Editor's note: This is the fourth in a series previewing each of the opponents BYU, Utah and Utah State will face this season.
The matchups
Utah at Fresno State, Sept. 19
8:30 p.m. MDT, TV: CBS Sports Network
Bulldog Stadium, Fresno, California
Utah State at Fresno State, Oct. 10
8:30 p.m. MDT, TV: CBS Sports Network
Bulldog Stadium, Fresno, California
Fresno State at BYU, Nov. 21
Time, TV TBA
LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo
Fresno State will be all too familiar with the state of Utah by the end of 2015, as it gets a triple dose of matchups against the state's FBS teams this season.
Last year ended on a sour note for the Bulldogs, who opened fall camp Thursday. Fresno State finished the 2014 campaign on a two-game losing streak, dropping to 6-8 on the year.
Competing in the Mountain West Conference's West Division, though, there is optimism that the Bulldogs can play in a third straight league championship game under fourth-year coach Tim DeRuyter.
The Deseret News caught up with Robert Kuwada, who covers Fresno State football for the Fresno Bee, to find out what is in store for the team's quarterback competition and what expectations the Bulldogs have this season.
DN: How is the quarterback competition shaping up for Fresno State, and who appears to have the inside track to the starting job?
RK: Fresno State has added a transfer since the end of the spring practices in Ford Childress, who started his career at West Virginia, got injured, got in some trouble and ended up going to JC. Before Childress enrolled, redshirt sophomore Zack Greenlee had an edge in experience over redshirt freshman Kilton Anderson and freshman Chason Virgil, having taken some largely unsuccessful snaps last season. He completed 18 of 41 passes (43.9 percent) with one touchdown in three games and one start. He was given a chance to win the job last season and take them down the stretch, but that one start, against Wyoming with a bye week leading into it to prepare, didn’t go well. He was pulled at halftime.
With Childress in the mix, there really is no edge there. Childress played in two games at West Virginia in 2013. They have a long way to go at the quarterback position. All four will get reps at the start of camp and continue to get what they earn. The plan is to pick a starter (or who is going to play) about 10 days out from the opener and go from there. By the time November and that trip to Provo rolls around, who knows?
There is some talent, but it is a very inexperienced group. Greenlee was a more mature player in the spring. Anderson has a chance, and Virgil had been committed to Mississippi State before that fell apart and he signed with Fresno State when Louisville and Oklahoma were trying to get him. Childress, we’ll see. He has some catchup to do within the offense.
DN: What are the expectations for this season? Could another trip to the MWC championship game be in store?
RK: (Fresno State was picked to finish second in the West Division in the Mountain West preseason poll, behind San Diego State.) Their expectations are higher than that, obviously, and really they should be higher. It’s not a strong division, so they have a chance if they can get decent quarterback play. They didn’t last year — eighth in the conference in completion percentage (56.4 percent), 11th of 12 in interceptions (21) and last of 12 in yards per attempt (5.9) — and still won the division. They’ll need to get some things in place quickly, though. They open conference play at San Jose State and at San Diego State in the fourth and fifth games — those likely are their toughest division rivals.
DN: Beyond those fighting to start at quarterback, who are some of the other players to watch on offense?
RK: They have some talent to help the quarterback along, starting with running back Marteze Waller. He rushed for 1,368 yards and 6.1 yards per play last season. Waller is much better catching the ball out of the backfield than he was early in his career, and I’d expect he will catch a few more passes this season, as well. The inside and outside receivers are good groups, but, again, not a lot of experience there. Inside, redshirt freshmen Jamire Jordan and Keyan Williams are going to be tough covers and productive players down the line. KeeSean Johnson, another redshirt freshman, is another who will make an impact playing outside. He’s a long, fluid athlete with good speed.
(They have a) good tight end in sophomore Chad Olsen. Outside, Aaron Peck is the most experienced player they have out there, but consistency has been an issue. Delvon Hardaway is a player BYU might have to contend with. He busted up a knee in spring ball and is expected to miss the start of the season, but by November he could be back to 100 percent, and he is a player that can make plays down the field.
DN: Who are the players to watch on defense and special teams?
RK: Defensively, Fresno State has some pieces to put together. Senior inside linebacker Kyrie Wilson will be the leader on that side of the ball. Charles Washington, who has moved around a lot from strong safety to corner with some nickel mixed in there, is expected to hold down a corner spot. Outside linebacker Eijro Ederaine was really limited by shoulder injuries last season, but as a sophomore in 2013 he had 10 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss.
As far as players to watch, not to be negative about it, but the secondary guys have to be on the top of the list only because the Bulldogs have had a lot of balls thrown over their heads the past two years. They need to be a lot better there. Last season they gave up 31 pass plays of 30 or more yards and 18 of 40 or more yards, worst in the conference by four in both categories. The 31 pass plays of 30 or more also was 127th of 128 in the FBS.
DN: What major question marks does the team need to solve in fall camp?
RK: Major question marks? The only place there isn’t a major question mark is running back, as long as Waller is on the field. People don’t really see it, because Fresno State has won a lot of football games the past three seasons, but when Tim DeRuyter got here the roster was not in a very good place with a lack of depth and balance between classes.
The quarterback position, the secondary, the offensive and defensive lines (mostly because they went to a 3-4 from a 4-3), they were hit in all the places it is hard to win when you’re really young and inexperienced. Derek Carr, Davante Adams, Isaiah Burse, those guys were able to mask a lot of holes. On senior day last season, 20 players were honored before the game, and more than half of them were DeRuyter recruits, and he had only three recruiting classes at that point. They were plugging a lot of holes while winning those games. It caught up to them to a degree last year, and they’ll feel it again this season in that they will be playing very young. It is fair to say, though, that there is a much better chance that they improve throughout the season than there was a year ago.
Email: bjudd@deseretdigital.com; Twitter: @brandonljudd