2014
Fresno State
College Football
Betting Preview
Schedule
There’s a glaring problem for Fresno State going into the 2014 season. They will be without a 5,000-yard, 50-TD quarterback in Derek Carr and 1,700-yard, 24-TD wide receiver in Davante Adams. You can’t easily replace two of the best offensive players in the nation in one offseason. The Bulldogs will have to lean more on defense if they want to compete for another MWC title.
The new QB spot is still undecided with Duke transfer Brandon Connette looking to be the choice, although that’s not set in stone with Brian Burrell in the mix. Neither has much experience, but at least Connette has played with a spread offense at the D1 level. Needless to say, this offense probably won’t be scoring 40-plus points per Game again.
Fresno will at least have a solid running Game with Josh Quezada (807 yards, 6 TDs) and Marteze Waller (646 yards, 7 TDs) both returning. They’ll be running behind a fairly experienced offensive line and will likely see more touches than a year ago. Josh Harper (1,011 yards, 13 TDs) will be a top target for whoever is at quarterback, but guys like Greg Watson, Aaron Peck and Justin Johnson will need to step up in the receiving Game.
The defense did its job last year en route to 11 wins, but they were exposed at times. The Bulldogs gave up 40 points in Four different Games, including 62 at San Jose State in their regular season finale. A woeful secondary was the main reason for that and will need to improve.
They return eight starters so this group is expected to be better than 2013. Fresno State is led by probably the best and most experienced group of linebackers in the MWC with Four returning starters. Ejiro Ederaine is a beast after notching 10 sacks last season. The line should also be solid with Tyeler Davison being the main threat. Charles Washington and Derron Smith provide experience at safety, but it’s going to be up to the corners for this defense to improve.
The Schedule isn’t kind for the Bulldogs and they could easily start the season with three straight losses against USC, Utah and Nebraska. Those aren’t the type of matchups you want to see early in the season with a new quarterback at the helm, as it’s likely they’ll be playing from behind.
On a positive note for Fresno State, they get West division foe San Diego State at home. However, they also have to travel to UNLV, Boise State and Nevada. With an unproven offense, a lot of these Games could be problematic and this could end up being a team that struggles to reach more than six or seven wins. That’s what happens when you lose guys like Carr and Adams.
2014 Fresno State Football Schedule
Aug. 30 at USC
Sept. 6 at Utah
Sept. 20 vs. Nebraska
Sept. 27 vs. Southern Utah
Oct. 3 at New Mexico
Oct. 10 vs. San Diego State
Oct. 18 at UNLV
Nov. 1 at Boise State
Nov. 8 vs. Wyoming
Nov. 15 vs. San Jose State
Nov. 21 at Nevada
Nov. 29 vs. Hawaii