Fresno State down key defender vs. San Diego State

Fresno State was in for a tough time on Saturday in trying to stem a San Diego State running game that features one of the best backs in the Mountain West Conference in Donnel Pumphrey, and the Bulldogs had to do it while playing short-handed.

Senior inside (Mike) linebacker Kyrie Wilson, the Bulldogs’ second leading tackler, did not play because of an elbow injury suffered last week in a loss at San Jose State, which left Fresno State very young at a critical positon. Freshman Nela Otukolo was expected to make his first career start and was backed up by redshirt freshman walk-on George Helmuth. They had 13 tackles between them.

At the inside (Will) linebacker, junior Jeff Camilli made his fifth consecutive start and was backed up by third-year sophomore Robert Stanley. Sophomore Michael Lazarus also was to get reps inside.

The Aztecs had not run the ball well in their first three games against FBS competition, losses to South Alabama, Cal and Penn State. While the Nittany Lions were ranked 13th in the nation in rushing defense, the Golden Bears began the day 71st and the Jaguars only 112th.

But the Bulldogs have struggled against the run and last week in a loss at San Jose State gave up 291 rushing yards, including a school-record 300 to tailback Tyler Ervin, with the Spartans running much of the game out of two-back sets that San Diego State also employs.

Fresno State in losses to FBS opponents Ole Miss, Utah and San Jose State had allowed an average of 5.2 yards per play and 242.3 yards per game, 11th of 12 in the conference.

This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Fresno State down key defender vs. San Diego State."