Fresno State, for first time, looks like it was expected to. How Bulldogs got it done

Fresno State did not have Jake Haener or Evan Williams on the football field, its captains both still out with injuries. But the Bulldogs did appear as expected this season for perhaps the first time in seven games, mostly because a matchup against New Mexico, unlike a solid effort weeks back against Oregon State, ended with a victory.

It was 41-9 and the Bulldogs beat up a Lobos defense that had been fairly solid, pounding out 510 yards of offense including 285 on the ground with 165 and one touchdown coming from running back Jordan Mims.

If that perplexes, it is understandable.

Fresno State in its past three games since Logan Fife replaced the injured Haener had generated 187 yards in a loss at UConn, 233 in a loss at Boise State and a still-modest total of 334 in a victory over San Jose State.

In the first two of those games, it averaged 3.8 and 3.9 yards per play.

And, then, Saturday.

Some of that is New Mexico, which, despite the improving stats, still is New Mexico. The Lobos have not had a winning season since 2016 and since have had three wins three times, two wins twice and are now 2-6.

But some of it also is an offensive line that’s getting healthier.

“I think right away we were just ready to get after it and it all started up front,” said Fife, who hit 19 of 29 passes for 225 yards with one touchdown and one interception. “Those O-linemen were consistent the whole game, and I don’t think any of that is possible without those guys.

“It allowed everyone to kind of get into a groove and we were able to play the offense that we know we can play.”

In that three-game stretch, Fife was in the steepest section of a sharp learning curve and so, too, was an offensive line that also has been hit by injuries. In those games, the unit had three different starting lineups making changes at right tackle, right tackle and then left guard.

BULLDOGS GAINING CONTINUITY UP FRONT

They made it four lineups in four games at New Mexico, with senior Tyrone Sampson getting the start at left guard in place of an injured Osmar Velez. But Sampson is a senior who has played a lot of football, has experience at both guard spots and at center and was in the starting lineup in the opener against Cal Poly.

For some context, when coach Jeff Tedford took over a 1-11 program and went 10-4 with a Hawaii Bowl victory in 2017, the Bulldogs had five linemen play 900 or more snaps and no one else who played even 40.

Taking the field at New Mexico, the Bulldogs already had seven offensive linemen who had played 125 or more snaps and nine who had played more than 40 and that lack of continuity can be a problem.

Center Bula Schmidt suggested during the week that the line was starting to gel, and went about trying to prove that against the Lobos. Along with the rushing yards there were no sacks and just three tackles for loss allowed.

“Those guys up front, that’s where it all starts,” Tedford said.

The Bulldogs also hit a big play in the passing game, an element that had been sorely lacking in the offense, when Jalen Moreno-Cropper and Fife teamed up on a 75-yard scoring strike in the third quarter.

The defense put together a strong game, adding to the woes of a team that fired its offensive coordinator two weeks back and went into the game ranked 11th in the Mountain West Conference in scoring and total offense.

And, Fresno State (3-4, 2-1 in the MW) exited tied for first in the West Division in the conference with a head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over San Jose State and a date on Saturday with San Diego State.

But it started with one of the Bulldogs’ most consistent games rushing the football, going back to that 2017 season. And it came against the Lobos’ tricky 3-3-5 led by defensive coordinator Rocky Long, who when the coach at San Diego State put together some of the best defenses in the nation.

“It just made everything easier,” Fife said of the play up front. “The O-line was moving everything and it allowed us to kind of soften up the secondary and allowed us to take some shots. Overall, I think the offense just killed it today and once again, it started up front with the offensive line.”

Of the three New Mexico tackles for loss, one came on a pass into the flat to wideout Nikko Remigio and one came late in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Jaylen Henderson misread an option play.

Fresno State running backs carried the football 43 times and went backward just once. The Bulldogs averaged 6.7 yards when rushing the football on first down and they averaged 7.4 yards when rushing it on third down, going 5 for 6 converting third-and-short rushing plays.

“The emphasis this week was to run the ball and I think we did a great job of that,” Mims said. “We were getting a lot of movement up front. We were getting a lot of push to create those creases that I hit, and Malik (Sherrod) and even Elijah (Gilliam) at the end of the game.

“It was good. We did well up front.”

BY THE NUMBERS

138: Total Yards for New Mexico, 87 rushing and 51 passing. The passing yards were the fewest allowed by the Bulldogs since they last ran into the Lobos. New Mexico had just 34 passing yards last season.

10: Tackles for loss by the Bulldogs. They also had 10 last week in a victory over San Jose State. It is the first time they have had 10 or more in back-to-back games since 2020. Fresno State has not gone three games in a row with 10 or more tackles for loss going back through the 2009 season.

225: Passing yards for Fresno State.

141: Yards after the catch by the Bulldogs receivers, including center Bula Schmidt, who caught a deflected pass and took it for a 4-yard gain.

38: Average starting position for New Mexico, which managed just three field goals and punted seven times. The Bulldogs’ average starting field position was their own 25-yard line.

75: Yard touchdown reception by Moreno-Cropper was the longest play from scrimmage for the Bulldogs this season.

8: Mims’ standing on the Bulldogs’ all-time rushing list with 2,565 career yards, after passing Lorenzo Neal (2,405) and Dean Philpott (2,533) with his 165 yards against the Lobos.

7.4: Average yards per rush by the Bulldogs on third-down plays. New Mexico went into the game allowing opponents just 1.0 yard per rush on third down with 34 yards on 34 plays.

0: Sacks allowed by the Bulldogs offensive line.

22: Total tackles with six solo stops by New Mexico safety A.J. Haulcy, who also had an interception.

39: Team-leading yards rushing by Lobos quarterback Justin Holaday. The former Lemoore High and Fresno City College star made his first career start for New Mexico and was 8-of-15 passing for 37 yards.

Next for Bulldogs

Saturday: 7:30 p.m. vs. San Diego State, Valley Children’s Stadium

TV: FS1