickly after arriving on campus over the summer and played in the opener against UConn, had coverage grades of 82.7 and 74.7 in his two starts, according to Pro Football Focus.
Those are two of the five highest single-game grades for a Fresno State cornerback this season.
Sanders has a 78.6 grade in coverage on the year, which is the second highest on the team behind senior DaRon Bland at 79.7 and the highest among true freshman cornerbacks in the Mountain West.
In the two games that Sanders has started, the freshman and Bland have played a majority of the snaps. Bralyn Lux, who started the first six games and eight of the first nine, was on the field for only 10 snaps against New Mexico. Wylan Free, who started the first four games, did not play a defensive snap against the Lobos.
Hitting a home run
Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener passed for 300 yards in the Bulldogs’ victory over New Mexico, hitting that mark for the second time in the past five games after getting there in five of the first six.
One thing that has been missing: the home run ball.
Over the past five games Fresno State, with a receivers room full of deep threats including Jalen Cropper, Keric Wheatfall and Josh Kelly, has hit just 5 of 25 of its deep passing attempts, according to Pro Football Focus.
Wyoming: 0 of 2
Nevada: 1 of 5, 42 yards
San Diego State: 2 of 12, 93 yards
Boise State: 2 of 5, 57 yards
New Mexico: 0 of 1
But the Bulldogs should have a chance to make plays against the Spartans, if the offensive line can create some clean pockets. San Jose State already has faced Nevada and Utah State, first and third in the Mountain West in passing offense. It has played USC and Western Michigan, first in the Pac-12 and fourth in the Mid-American.
In those games, the Spartans have allowed opposing quarterbacks to hit a combined 70.8% of their passes (85 of 120) from clean pockets and average 7.4 yards per attempt with eight touchdowns. And, they have had success with the deep ball, hitting 57.9% of their passes (11 of 19) that traveled 20 or more yards downfield.
That might not sound like a terrific number, but there are only five quarterbacks in the nation that have hit 50% of their passes at least 20 yards down the field and none are from the Mountain West.
Sudden change, sudden death
Turnovers play big in any football game and no one is more aware of that than the Bulldogs, who are a minus-9 in turnover margin in their three losses and plus-8 in their eight wins.
But interceptions and fumbles have been a big problem for the Spartans, who are the worst by far in the Mountain West in turnover margin and 126th in the nation at minus-11. Wyoming and New Mexico are tied for 10th in the conference at minus-4, so there’s a wide gap between next-to-last and last.
But what makes that even worse for San Jose State, and a potential boon to the Bulldogs, is the Spartans’ defense has fared poorly in sudden-change situations.
Over the past five games San Jose State has turned over the ball nine times and it has allowed a touchdown following seven of them, including a fumble return for a touchdown and an interception return for a touchdown. The two drives that didn’t end up in the end zone ended with missed field goals and probably should have cost the Spartans points – Utah State missed a 28-yard field goal attempt and Nevada missed one from 37 yards.
Fresno State at San Jose State
When: Thursday, 12:30 p.m.
Where: CEFCU Stadium, San Jose
TV: FS1 (Alex Faust, Petros Papadakis)
Find it fast: AT&T (Channels 652, 1652), Comcast (35, 408, 731, 1208), DirecTV (219), Dish Network (150)
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 (11-6 in second season), Brent Brennan (20-36 in fifth season)
The records: Fresno State 8-3, 5-2 in MW; San Jose State 5-6, 3-4
The series: Fresno State leads 42-38-3
The line: Fresno State minus-7.5
Last meeting: San Jose State won 17-16 in 2019