The Red Zone Report | 2008 Fresno State Bulldogs Preview: Injury-free and ready to contend

NCAA Football

2008 Fresno State Bulldogs Preview: Injury-free and ready to contend

By Mark Scott ⋅ July 1, 2008 ⋅ Subscribe to The Red Zone Report

In 2007, Fresno State entered the season inexperienced and with little expectations following a 4-8 season. The expectations that they did have were squashed when their best receiver WR Chastin West and top returning tackler LB Ahijah Lane were lost for the season to injury. But, the Bulldogs overcame those losses and rebounded from the previous season by going 9-4 (6-2 WAC), finishing off the year with a 40-28 upset win over Georgia Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl.

Coach: Pat Hill (12th year at Fresno St., 85-55 record)

2007 Record: 9-4, 6-2 WAC

Starters Returning: 17 (10 offense, 7 defense)

Top Returnees: QB Tom Brandstater, RB Ryan Mathews, RB Lonyae Miller, FB Anthony Harding, WR Marlon Moore, TE Bear Pascoe, RT Kenny Avon, LT Bobby Lepori, DT Jon Monga, LB Ben Jacobs, SS Moses Harris, FS Marvin Haynes, KR A.J. Jefferson

Key Losses: RB Clifton Smith, C/G Ryan Wendell, DE Tyler Clutts, NT Charles Tolbert, LB Marcus Riley, CB Damon Jenkins

2008 Schedule

Sept. 1 @ Rutgers

Sept. 13 Wisconsin

Sept. 20 @ Toledo

Sept. 27 @UCLA

Oct. 4 Hawaii

Oct. 11 Idaho

Oct. 25 @ Utah St

Nov. 1 @ Louisiana Tech

Nov. 7 Nevada

Nov. 15 New Mexico

Nov. 21 @ San Jose St

Nov. 28 @ Boise St

Key game: Nov. 28 @ Boise State. The Bulldogs will head to the Blue Turf in Boise with upset on their minds. They will hope to remain stride for stride with the Broncos throughout the year until this season finale match-up, which could be for the WAC title. Fresno State will have to buck recent history to knock off the Broncos, as they are 1-6 in the last seven meeting with the Broncos, losing by an average of 14 points.

2008 Outlook

The Bulldogs surprised a lot of people in 2007, but this season, they won’t be surprising anyone. They head into this season with 17 returning starters and much higher expectations.

Ten of the returning starters come on offense, and leading the way will be QB Tom Brandstater. Brandstater has consistently gotten better with each season, and last season, he threw for 2,654 yards and 15 touchdowns. This season he will have to deal with his 4th offensive coordinator (Doug Nussmeier) in four years, but that shouldn’t keep him from having a big senior season.

Brandstater will have all of his weapons back, except for Team MVP Clifton Smith. The loss of Smith is not a positive, but should not have much of a negative effect on this offense. Last season saw the Bulldogs’ streak of six straight seasons with a 1,000 yard rusher end, but they still averaged 210.9 yards per game on the ground.

RB Ryan Mathews hopes to begin a new streak for the Bulldogs. Mathews fought injuries throughout 2007, but still rushed for 866 yards and 14 touchdowns to lead the team in rushing. He’ll split carries with Lonyae Miller, who was third on the team in yards with 609 and found the end zone seven times. Rounding out the trio of talented backs is FB Anthony Harding, who had 403 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns.

A deep receiving corps will be led by WR Marlon Moore. Last season, Moore proved to be a legit deep threat and was the leading receiver with 694 yards receiving and 5 touchdowns. TE Bear Pascoe had some injuries in 2007, but still was the #2 receiver with 553 yards receiving and 4 touchdowns and earned First-Team All-WAC honors. West, who missed all of last season with an injury, and Seyi Ajirotutu will round out the rest of the top receivers.

The offensive line overachieved last season, but with nine of their top ten returning, their O-line becomes a major strength and is one of the most experienced in the NCAA. Their only loss is First-Team All-WAC C/G Ryan Wendell.

On defense, the Bulldogs’ lose their star and the WAC’s Defensive Player of the Year LB Marcus Riley, but they do have seven starters returning. The D-line returns six of their top eight and will be much improved. They lose First-Team All-WAC DE Tyler Cutts, but DT Jon Monga (30 tackles, 6.5 sacks) returns. They also add USC transfer Michael Stuart and Miami (FL) transfer Chris Lewis, who should both make an impact.

MLB Ben Jacobs is the top returning tackler (81 tackles, 2 sacks) and will lead an experienced group at linebacker. LB Quaadir Brown (51 tackles) and LB Nick Bates (19 tackles, 2 sacks) will slide into the other starting spots.

The secondary sees many of their top players return, including SS Moses Harris (62 tackles), CB Damion Owens (42 tackles), and FS Marvin Haynes (65 tackles).

On special teams, the Bulldogs boast one of the nation’s top kick returners in junior cornerback A.J. Jefferson. Last season, Jefferson led the nation in yards per kick return at 35.8 and returned two kicks for touchdowns. Teams won’t want to kick to him, but when the ball does end up in his hands, he’ll be a threat to take it back all the way.

If Fresno State can avoid the injuries this year and play well on defense, there’s no reason why they can’t top Boise State for the WAC title. Reaching 10 wins and knocking off at least one of their BCS-conference opponents along the way is definitely within reach, along with that championship.