fresno state football - 2020 game notes - 3x Mountain West Champs Primary Football Contact: Matt Burkholder, [email protected] 108 NFL Draft Picks Secondary Football Contact: Savannah Stoeckle, [email protected] FB Video Liaison/Creative Content: Andrew Worth, [email protected] 117 All-Americans Fresno State (1-1, 1-1 MW) at UNLV (0-2, 0-2 MW) Game No. 3 / MW Game No. 3 Nov. 7, 2020 • Allegiant Stadium (65,000) • Las Vegas, NV • 12:32 p.m. PT QUICK FACTS Media Coverage COACHES: TV: CBS Sports Network Kalen DeBoer (Sioux Falls, 1998) Play-by-Play: Ben Holden; Analyst: Ross Tucker Sideline: none Fresno State Record.............................. 1-1 (1st season) : ; Gameday Live (10 a.m.); Pregame Show (11:30 a.m.) Career D-I Record ........................... 1-1 (1st season) RADIO 940 AM ESPN Radio Marcus Arroyo (San Jose State, 2003) Play-by-Play: Paul Loeffler;Analyst : Pat Hill; Sideline: Cam Worrell UNLV State Record ............................. 0-2 (1st season) Career D-I Record ................................ 0-2 (1st season) SERIES: ................................Fresno State leads, 15-7 Headlines Last Time: ........FS (H) def. UNLV (A) 56-27, 10/18/2019 → Saturday’s game will be the Bulldogs’ first road game of the 2020 season. → The Bulldogs and Rebels will meet for the 23rd time on Saturday. OFFENSIVE QUICK FACTS: → Fresno State has won 13 of its last 16 contests against UNLV. Fresno St. (conf. rk.) UNLV (conf. rk.) → The ‘Dogs have scored at least 48 points against UNLV in each of their last two meetings. Scoring 28.5 (#5) 12.5 (#11) → Fresno State is seeking to go above .500 for the first time since finishing the 2018 season Rushing 102.0 (#11) 103.0 (#11) 12-2 and being ranked No. 18 in both the final AP & Coaches poll, respectively. Passing 318.5 (#3) 164.0 (#9) Total 420.5 (#6) 267.0 (#11) → There have been 22 players that have made their playing debuts as Bulldogs this season. KO Return 14.8 (#12) 23.8 (#4) → There have been 10 players that have made their first starts for Fresno State in their 3rd-DN Conv. 50.0% (#1) 19.4 (#12) respective careers. Seven in the Bulldogs’ opener, and three more last time out. 4th-DN Conv. 2-of-3 (#6) 8-of-10 (#3) → Third down turnaround: Fresno State’s offense went from 5-of-12 in game 1, to 10-of- DEFENSIVE QUICK FACTS: 18 in game 2. Quarterback Jake Haener was 9-of-11 passing for 153 yards on third downs Fresno St. (conf. rk.) UNLV (conf. rk.) against Colorado State, and moved the chains seven times on third down. Scoring 25.5 (#7) 35.5 (#9) → Third down turnaround: Fresno State’s defense went from allowing 11-of-17 third down Rushing 236.0 (#10) 217.0 (#9) conversions against Hawai’i, to limiting Colorado State to 4-of-15 on third down attempts. Passing 226.0 (#7) 243.5 (#9) → With 71 all-purpose yards at UNLV, Ronnie Rivers can move from No. 17, where he Total 462.0 (#10) 460.5 (#9) Net Punting 35.9 (#9) 35.0 (#10) sits currently, to No. 13, on the program’s all-time career all-purpose yards rankings. Opp. 3rd-DN Conv. 46.9% (#7) 19.4 (#12) → Rivers currently owns a streak of 10-straight games scoring at least once, whether it be Opp. 4th DN Conv. 1-of-4 (#2) 1-of-2 (#5) rushing or receiving. → Who’s first: UNLV has not thrown an INT in 2020, while FS remains looking to grab their first INT of the season. The Bulldogs have two fumble recoveries in 2020. UNLV has lost one fumble in 2020. → Fresno State ranks third nationally and leads the Mountain West in sacks per game (4.0). → Fresno State was unable to bring its student-athletes back to campus until late September. Prior to then, the last team meeting was on March 12. The Bulldogs missed the entirety of spring football and there were no traditional summer workouts either. 2020 Fresno State Schedule/Results Opp. ‘20 Date Opponent Time (PT)/Result [TV] Record Series, leader Game Note Oct. 24 Hawai’i* L, 34-19 1-1 29-23-1, FS Hawai’i blitzes ‘Dogs with 552 yards of offense in week one loss Oct. 29 Colorado State* W, 38-17 0-1 10-5, CSU DeBoer earns first win, ‘Dogs grab first win over CSU since 2012 Nov. 7 at UNLV* 12:30 p.m. [CBSSN] 0-2 15-7, FS Bulldogs to play in the Rebels’ inaugural season at Allegiant Field Nov. 14 at Utah State* 11:30 a.m. [FS2] 0-2 17-13-1. FS Aggies’ knocked off FS with game-winning FG in 2019, look to avenge in 2020 Nov. 21 San Jose State* 4 p.m. [CBSSN] 2-0 42-38-3, FS Fresno State to face its longest-running rival SJSU for 84th time Nov. 27 San Diego State* TBA [FS1] 2-0 30-25-4, SDSU Winner of the FS-SDSU game has participated in the MWC six of last seven years Dec. 5 at Nevada* TBA [FS1 or FS2] 2-0 29-21-1, FS Fresno State holds 5-3 series advantage in Mountain West games vs. Pack Dec. 12 at New Mexico* TBA [FS1 or FS2] 0-1 13-4, FS Bulldogs are 5-0 against the Lobos in MW action; haven’t lost to UNM since ‘94 Dec. 19 Mountain West Championship Game (held at site of team with highest win percentage) Key: MW Game* REFERENCE: “Fresno State” (never: FSU, FRES, CSUF, Fresno State University or just “Fresno”); ABBREVIATIONS: Fresno St. or FS 2020 fresno state football MEDIA INFORMATION Series History Saturday’s game will be the 23rd meeting all-time between the Bulldogs and Rebels. Fresno **2020 Media Advisory** State leads the series with UNLV, 15-7. The matchup dates back to 1979, and has been a Big All interviews for Bulldog players and coaches will be delivered virtually as a recommended West, WAC and Mountain West battle over the decades. safeguard for ensuring the health and safety of student-athletes and athletics personnel amid the The first meeting, in 1979 at Ratcliff Stadium (Fresno), was a 31-28 loss. Fresno State lost four COVID-19 pandemic of its first six all-time contests, but have won 13 of its last 16 games versus the Rebels. The All interviews for Bulldog players and coaches will teams met 10 straight times in the Big West from 1982-1991 and again in 1996-97 in the WAC. be coordinated through the Fresno State Athletics Communications Office. Student-athletes that have UNLV, one of the founding members of the Mountain West’s inaugural 1999 season, left the not participated in a game are not allowed to speak WAC, a conference affiliation they shared with the Bulldogs for just two seasons (1996-97). to the media, per team rules. There was a gap from that 1997 season until 2013 when the two became conference foes again In-Season Media Interview Schedule in the MW (the two schools were not scheduled for competition in the Bulldogs’ inaugural -- will be conducted via ZOOM -- 2012 MW season). Sunday: No media Monday: The last time the ‘Dogs traveled to take on UNLV in Sin City was Nov. 3, 2018 and Fresno Head Coach Kalen DeBoer weekly press conference State won big, 48-3. That win was the first for the Bulldogs on the road in Vegas since 1996. Tuesday: Select players Scouting UNLV Wednesday: Select assistant coaches UNLV (0-2, 0-2 MW) is off to a slow start to its 2020 season, opening the year with back-to- Thursday back losses to San Diego State (Oct. 24) and Nevada (Oct. 31). No regular acesss Friday: The Rebels dropped their home opener to The Pack on Halloween night, their first game in No media Saturday: Allegiant Stadium. The Wolf Pack earned a 37-19 win in the battle for the Fremont Cannon, Post-game only the teams’ in-state rivalry trophy. ESPN Coaches Show Having trouble finding its offensive groove against a tough Aztec defense in its season opener, The weekly radio show airs live on ESPN Radio (940 AM) with host Paul Loeffler. Listen live on UNLV played three different quarterbacks in the first half and was only able to score six Wesnesdays from 6–7 p.m. points to SDSU’s 34 in the game. For week 2, the Rebels settled in with quarterback Max Gilliam who was 27-of-40 for 207 yards and two touchdowns. Even with the quarterback Football Email List uncertainty, UNLV has not thrown an interception on the year. If you would like to be added to the Bulldog football email list to receive breaking news about the team, please contact Matt Burkholder, Josh Mitchell or A consistent anchor for the Rebel offense has been senior running back Charles Williams, a Savannah Stoeckle. native of Fresno and graduate of Bullard High School. This season, Williams has compiled 39 carries for 179 yards, averaging 89.5 yards per game, but has yet to find the end zone. Williams Photo Requests All requests for use of Bulldog football photos for was a preseason All-Mountain West selection this year, and has earned national recognition television networks or print publications, please from the Doak Walker Award (top running back) watch list and the Maxwell Award (top contact Savannah Stoeckle. If granted, all photos overall player) watch list. must have proper attribution to Fresno State Athletics. Similar to Fresno State, UNLV has a young roster this season with several players making their Fresno State Athletics Communications collegiate debuts in weeks one and two.