Dorm Report: Fresno State free fall

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – This time last year, Fresno State football was at the start of something good, but the Bulldogs have lost their bite here in 2014.

After three games a season ago, not only was Fresno State undefeated, but it had also gotten off on the right foot in Mountain West Conference play by defeating league favorite, Boise State, by a score of 41-40. Granted, the victory came by the narrowest of margins, but it was still a tally in the win column regardless, setting the Bulldogs up for some impressive accomplishments the rest of the way.

The Bulldogs, with quarterback Derek Carr at the helm, rattled off 10 wins in as many games and became one of those teams from outside the power conferences that the BCS had to keep on eye on because they were setting themselves up as the latest underdog to crash the party.

Unfortunately, the team lost a wild shootout versus San Jose State in the regular-season finale, 62-52, and after defeating Utah State in the MWC title game, bowed to USC somewhat disgracefully in the Las Vegas Bowl, 45-20.

Fast forward to early May of 2014 when not only was Carr scooped up by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of the NFL Draft, but star wide receiver Davante Adams went to the Green Bay Packers, while Isaiah Burse, Marcel Jensen and Austin Wentworth all signed as undrafted free agents with Denver, Jacksonville and Minnesota, respectively.

The cupboard may not have been completely bare in Fresno after the stars departed, but there were very few leftovers for head coach Tim DeRuyter to savor and build around in 2014.

Certainly there was bound to be a drop-off in offensive production after Carr, Adams and Burse bolted, but to go from third in the nation with 547.8 ypg in total offense for the entire 2013 campaign to a mere 333.7 ypg (105th) through the first three games of this season is rather difficult to fathom.

The passing attack has been particularly hard hit, dropping from 394.8 ypg, tops in the entire country through all 13 games, to 228.0 ypg (76th). The combination of Brian Burrell and Brandon Connette, the latter now listed as probable for this weekend’s meeting with Southern Utah due to a hand injury, hasn’t come anywhere close to what the fans were used to with Carr and his explosive approach to the game.

Burrell and Connette have combined to throw just as many interceptions (four) as touchdowns, which is just one of the reasons why the Bulldogs are ranked 117th in the FBS in team passing efficiency with a rating of 99.75. Josh Harper, an all-conference threat last season with 79 catches for 1,011 yards and 13 touchdowns, may pace the program with 21 grabs for 215 yards thus far, but he has yet to make his way into the end zone.

When your two signal callers are not only struggling with their aerial approach to the game, but are also listed second and third among the top ground gainers, the offense has taken more than a few steps backward.

“I thought we would be much more competitive,” DeRuyter said after being dominated by Nebraska last weekend in a 55-19 blowout loss at home. “I didn’t think that today we had a lack of competitiveness, I think we got out classed. We have a young football team that is trying to jell, and when you hit adversity it’s difficult. Three straight games now we haven’t started very well.”

Some college football teams can get away with having a sub-par offense, even thriving when the conditions are right, but Fresno State has also watched the defense stumble over and over again through the first few weeks of the season.

A year ago, the program surrendered 30.3 ppg, a sizeable number for sure, but when coupled with an offense that was sixth nationally with 43.4 ppg scored, that phase of the game was quietly overlooked. There were only two instances in which the Bulldogs permitted more than 50 points in 2013, and already they’ve exceeded that plateau this time around.

In addition to the thrashing the team subjected itself to last week versus the Cornhuskers, FSU was crushed by USC in the opener (52-13) and then by another Pac-12 program, Utah (59-27), in Salt Lake City. Needless to say, with an average of 55.1 ppg allowed to this point, Fresno State is easily the weakest defensive team in the FBS.

The squad, which listed as many as eight returning starters on the defensive side of the ball coming out of spring practice, can’t seem to slow anyone down right now. With an incredible 596.3 ypg surrendered, the Bulldogs are just a shell of their former selves. No other team in the FBS has been as forgiving.

Unfortunately, it is not just one aspect of the defense that needs to be overhauled. The big guys up front have been almost like turnstiles, watching opposing runners generate 271.7 ypg on the ground, which is 121st in the country heading into action this week. The secondary, which has submitted to 324.7 ypg (118th), has also given up the most passing TDs in the country (14), as they are one of only two teams in the FBS to have watched receivers hit the end zone more than nine times (Toledo, 13).

Make no mistake, there have been poor performances across the board on defense, even for safety Derron Smith, the two-time MWC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Smith, who entered this season with 14 career interceptions, the most of any active returning FBS performer, may be tied for the team lead in tackles with 26, but as the last line of defense, a program really doesn’t want that to be the case.

Smith, who has been credited with just two passes defended thus far on a unit that has yet to register a single interception and has only three fumble recoveries, is keenly aware of the issues just like everyone else.

“Obviously it isn’t a quick fix, but we have been working on it since week one. We haven’t done as great of a job as we wanted to but we have been working on it since the first week, we just have to keep working. The defense is a work in progress.”

Hopefully, that ‘work in progress’ will get a reprieve this weekend when the Bulldogs take a break from their rigorous FBS schedule to host the Thunderbirds.

Categorized in: NCAA Football