TD in debut was nice, but Fresno State’s Josiah Blandin focused on improving

There were plays made and no matter how many are to come this season and next, few figure to be like that first one, which started with Josiah Blandin freeing himself from press coverage with a quick stutter and flying up the left sideline with a cornerback from Abilene Christian on his right hip.

As the Fresno State wideout hit the 5-yard line, quarterback Zack Greenlee, flush with time, fired into a small window, the football slipping past the fingertips of a defender with inside position and sticking to those of Blandin, who crossed the goal line with his first career catch and first career touchdown.

Those are the fun ones to watch the following day on film.

But that is not the only play the junior college transfer took from the Bulldogs’ 34-13 victory last week against Abilene Christian in their season opener. Watching the tape the next day, Blandin noticed others, picking apart where improvement is needed with his routes and technique.

Even the release on his touchdown reception, he said, could have been better.

“Every time you watch film, no matter what type of game you have, there is always things that you can improve on and fix,” Blandin said. “I think my route running could have been better and definitely my blocking. My main goal this week is just to block well and put a significant trust in my teammates that they can follow behind me every time we run the ball, especially Marteze (Waller). He’ll break a tackle and you have to hold your block a long time. That’s the main concept this week: blocking.”

There will be more routes and catches in there, too.

Blandin is off to a strong start in a relatively inexperienced group of outside receivers, a run that started about midway through fall camp. He might not have cared much for his blocking against the Wildcats and there was a drop in there, as well. But he had four receptions for a team-high 71 yards, and left no doubt on the type of impact he can make this season in the Bulldogs offense.

“I liked the fact that when the lights came on it didn’t seem too big for him,” outside receivers coach Joe Wade said. “You hoped for that because he is a junior college player and he has played two years. … His ability to not get too hyped up, to just play, that was … pleasant.”

The focus is on advancing from here, with a much more difficult test coming Saturday when Fresno State travels to No. 17 Mississippi. The Rebels ripped Tennessee-Martin 76-3 in their opener.

There was the drop on a bubble screen, some routes that could have been better.

And the release on the touchdown?

“I rushed it,” Blandin said. “If I could have been more patient, everything would have been more smooth. I had to make a tough grab and Zack had to make a tough throw, but the better the separation is the better it will be for all of us.”

On the Greenlee pass that was intercepted inside the 5-yard line just before halftime, the ball deflected off of Blandin and a defender and right to Abilene Christian strong safety D.J. Arnold.

That ball was behind Blandin, a very tough play. But he said his emphasis is on making every play.

Said Wade: “The thing that we want to do at receiver is be great catch radius guys. So if the ball is anywhere around you, if you touch it you should catch it. You have to fight for it and catch it, because there are going to be balls that are high, balls that are low, balls that are going to be behind you. He threw it to you. How many times are you going to get the ball thrown to you in a game? You better go get it.”

So, it is back to work, which is what the coaches were hoping to see from the transfer from Long Beach City College. Blandin, though he was playing his first game at Fresno State, was the eldest of the outside receivers to suit up against Abilene Christian and was challenged by coach Tim DeRuyter a few days before the game to produce, to become a leader.

“We brought him in for a reason, to be a factor in the competition and I think he’s doing a nice job,” DeRuyter said. “He’s a guy that has a lot of ability. I think he has really made dramatic improvement from the first few days of practice, where he was slowed by thinking through things.

“He’s playing much more naturally. I think he brings a presence and he’s a nice target for quarterbacks to hit.”

That is the goal, and they are confident Blandin knows how to get there.

“A lot of people were congratulating me and stuff like that and I said, ‘Thank you,’ but it doesn’t really mean anything if I don’t continue to do the work and continue to improve,” Blandin said.

“That’s really the hard part, when you have success or you do something good and everybody wants to make it seem like it’s good, the hard part is to continue to stay focused and continue to keep working.

“I learned that from my mom. She always continued to work hard, no matter the circumstances. She would work hard and make sure that we were set. I learned that trait from her and it helps me. It helps in the long run. It helps in the short run. You’ll be all right if you find that.”

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 4:11 PM with the headline "TD in debut was nice, but Fresno State’s Josiah Blandin focused on improving."