Fresno State Athletics
'Dogs Host No. 5 Boise State Friday
10/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 3, 2011
Game No. 6
Fresno State Game Notes | Coach Hill Press Conference Quotes
No. 5 Boise State (4-0, 0-0 MW) at Fresno State (2-3, 1-0 WAC)
Friday, Oct. 7, 2011 • Bulldog Stadium (41,031) • Fresno, Calif. • 6 p.m. PT
Game Day Quick Facts
TELEVISION:
ESPN | Play-by-Play: Joe Tessitore; Analyst: Rod Gilmore
RADIO:
KMJ (AM 580); Bulldog Live (4:30 p.m.) Countdown to Kickoff (5:30p.m.) | Play-by-Play: Paul Loeffler; Analyst: Jordan Christensen; Sideline: Ralph Wood
ESPN Deportes (1600 AM) in Spanish | Play-by-Play: Erwin Higueros; Analysts: Jesse Beltran; Sideline: Jose Salas
INTERNET AUDIO & LIVE STATS: gobulldogs.com
Fresno State hosts No. 5 Boise State this Friday night on ESPN in a meeting between former and future conference members ... Boise State becomes the highest-ranked opponent to ever play at Bulldog Stadium and kickoff is set for 6 p.m. ... Every game between Boise State and Fresno State since 2001 has been televised on either ESPN or ESPN2 ... The Bulldogs are looking to snap a five-game losing streak to the Broncos ... Fresno State has won the three previous non-conference match-ups against Boise State, but those wins came in 1977, 1985 and 1996 ... Sophomore wide receiver Jalen Saunders continues to rank No. 2 in the nation in yards per catch for any receiver with 10 or more catches. He is averaging 27.2 yards per reception and enters Friday's game coming off of three-straight 100-yard receiving games ... Junior running back Robbie Rouse, who has run for 100-plus yards in four-straight games and ranks No. 12 in the country with 120 rushing yards per game, is going up against the Bronco defense that ranks 19th in the FBS in total defense. Rouse leads the nation in carries with 133 in five games ... Junior linebacker Travis Brown has posted 21 tackles in his last two games and he leads the team in tackles this season ... Senior defensive tackle Logan Harrell is tied for fourth in the FBS in total tackles for a loss with 8.5.
Bulldog Headlines
• Junior running back Robbie Rouse leads the nation in carries with 133 and his 600 yards on the ground is the eighth-most in the FBS.
• Fresno State is 63-19 (.778) at home over the past 15 seasons.
For Starters
Sophomore wide receiver Jalen Saunders has been a lethal weapon for the Bulldog offense this season. Saunders has caught 17 passes this year for 462 yards and four touchdowns. He ranks second in the nation for all receivers with 10 or more catches, as he is averaging 27.2 yards per catch. Saunders has six receptions this year that have been over 35 yards and in his last three games he has 14 catches for 423 yards and four TDs. The Elk Grove, Calif. native is coming off three-straight 100-yard receiving games, which is the first by a Bulldog since Bernard Berrian did so in the last three games of the 2001 regular season. Saunders has scored a touchdown in the first quarter in each of the past three games. His first quarter TD last week came on a 26-yard run on a reverse. Saunders also had a 31-yard rush against Ole Miss. Through just five games this year, Saunders' 462 yards receiving matches his 13-game total from his freshman season when he had 30 catches for the 462 yards (15.4 yards per catch) and three touchdowns.
The Boise State Broncos
Boise State enters Friday night's game with Fresno State ranked No. 5 in the AP Poll and sixth in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Broncos are 4-0 and are coming off a 30-10 win over Nevada last weekend where they only gave up 182 total yards of offense to the Wolf Pack. Boise State is solid on both sides of the ball. The Broncos average 36.5 points per game and 446.8 yards of total offense while giving up only 16.8 points and 298.8 yards per game. The Broncos are 2-0 on the road this year, winning 35-21 against No. 19 Georgia in Atlanta to open the season and at Toledo, 40-15, on Sept. 16. Boise State is ranked 19th in the country in total defense, only allows its opponents to convert 27 percent of its third-down tries and it has forced nine turnovers (seven interceptions and two fumbles).
Fresno State vs. Boise State - The Series
Boise State leads the all-time series with Fresno State, 9-4 and the Broncos have won nine out of the last 10 games since 2001. Boise State has scored 30 or more points in each of its last nine victories and have scored 50-plus in four of them. The one game in the last 10 that Fresno State won was in 2005, 27-7. The 20th-ranked Bulldogs ended Boise State's WAC record 31-game conference winning streak with that win. Paul Pinegar passed for 307 yards in 2005, Paul Williams scored on a 98-yard reception and Wendell Mathis ran for 121 yards and a score for Fresno State. The last time Boise State came to Bulldog Stadium, the 10th-ranked Broncos overcame 234 rushing yards from Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews to win 51-34. Mathews had three touchdown runs of over 60 yards in that game, but Kellen Moore threw for three touchdowns and the Broncos had 299 yards rushing in the victory.
Future Mountain West Showdown
Fresno State and Boise State are playing a non-conference game, but the two school will soon be reunited in the same conference. The Bulldogs and Broncos were both members of the Western Athletic Conference from 2001-10. Boise State joined the Mountain West Conference this season, and Fresno State will do so in 2012.
Rouse Captures Fourth-Straight 100-Yard Game
Junior running back Robbie Rouse ran 28 times for 123 yards and one touchdown last Saturday against Ole Miss. It was his fourth-straight 100-yard rushing game and the eighth time in his career he has rushed past the century mark in a game. Over the last four games, the San Diego native has run for 514 yards on 116 carries and he has three touchdowns. Rouse has been a workhorse for the Bulldogs this year. At his current pace, he is on track for 346 carries over Fresno State's 13-game schedule and 1,560 rushing yards.
He leads the nation with 133 carries (26.6 per game) and ranks 12th in the FBS, averaging 120 yards per game. Last weekend in the 38-28 loss to Ole Miss, which was the first SEC team to ever play in Bulldog Stadium, Rouse fumbled the ball over to the Rebels in the second quarter. It was just the second fumble of his career and the first lost fumble, and it came on his 401st career carry. For his career, Rouse has 420 carries for 2,208 yards and 16 touchdowns. He needs just 43 yards to break into the top 10 for the most rushing yards in school history and if he can stay healthy, he has a legitimate chance of breaking the school rushing record. Rouse needs 1,266 more yards over the rest of this season and next to surpass Ron Rivers (3,473 rushing yards from 1991-93) as the school's all-time leading rusher.
Offensive Challenge
Fresno State's offense has a sturdy test this weekend going up against the Bronco defense. The Bulldogs have already gone up against a pair of stern defenses in their first two games of the season against Cal and at No. 10 Nebraska. Fresno State only had 218 yards in the loss to Cal in San Francisco, but it came back the next week and put up 444 yards on Nebraska. The `Dogs also had 444 yards against Ole Miss last weekend and had 513 yards in a win at Idaho two weeks ago. The Bulldog offense is very balanced, as they are averaging 129.4 rushing yards per game and 258.2 passing for 387.6 yards of total offense per game. Boise State's defense is allowing 298.8 yards of total offense (186.5 passing and 112.2 rushing). In BSU's victory over Georgia, the Georgia Bulldogs had 373 yards of total offense. Georgia then had 475 yards of offense against Ole Miss on Sept. 24 and then last weekend Fresno State racked up the 444 yards on the Rebels.
Knox Closing in on 200 Career Tackles
Senior linebacker Kyle Knox led the Fresno State defense in its game against Mississippi, as he tied his career-high with 11 tackles. He had one sack and 2.5 tackles for a loss. On Ole Miss' first four plays from scrimmage, Knox had three tackles including a three-yard tackle for a loss on a third-and-4. It was Knox's third-career double-digit tackle performance and he now stands 12 tackles away from 200 in his career. The last Bulldog to go over 200 tackles in a career was Chris Carter on Nov. 27, 2010. This season, Knox has 28 tackles, 5.0 tackles for a loss and the one sack he has last weekend against Ole Miss.
Brown with Back-to-Back Double-Digit Tackle Games
In the last two games, junior linebacker Travis Brown has recorded 21 tackles. He was named the WAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in his career after he set a career-high with 11 tackles in a win at Idaho on Sept. 24. Then last weekend against Ole Miss, Brown recorded 10 tackles to go with a half tackle for a loss. The back-to-back double-digit tackle games are the first two of his career.
Bulldog Pass Defense Second in WAC
Fresno State ranks No. 2 in the WAC in passing defense, giving up only 209 yards per game and that numbers ranks No. 46 in the nation. The Bulldogs are going up against the Boise State offense that averaging 303.2 yards per game through the air and the Broncos have 15 touchdowns passes in four games this season. Sophomore cornerback L.J. Jones has led the Bulldog secondary this year and he leads the WAC with eight passes defended, which ties for 10th in the FBS. Jones' two interceptions leads the team as does his six pass breakups.
Wylie 10th in the Nation in Punt Returns
Devon Wylie broke another long punt return this past week for Fresno State against Ole Miss. He had a 31-yard return in the first quarter that gave the Bulldogs the ball on the Rebel 17-yard line and set up Fresno State's first touchdown of the game. For Wylie, it was his fourth-straight game returning a punt 30 yards or longer. He also caught four passes for 59 yards in the contest with a long reception of 28 yards. The senior is averaging 16.0 yards per punt return this year and has 16 catches for 214 yards. He ranks 10th in the nation in punt return average and his 228 yards on 18 punt returns is the second most in the country, behind Alabama's Marquis Maze who has 320 yards on 21 returns. Boise State, with its high-powered offense that averages 447 yards of offense and 36.5 points per game, hasn't had to punt much this year. The Broncos have punted 19 times and had just three punts returned for four total yards. The Broncos net 38.2 yards per punt, so Wylie will have to take advantage of any opportunity he might get in the punting game.
Bulldogs Start Strong
Fresno State has scored first in all five of its games this season. The Bulldogs have scored touchdowns within the first eight minutes of all five games this season. Fresno State is averaging 12 points in the first quarter and its 59 total points in the first 15 minutes of its five games are 15 more points than they've scored in any other quarter this season. The fourth quarter has been the least productive for the `Dogs, as they have just 29 total points in the final 15 minutes.
This-N-That
• Fresno State is 3-0 against Boise State in non-conference games. In 1977, the Bulldogs won 42-7 in Fresno. In 1984, Fresno State went to Boise and won 37-21 and then in 1984, the Bulldogs defeated the Broncos 41-7 at Bulldog Stadium. The two schools were both members of the Western Athletic Conference from 2001-10.
• Senior defensive tackle Logan Harrell has 8.5 tackles for a loss this season. Only three other players in the FBS - Houston's Sammy Brown (11.5), Connecticut's Kendall Reyes (9.5) and Buffalo's Kahlil Mack (9.5) - has more stops behind the line of scrimmage this year than Harrell does. Last weekend in a loss to Ole Miss, Harrell had seven tackles and recorded five quarterback hurries. Harrell is second on the team with 33 tackles and leads the `Dogs with 3.5 sacks.
• Fresno State has five players that have caught 13 or more passes this year. Rashad Evans leads the team with 23 catches, followed by Jalen Saunders with 17, Devon Wylie and Isaiah Burse with 16 and Josh Harper with 13. In all, 12 different players have a reception, including quarterback Derek Carr who caught his own pass after a deflection last weekend against Ole Miss.
• Senior Bryce Harris has made 30 consecutive starts at left tackle for the Bulldogs. He and senior linebacker Kyle Knox have the most starting experience. Knox has 32 career starts under his belt.
• Fresno State did not force a turnover in its 38-28 loss to Ole Miss last weekend. It was the second game this year and 12th in since 2008 that the Bulldogs did not force a turnover. Fresno State has a 6-6 record in those games when they do not create a turnover.
• Junior punter Andrew Shapiro is averaging 38.7 yards per punt this year and has had 11 punts down inside the 20-yard line and another 11 that have been fair caught. The bulldogs are netting 36.8 yards off his 28 punts this year. Opposing teams have only been able to return five punts for an average of just 5.4 yards.
• Only six of Robbie Rouse's 133 carries this season have gone for negative yardage.
• Fresno State has scored seven touchdowns this season that have been 25 yards or longer and five of them have been scored by Jalen Saunders (four receiving, one rushing).
• Fresno State converts 51.5 percent of its third down tries when it has six yards or less to go. When the Bulldogs are in third-and-seven or longer, the `Dogs are only converting 18.4 percent of those tries. A key to getting to third and short is a solid gain on first down. The Bulldogs are averaging 6.9 yards on their first down plays this season. For the year, Fresno State is 24-of-71 on third downs for 34 percent, which ranks No. 7 in the WAC.
• Friday's game is the second of three-straight home games for the Bulldogs. It's the second game of a tough four-game stretch where Fresno State plays Ole Miss, Boise State, Utah State and then at Nevada on Oct. 22. The Bulldogs' bye week comes after this tough four-game slate, on Oct. 29.
