Fresno State GameDay vs. San Diego State: Keys to victory, Bulldog spotlight, notes

Fresno State (1-3, 0-1 Mountain West) at San Diego State (1-3, 0-0)

▪ Saturday: 7:30 p.m. at Qualcomm Stadium (54,000)

▪ TV: CBS Sports Network Comcast 418, DIRECTV 221; Dish 158; AT&T U-verse 643

▪ Radio: KFIG (AM 940); KGST (AM 1600)

▪ Kickoff forecast: 71 degrees, partly cloudy

Fresno State’s three keys to victory

1 Compete. The Bulldogs lost the physicality matchup last week in a loss at San Jose State, which can’t happen if they expect to win football games, even in a Mountain West Conference that is down from any of the past three or four seasons. On both sides of the ball, the Bulldogs just didn’t finish plays. They didn’t sustain blocks, didn’t tackle well. If they don’t fare better against the Aztecs, no matter what else happens they will be hard-pressed to come away with a win.

2 Stop the run. San Diego State is likely to utilize a lot of 21 and 22 personnel (two RBs, one TE and two WRs; two RBs, two TEs, one WR) and look to create some seams for running back Donnel Pumphrey, who has yet to get much going. His high rushing game this season is 102 yards against South Alabama, and he is averaging 76.3 yards per game, after racking up 143.6 last season. The Bulldogs saw a lot of the same last week, and struggled against it when allowing 291 rushing yards.

3 Not that guy. The Bulldogs and Aztecs have not done much on offense, averaging 22.7 and 18.3 points per game against Football Bowl Subdivision competition. If points are at a premium, Fresno State can’t afford to give up any outside the Aztecs’ offense, and San Diego State has one of the best kick-return men in the nation in Rashaad Penny. Penny is leading the nation with 45.1 yards per return and has scored twice. The Aztecs’ offense has produced only seven touchdowns.

Fresno State player spotlight: Middle linebacker Jeff Camilli

Year: Junior

Height/weight: 6-foot-2, 255 pounds

Hometown/high school: Shingle Springs/Ponderosa

Last week: Camilli led the team in tackles with 10, four solo, in a 49-23 loss to San Jose State. He made his fourth straight start after playing in all 14 games and making 42 tackles last season.

Why this game is important for Camilli: Fresno State linebackers will have to show they can stop the run after the Spartans’ Tyler Ervin rushed for 300 yards and three touchdowns. This week, the Bulldogs face junior Donnel Pumphrey, whom they held to 94 yards on 24 carries in a 24-13 Fresno State victory last season. Pumphrey ranks fifth nationally among active Football Bowl Subdivision rushers with 2,924 yards.

He said it: “We have to be way more physical. That’s what we’ve been focusing on, physicality, just getting our minds set right. We had a couple rough games, but we’re still in it … our goals are still ahead of us. Everyone on this team believes in everybody. Just not losing that faith. It’s just going out there and getting ready to play. We know what they’re going to do. They don’t do a complicated offense, so it’s really getting ready and get in a fight with them. The offense has to make plays and the defense, especially, we have to get takeaways and make big plays, hits, anything. That’s what we need is stops.”

Tailgating: Bulldogs pregame news and notes

Dodging the deep ball – Fresno State likely will try some different things schematically to counter San Diego State’s running game, which could leave its cornerbacks in man coverage with little help. Whether or not they are ready for that remains to be seen, but it is a risk that worked well last season when the Bulldogs held Aztecs star Donnel Pumphrey to 94 yards at a season-low 3.9 yards per play in a 24-13 victory.

San Diego State last season could complete only 9 of 24 passes (37.5 percent) for 84 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions – by cornerback Jamal Ellis and outside linebacker Donavon Lewis.

This season, the Aztecs have completed 48 of 111 passes (43.2 percent) for 618 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. They are averaging just 5.6 yards per pass play, tied with Fresno State for 10th among 12 teams in the Mountain West Conference, but that doesn’t mean they are incapable of beating the Bulldogs over the top.

“They’re going to be like they have been the past three years in this game, they’re going to be stressed a lot and there are going to be times that they’re not going to have help and they have to show up and go,” defensive coordinator Nick Toth said of his cornerbacks.

“The thing that is as important as that, there are going to be times where they have to down the ball. They have to show up and be physical there. We have to do a good job there. That’s not negotiable. If they don’t do a good job there, we’re going to be in trouble. The things we have to ask them to do in this game, they have to cover their butt off in one-on-one situations; they have to be able to disguise zone, show man and be able to play zone; and then they have to fit the running back when it’s their time, Those three things are huge for us. If they do that well, we’ll have a chance to be all right.”

Job battles – Coach Tim DeRuyter on potential defensive changes after the Bulldogs allowed 291 net rushing yards in a loss at San Jose State, with Tyler Ervin rushing for a school-record 300 yards …

“Any time you go out and you have a performance like we did, where the effort was right but the execution wasn’t, you have to examine multiple things and part of that is personnel,” he said. “This week, there are several positions where there was heightened competition, and it’s not just the guys on the depth chart, it could be position switches.”

On a roll at home – The Aztecs have won six consecutive Mountain West Conference games at Qualcomm Stadium, the last defeat coming Oct. 26, 2013, to Fresno State. The Bulldogs won in overtime 35-28.

San Diego State won its four conference home games last season by an average of 18.5 points, beating UNLV by 17 points, Hawaii by 10, Air Force by 16 and San Jose State by 31.

Receivers regaining strength – The Bulldogs’ outside receivers have been inconsistent through the first four games of the season, but the position group is getting healthier. Delvon Hardaway returned last week at San Jose State and now has a game under him, returning from a knee injury suffered in the spring. Da’Mari Scott, who suffered a shoulder injury when returning the opening kickoff against the Spartans 66 yards, was able to practice all week and is expected to play.

They also could get a lift from redshirt freshman KeeSean Johnson, who is feeling much more comfortable after catching seven passes last week for 90 yards and one touchdown.

“I can say that I came into the game more prepared and more comfortable with the whole game speed and everything, the change of pace from high school to college football, and played a little better,” Johnson said. “I’m just ready to go on and keep it going. It was a bit of a difference, the tempo, the speed and the physicality. But I feel like I attacked it more so I just have to keep doing that going forward.”

Cutting them off at the pass – Ervin, the San Jose State running back, also caught four passes last week in the Spartans’ victory over the Bulldogs, along the way converting a third-and-7, third-and-5 and third-and-7 into first downs.

They will have to be on high alert for Pumphrey, as well, as the Aztecs back is developing into more of a receiving threat. He leads the Aztecs with 14 receptions, three of them turning third-down plays into firsts. He has accounted for 145 receiving yards, after catching 23 passes for 160 yards last season.

Third downs have crushed Fresno State this season. Football Bowl Subdivision opponents have converted 29 of 43 (67.4 percent) of their third downs, the worst mark in the nation.

Rolling ... backward – San Diego State held San Diego to 188 yards of offense in its opener, the 10th consecutive game that the Aztecs had limited an opponent to less than 400.

Since then, they have given up an average of 465.3 and the high in a three-game stretch that includes games at Cal and at Penn State was racked up by South Alabama. The Jaguars gained a season-high 511 yards in a 34-27 overtime victory at Qualcomm – and this season they are no better than eighth of 11 in the Sun Belt Conference, averaging 377 per game.

South Alabama had fewer total yards (408) in a 33-23 victory over FCS Gardner-Webb on its homefield in Mobile than it did against the Aztecs on the road.

Due for a win – Fresno State, 0-1 in the Mountain West after losing last week at San Jose State, has not started 0-2 in league since 2004, when in the Western Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs, 1-3 overall after a season-opening win over Abilene Christian, have not dropped four in a row since 2006 when they lost seven straight in a 4-8 season under Pat Hill.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 8:25 PM with the headline "Fresno State GameDay vs. San Diego State: Keys to victory, Bulldog spotlight, notes."