Fresno State is bringing back a student favorite. Last time, Bulldogs found a player

Fresno State wideout Jordan Brown remembers the first time he ran onto the field at Bulldog Stadium. Of course he does. Everyone who has made it down that ramp and onto the football field does. It sticks. The atmosphere. The anticipation. That burst of energy. But Brown was wearing a T-shirt and shorts and not a helmet and pads and he was surrounded by Bulldogs classmates and not Bulldogs teammates.

It was at Run to Victory, a promotion that athletics department officials are bringing back this season after a two-year hiatus and hoping to turn into a tradition for first-year Fresno State students.

Before the Bulldogs kick off the 2022 season on Thursday against Cal Poly, students will go down the ramp and get to sprint the length of the field at their first home football game on campus.

Brown in 2019 was one of those students, a freshman from Bellflower majoring in kinesiology exercise science.

“That was wild,” he said. “That was my first home game at Fresno State, so I’m running on the field and I was just enjoying the student life. But I’m also running on the field thinking, ‘This is going to be me one of these days.’”

Brown found his way onto the football team through an open tryout for students, one of 25 to 30 who ran some sprints and caught some passes and one of one who was asked that very day to return.

“He just stood out very quickly in terms of how he moved, how he caught the ball and his attitude,” offensive coordinator Kirby Moore said. “You see that everyday out here. I don’t think he has had many bad days, and if he does he’s not showing it. Unbelievable story.

“He joined our offseason program there for about a month and he was attacking it. He was right there with the other guys and then COVID happens and we’re into a different process with our learning and teaching and he’s the first one in every Zoom meeting. The guy is just extremely motivated and driven, and it’s awesome to work with him every day.”

Building a second-generation Red Wave

Run to Victory has produced more than a productive football player for the Bulldogs. It also has produced a badly needed spark for the future in an ever-changing college athletics landscape.

While ticket sales for a Thursday opener against a lesser Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent have been sluggish in the community, Fresno State on Monday night surpassed a record 1,288 student season tickets sold in 2014 and has obliterated the totals from the past six years when the numbers were 383, 465, 192, 274, 427 and 762.

That record backs up a strong 2021, when students mostly through single-game sales snapped up their allotment of 3,500 seats and annexed another section in the stadium for four of the Bulldogs’ six home games.

Fresno State averaged 4,000 students per game; just five seasons ago, the Bulldogs had fewer than 2,000 students in attendance at five of their six home games.

That can’t be discounted, as a Red Wave that built and for years supported Fresno State athletics ages.

Developing a younger fan base of ticket buyers and future donors has been an elusive target for years for past administrations, but athletics director Terry Tumey and department officials are making a mark with students through targeted social media initiatives and promotions and some very good football.

“Fresno State has an incredible history and tradition of support throughout this entire Valley and that still exists to this day, but getting the next wave of the Red Wave is a huge focus,” said Frank Pucher, senior associate athletics director for external relations.

“That’s why you’ve seen different marketing opportunities targeted to those demographics. You’ve seen us go heavy in digital and social media, even with some of our different radio and streaming platforms that we’re now partnered with. That was intentionally done to engage with those audiences. Really, everything we’ve done the past three years, especially coming out of COVID, has been about how we get younger and how we attract those audiences.”

In the short term, obviously, those students can light up a stadium on game day.

‘Pageantry of college athletics’

“Our students do an incredible job with what they do on game days,” Pucher said. “Seeing that entire corner filled, being loud and energetic, not only does it energize our team, it energizes the entire stadium. It energizes our fan base and it impacts the visiting team, as well.

“When you think about the pageantry of college athletics and what truly that represents, nothing can replicate the energy and enthusiasm that students bring to a stadium. That’s what it’s truly all about. When you think about the collegiate experience, the students and what they enjoy during their time here, it makes their experience really worthwhile as students in general not to mention the excitement it brings to the team and venue.”

It can make for some memorable experiences. It did for Brown, who played in all six games during the COVID-shortened 2020 season and 11 games last year, making his first career catch in an opening 45-0 victory over UConn.

During his Run to Victory, an athletics department photographer caught Brown in full flight and, apparently, having a blast. He’s decked out in red shoes and a Fresno State baseball hat, with his phone in his left hand taking video of the whole thing. He keeps that photo on his nightstand, right next to his Bible.

“It’s been a crazy ride, for sure. I’m thankful to my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ,” Brown said. “I was just a student here my freshman year. I came here, took a chance myself ...

“I always look back at that picture just to remind myself where I came from, to always keep working hard, just being a fan in the stands,” Brown said. “I was a fan in the stands looking down at the games. I knew I could play. I knew there was an opportunity for me here. I’m just grateful.”