Spring Practice Primer: Fresno State
Are the Bulldogs a BCS darkhorse even without Robbie Rouse?
By
Jerry Hinnen
•
2 min read
College football never ends, and during the next few weeks teams will be getting ready for the 2013 season during spring practice. Here's a look at the Fresno State Bulldogs and what they are working on this spring.
Spring game: March 23
2012 record: 9-4 (tied-1st in Mountain West)
Returning starters: 13 (seven offensive, six defensive)
The Least You Should Know About Fresno State This Spring
-- They could be developing as the final BCS buster. The Bulldogs posted a 9-3 regular season in 2012, but with a different schedule, they might have gone undefeated; all three of those losses came on the road, and all to stiff competition in Oregon, Boise State and C-USA champion Tulsa. And the 2013 slate, as it turns out, might be that different schedule. The Ducks and Golden Hurricane are off the nonconference slate, replaced by Idaho and a home game against Rutgers. Boise and Nevada will both come to Fresno, leaving either San Diego State or San Jose State as the toughest road games in the Bulldogs' season. The amount of talent returning, the Bulldogs' level of performance in 2012 (their seven Mountain West wins came by an average of 23 points) and that comfy slate suggests that with a break or two -- and a first win over the hated Broncos since 2005 -- a perfect season is within reach.
-- That's assuming they can find replacements for Robbie Rouse and Phillip Thomas. The Bulldogs didn't lose a lot of big-name players, but the two they did were very big names indeed. Tailback Rouse accounted for an incredible 75 percent of the team's rushing yards and finished with 1,316 more than the Bulldogs' second-leading rusher, rising sophomore Marteze Waller. Thomas led the nation with eight interceptions on his way to All-American honors and finished No. 1 on the team in tackles for good measure. Derron Smith should ease the pain of losing Thomas in the secondary, but Walker (or someone) will need a big spring to keep tailback from being a major concern entering the fall.
-- Derek Carr has to stay healthy. The good news for Fresno is that in Derek Carr and Davante Adams, the Bulldogs have the most explosive quarterback-wideout combo in the Mountain West -- and arguably the entire country. Add in multiple other potential game-breaking receivers (Isaiah Burse, Victor Dean, Josh Harper), a mostly veteran (if thin) offensive line, and the up-tempo spread schemes of coordinator Dave Schramm, and you have the makings of one of the FBS's best offenses if the tailback position gives them anything ... and if Carr, a future pro and the 2012 MWC Offensive Player of the Year, stays upright.
-- The defensive line needs to improve. But it should. The Bulldogs' occasional points-a-paloozas obscured the fact that Tim DeRuyter's overhauled defense was quite good in its first year as a 3-4 -- it finished 14th in the country in yards-per-play allowed -- but that came despite being gashed at times on the ground. Oregon ran for 366 yards; Boise hit 215; even New Mexico finished with a whopping 349. But some big strides seem possible with all three starting linemen returning, including first-team all-MWC nose guard Tyeler Davison and senior second-team All-MWC end Andy Jennings. If another solid spring adjusting to DeRuyter's system leads to even bigger things in the fall, the Bulldogs could see their one true Achilles heel become a strength.
