Fresno State QB competition coming to a close, but here are 3 pressing questions

When Fresno State returns to practice Monday it’s likely to have a starting quarterback for its Aug. 23 opener at Kansas, but there are still pressing questions on both sides of the football that will impact the Bulldogs’ season.

Here are three pressing questions headed into the final week of camp:

Is the Bulldogs’ defense ahead of schedule?

Take a deep dive into Northern Illinois last season, and there were some significant successes in key metrics under coordinator Nick Benedetto, who is now running the Bulldogs’ defense.

Northern Illinois ranked second in the nation in third-down conversion percentage last season, and was tied for first in allowing just 0.75 yards per play on 3rd-and-short rushing plays.

It allowed only 36 points in the fourth quarter against its FBS opponents, the 3.0 per game average the lowest in the nation. It also allowed just 67 points in the second half, the 5.6 average ranking second in the nation behind national champion Ohio State.

The Huskies also handled sudden-change situations as well as any team in the nation. Northern Illinois turned over the football 17 times during the year including seven times on its side of the field and five times at or inside its 25, but opponents scored a touchdown following a Huskies’ interception or fumble recovery just three times. One of those touchdowns came on a 1-yard drive by North Carolina State, and it took three plays for the Wolf Pack to score. Another came on a 25-yard drive by Fresno State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

The Huskies had a veteran unit in Benedetto’s third season with nine returning starters and that is not the case at Fresno State - the Bulldogs lost a lot of production to graduation and through the transfer portal and are without nine of their Top 12 tacklers from a year ago.

Can he replicate that level of success with a younger group in its first season?

“Ultimately, you want to get to a high level as a defense,” Benedetto said. “You want to control the game. That’s the goal of a defense, to control the game. We want to get there and we’re working our tails off every day to get there as fast as possible.”

The Bulldogs’ new defensive coordinator pointed out the thin margin between winning and losing, and where a team might finish in any one statistical category.

But it’s not out of the question. The defense, despite the loss of Gavriel Lightfoot, Phoenix Jackson and Julian Neal through the transfer portal, has come together quickly.

“Part of it had to do with the continuity of the staff,” Entz said. “They’d all worked together before. I think that helped. If you look at the other side of the ball, there was a lot of newness, so (offensive coordinator Josh Davis) spent a lot of the first month teaching the coaches, coaching the coaches.

“Well, Nick hit the ground running. The coaches went out and that first month, it was player development, player development, which is what we want to be known for.”

Linebackers coach Adam Breske and defensive line coach Jordan Gigli were with Benedetto last season at Northern Illinois, and edge coach Marcus Hall-Oliver coached at Sioux Falls in 2017 and ‘17 when he was the defensive coordinator there. Benedetto also retained J.D. Williams as cornerbacks coach, who has been a critical piece working for Jeff Tedford, Kalen DeBoer, Tedford again and Tim Skipper.

Outside opportunities abound. Who might be a standout?

Fresno State had 16 wideouts on its roster in 2024, all but one (Mac Dalena) with eligibility to play college football this season. Only four of those players return.

Entz and the Bulldogs’ offensive staff remade the receiver’s room after Jalen Moss (Arizona State) and Raylen Sharpe (Arkansas) hit the NCAA transfer portal, but did not add much experience to it. Among 10 new receivers, there are a total of 56 career snaps played at the FBS (football bowl subdivision) level with three career targets and one reception.

There is playmaking ability in Josiah Freeman, who is returning from a foot injury suffered last season when scoring a touchdown against Washington State.

They may also have hit on Ezekiel Avit, who had those three career targets and one reception last season at Maryland playing behind an experienced group that included seniors Tai Felton and Kaden Prather, who ranked first and 11th in the Big Ten in targets.

“The length and the ball skills are what separate him,” wideouts coach DelVon Hardaway said, of Avit. “Super long arms, massive hands, a really good catch radius. That’s what has been most intriguing about him. And, then, his speed. I think he has sneaky speed. He gets up on guys quickly and he understands how to use his body.”

Redshirt freshman Jordan Malau’ulu showed a lot of potential last season on the practice field and senior Jordan Brown, in his sixth year of college football, is expected to have more of a presence as a slot receiver after catching nine passes last season.

But the challenge. top to bottom, is consistency for a group with a lot yet to sort out. Jahlil McClain, a transfer from Louisville, is expected to be a factor this season. Josiah Ayon, another Buchanan product, is competing for playing time. A promising group of freshmen that includes Harold Duvall (Clovis East) and Keynan Cotton also could make an impact. Fresno State has not had a true freshman wideout catch a pass in a game since Mac Dalena in a 2020 season impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but this season there is no lack of opportunity.

“The biggest thing is just continuing to challenge those guys, to see improvement every day and for them to be consistent, and then you’ll see them show up on Saturdays,” Hardaway said.

Will a true freshman start on the offensive line?

The offensive line has been a focal point going back to the spring, with the expectation the Bulldogs will lean heavily into the run game under Entz.

But a lot of that focus has been on Brayden Walton, the 6-foot-7, 325-pound true freshman from Buchanan High. He joined the program in the spring and has taken reps in practice with the No. 1 offense. Fresno State last had a true freshman make a start on the offensive line in 2020 when guard Mose Vavao stepped into the lineup at Nevada, but that was a game with a roster decimated by COVID-19. It just does not happen all that often, especially at left or right tackle. Across all Group of Six conference schools last season, only four true freshmen made starts and played 200 or more snaps at left or right tackle, according to ProFootball Focus.

None of the four started the opening game.

“Having him in January and having eight months of development versus eight weeks of development is night and day,” Entz said. “He wouldn’t be where he is if he showed up in June. We would be thinking, ‘Maybe we could get two or three games out of him? Can he help us from a depth standpoint? He’s right in the mix right now, competing to play. He’s a young man who has a ton of tools, doesn’t even know where he can be, and that’s what’s exciting. The only way he knows is our way, and that’s why he’d had so much success moving forward.”

Walton could be a big piece for the Bulldogs, who have struggled to run the football the past three seasons, ranking 10th, 10th and eighth in the Mountain West in rushing offense.

Jacob Spomer, who started the final four games in 2024 after coming back from an injury and was graded as the top left tackle in the conference by Pro Football Focus, is now playing center. Toreon Penright, who started at left tackle in the first seven games last season and at right guard down the stretch, also could slide back outside.

This story was originally published August 9, 2025 at 12:53 PM.