Fresno State football notebook: Receiver Delvon Hardaway gets green light to go and go

Two full practices is all it took this week for Fresno State wide out Delvon Hardaway to convince the Bulldogs’ coaching staff that he is fit and ready to resume playing football.

Hardaway, who has been working his way back from a knee injury suffered during spring practices, will play in the Bulldogs’ Mountain West Conference opener on Saturday at San Jose State. How many reps he will get is to be determined, but he will be in the playing rotation.

“He has done well,” coach Tim DeRuyter said. “He looks explosive out here. Of course he’s a little rusty, not having gone full speed until this week, but he’s going to be a big-time help being available.”

Hardaway will add some experience to an outside receivers group that has been trying to rebound since senior Aaron Peck went out for the season in fall camp with a foot injury.

They went into the opening game against Abilene Christian without a receiver with a career reception in the two-deep. But Da’Mari Scott has added a physicality and competitiveness to the group since coming out of what was supposed to be a redshirt season, junior college transfer Josiah Blandin has been making progress and has a touchdown reception in each of the first three games, redshirt freshman KeeSean Johnson is coming off a better game against Utah and now Hardaway is ready to go.

He is coming back with 23 career receptions for 279 yards and two touchdowns – with Peck out that is the most catches among the position group.

And he will be making his comeback against a Spartans’ defense that plays a lot of man coverage, which certainly is not a bad thing for the third-year sophomore. The Spartans have had success – they have allowed only two explosive pass plays of 20 or more yards this season – but when healthy Hardaway does have the speed to rocket away from cornerbacks and to get down the field.

“I feel like I’m a fast guy, I don’t know,” Hardaway joked. “I feel like it’s good to see a man team. All you have to do is focus on kind of beating that guy and beating a safety maybe. You don’t have to worry about running into linebackers and guys dropping out of coverage.

“Hopefully, they stick to that game plan that they’ve been showing and stick to a lot of man coverage and if they do I think we’ll be very successful.”

Attitude adjustment – No secret that outside linebacker Ejiro Ederaine is a vocal presence when he is on the football field, or on the sidelines, or in the meeting room, or in the locker room. He likes to talk. But the past two weeks, he has hiked up the volume at times and worked hard on adjusting attitude on a unit that is rebounding from two tough seasons.

“I feel like you can’t do anything great with an average mindset,” he said. “No one has ever done anything great with an average mindset. I’m trying to get all my teammates to believe that we can win it all, we can do whatever we set our minds to. I know, that sounds like what my mom and dad used to tell me when I was a kid, but that really holds true.

“I tell my teammates that. And a lot of times, it’s not even me. The young guys are really pushing themselves and they’re out there encouraging other guys. Like, (Tobenna Okeke) will sometimes get on me to pick my energy up. It’s definitely fun to see all the guys pick up that mindset. It’s not just me. We have a lot of guys out here busting their tails and being leaders out here.”

Oglesby update – Reports have been solid on freshman running back Bryson Oglesby, who enrolled in school as an academic redshirt and must pass 12 units this semester with a grade-point average of 2.5 or higher in order to participate in spring practices.

“He’s doing well, we just need to keep him on this track,” DeRuyter said.

Et Cetera – Fresno State last week held Utah to 380 yards of offense at 5.1 yards per play, its best game against a BCS or Power Five Conference opponent since limiting Colorado to just 278 yards of offense in a 69-14 victory on Sept. 15, 2012.

▪ The series with San Jose States dates back to 1921, and the Bulldogs and Spartans still hold the NCAA record for, get this, most combined penalties in a game with 36 for 317 yards on Oct. 4, 1986. San Jose State, which won that game 45-41, was called for 24 penalties, which also is a NCAA record.

▪ Bulldogs’ punter Garrett Swanson ranks third in the Mountain West with 44.2 yards per punt. Six of his 14 kicks have been downed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 11:43 PM with the headline "Fresno State football notebook: Receiver Delvon Hardaway gets green light to go and go."