Sports Editors Daniel Leon of The Collegian and Dylan Rubino of The Daily Mississippian reflect on Saturday’s game outcome.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs face their toughest challenge of year when they travel to SEC country to face the 17th ranked Ole Miss Rebels.
The Bulldogs and Rebels enter the week two matchup with some swagger, as they both opened the season last week with blowout wins. Fresno State faces a significant jump in competition this weekend as they go from facing an FCS team in Abilene Christian to now having to go up against a team from the toughest conference in the country.
From looking at this contest, one of the major aspects that jumps out is the difference in talent level. As Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter said Monday in his weekly press conference, the Rebels, ranked as high as 3rd in the nation last season, are an elite team loaded with All-American caliber players on both sides of the ball.
Among those stars DeRuyter was referring to are wide receiver Laquon Treadwell, offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil and defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche, all regarded as some of the best in the country at their respective positions. This automatically poses a problem for the Bulldogs, as they tend to give up big plays when they run into this type of skill level.
In order for DeRuyter’s squad to stand a chance against the nationally-ranked Rebels, they must start fast, win the takeaway battle and avoid big plays.
While the ‘Dogs are a young, hungry team that looks forward to playing bigger schools, they simply do not have the type of talent to go toe-to-toe with the Rebels. Fresno State has not fared well against Power Five opponents, surrendering over 50 points to each of the three they faced last season (USC, Utah, Nebraska) – so this figures to be another long day for the Bulldogs.
Prediction: Ole Miss 56, Fresno State 13
This isn’t your grandfather’s Fresno State Bulldogs.
The days of David and Derek Carr under center for the Bulldogs seems like an eternity ago.
After an extrordinary 11-2 campaign in 2013 led by Derek Carr, the Bulldogs fell off the cliff in 2014, finishing 6-8 for the season including two losses to perennial powerhouse Boise State and a bowl loss to Rice.
This will be the Bulldogs toughest opponent of the season facing Ole Miss, but after the trip to Oxford, they return home to face 24th ranked Utah.
Fresno State is led by senior running back Marteze Waller, who in their season opener rushed for 154 yards on 22 carries against Abilene Christian. Sophomore quarterback Zack Greenlee was named the starter for the Bulldogs in fall camp and looked shaky in his first start of 2015, going 14-32 passing with 156 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Greenlee will have to have a better completion percentage in order to move the ball down the field against the Rebels secondary.
The strength of the Bulldog defense is the front seven, which held Abilene Christian to only 34 yards on the ground. The secondary has some glaring holes as they surrendered 213 yards to an FCS opponent Saturday.
With that being the case, expect more of an air show from the Rebel offense, especially with Chad Kelly taking the first snap once again. The Rebels should cruise to another easy win as they make the transition and prepare for the showdown in Tuscaloosa.
Prediction: Ole Miss 48, Fresno State 10
