First Look: Fresno State

Here’s an early look at Purdue’s first opponent of the 2023 season, the Fresno State Bulldogs.

Time: Saturday, September 2, Noon E.T.

Location: Ross-Ade Stadium

Surface: Natural Grass

Capacity: 61,441

2023 schedules/2022 records: Fresno State 10-4 (7-1 Mountain West); Purdue 8-6 (6-3 Big Ten)

Series notes: Fresno State will become the third current Mountain West program to square off with Purdue on Saturday in the first-ever meeting between the Bulldogs and Boilermakers. Purdue took on current Mountain West members Hawaii and Nevada in recent memory, traveling to Honolulu in 2006 and splitting a home-and-home series with Nevada in 2016 and 2019.

TV: Big Ten Network

Early line: Purdue -4, O/U 50.5

STORYLINES TO WATCH

A new era

Ryan Walters will debut as Purdue’s head coach on Saturday, becoming the first head coach since Danny Hope to make his Purdue debut in Ross-Ade Stadium. He also hopes to supplant Hope as the most recent head coach to win his Boilermaker debut. Hope took down Toledo in his first game as Purdue’s head coach, while Darrell Hazell and Jeff Brohm subsequently dropped their openers at Purdue.

The game will mark a new era for Ross-Ade Stadium, as well. The recent renovations will create a different experience than fans grew accustomed to over the past decade. Fans will return to the south end zone as the student section moves there and will wrap around to the southeast side of the stadium. Purdue will use the Tiller Tunnel to enter and exit the field, a significant change from the previous entry point at the southeast corner.

The right Card

One of Walters’ first moves as Purdue’s head coach came in landing quarterback Hudson Card from the transfer portal. The Texas transfer enters the 2023 season as Purdue’s unquestioned starter, and hopes are high that he can continue the tradition of strong quarterback play at Purdue.

“I think that we were both in agreement that as far as portal quarterbacks, in our opinion, he was the best one in there. And so he was a priority for us and we wanted to go get him,” offensive coordinator Graham Harrell said of his joint pursuit of Card with Walters.

Card spent his first three seasons at Texas, playing periodically throughout the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He completed 127 of his 194 pass attempts in burnt orange, good for a 65% completion rate, and tossed 11 touchdown passes to just a pair of interceptions.

Now, it’s the first time in Card’s career that he’ll enter the season with no quarterback competition surrounding him. It’s his offense, and the offense may go as far as Card can take it.

Air Strike defense

Over the final four seasons of the Brohm era, Purdue saw four different defensive play-callers. With the new staff in town, it’ll be an entirely new-look defense this year as Walters implements his “Air Strike” defense.

He won’t call the plays, that will be defensive coordinator Kevin Kane, but Walters’ fingerprints are all over the defense that made him one of the hottest young coordinators in the nation a season ago.

The defense will hope to create havoc in the backfield, forcing opposing offenses into third-and-long situations where it can then attack and force turnovers. The defense will feature plenty of new faces, as just a handful of starters return from last year’s squad.

It will get its first opportunity against a Fresno State offense that lost quite a bit of production from last season’s squad, including its star quarterback.

Pro Football Focus on the Bulldogs

• Returning defensive backs Cam Lockridge and Morice Norris earned strong grades a season ago. Both project to start at cornerback for Fresno State, giving it one of the top secondaries in the Group of Five.
• UCF transfer Mikey Keene will start at quarterback for the Bulldogs. Keene’s passing grades were impressive in limited action for the Knights last season.
• Returning running back Malik Sherrod’s grades as a ball-carrier stood out as one of the Mountain West’s best, but he doesn’t impact the pass game much.

Walters on the Bulldogs

“Coach Tedford has done an amazing job. To start (the 2022 season) 1-4 and win their last nine is impressive. It will be a big challenge for us, because they have an excellent program.”