Bulldogs open fall camp. It’s early, but they may have answers to at least one question

Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford said that he bounced out of bed Tuesday morning, just ready to go and all that.

Tedford, who was forced to step away from coaching his alma mater due to heart-related health issues following the 2019 season, had been back on a football field before, in the spring. But this was fall camp, Day One, and the football season is just 21 practices and a week of game prep away.

“When you think you’re never going to do it again and you have another opportunity, you really, I really, feel blessed and fortunate to be here and be around these coaches, around these players and to represent the university,” Tedford said. “I’m excited to be out here every single day.”

Here’s three things from the first day of camp …

Defensive line depth

The Bulldogs’ defensive line and its depth was a question going into the spring, less of a question coming out of those 15 practices and a question, again, after two critical departures over the summer. But Fresno State appears to have rebounded through the transfer portal and with its 2022 recruiting class, adding Andres Fox (Stanford), Joshua Pakola (Stanford), Jacob Holmes (Chandler, Ariz.), Gavriel Lightfoot (Corona Centenntal), Miles Bailey (Benecia) and Jahzon Jacks (Stockton St. Mary’s), a group that includes some large and live bodies.

“I’m really anxious to see what it looks like when we get into pads and get into football for real, but I think we have good size, we have good athleticism,” Tedford said. “It’s really just about putting it all together and working as a unit, but I think we’ve helped ourselves creating more depth.”

Fox is an end, Pakola can play inside or out.

“Obviously, they’re good athletes, no doubt about it,” defensive line coach Jethro Franklin said. “But just like everything else, you have to train them the right way. We have to train them the Bulldog way, with how we do things. Our approach to things is a little bit different than anyplace else I know I’ve ever been, and I’ve been in a lot of places. That’s not just with them, that’s with all of them.”

That depth was an issue last season, on a defense that ranked third in the Mountain West Conference in rushing defense and fourth in scoring defense. Tackle Kevin Atkins, now in camp with the San Francisco 49ers, ranked 10th in the nation for snaps played among interior defensive linemen. Defensive ends Arron Mosby and David Perales both were in the Top 20 in the conference. Mosby is in camp with the Carolina Panthers and Perales is back as a sixth-year senior and on Monday landed a spot in the watch list for the Lombardi Trophy.

Of the freshmen, Lightfoot stood out, in part because of his size (6 feet 3 inches, 300 pounds) and ability to move.

But he and Holmes have made quick impressions.

“Lightfoot is a 400-pound bencher,” Tedford said. “And Holmes, he can really move. He can play inside or outside.”

Didn’t he leave for UNLV?

Defensive end Isaiah Johnson, from Modesto Downey High, is a critical piece in that mix up front and in the spring and at the start of camp is working with the No. 1 defense opposite Perales.

Johnson entered the transfer portal last season and committed to UNLV. He had the pictures and everything. Or, the Rebels did. But outside of an official visit, Johnson never made it there, and the Bulldogs have a better player.

“I feel like a lot of my technique has improved, from my footwork to my hands,” Johnson said. “That’s one thing that Coach Franklin has been working on with me. I feel like if I get that right I’ll be able to go far this season and be able to fill in some big shoes that were left behind.

“I thought I was doing things right before he got here and then when he got here he switched up my whole pass rush stance, he switched everything up for everybody. He really knows what he’s talking about. He’s showing us film on guys in the NFL, and I’ve seen improvement just since spring ball.”

A new, old face in secondary

Cornerback Bralyn Lux has a different mindset and his game back together after an interesting 2021 in which he started the first six games, running a streak to 12 starts in a row dating to his freshman season.

Lux started to struggle with his consistency midway through the year and saw his snaps dwindle down the stretch, going from 70 to 30 to 10 and to seven in a regular-season ending victory at San Jose State.

The Bulldogs opened the season with Lux and Wylan Free starting at the corner spots, and ended it with DaRon Bland and freshman Cale Sanders in the starting lineup.

“Mentally, I’m way better,” Lux said. “I know the game better. I study more. I feel faster and stronger than last year. We have a new defensive coordinator, so everything is fresh, a fresh start, so I feel real good right now.”

Lux said his confidence never was rattled. In the spring, he said, he started to get back to his best football.

“I was studying the game more — that’s what really changed from last year to this year,” he said. “Knowing the game, knowing what they want to do in certain situations.

“I feel like I know the game way more than last year. My first two years I was just playing. This year, I know what they want to do. I’m in the office with (defensive backs coach J.D. Williams) all the time going over plays. I feel like the studying and knowing the game better will be the difference from last year.”