Purdue opponent early outlook: Fresno State
As the 2023 football season nears closer, GoldandBlack.com will provide a mid-summer outlook of each of Purdue’s opponents. Today, it’s Fresno State, who Purdue hosts on September 2 to kick off the new season and the Ryan Walters Era in West Lafayette.
2022 RECORD: 10-4 (7-1 Mountain West)
HEAD COACH: Jeff Tedford (36-18 at Fresno State, 118-75 overall)
KEY PLAYERS: RB Malik Sherrod, DL Johnny Hudson Jr., LB Levelle Bailey, CB Cam Lockridge
HISTORY VS. PURDUE: The meeting on Sept. 2 will mark the first time the Boilermakers and Bulldogs meet on the gridiron. Among current members of the Mountain West Conference, Fresno State will become the third team to take on Purdue. In 2016 and 2019, Purdue split a home-and-home series with Nevada, and the 2006 regular season ended with a trip to Hawaii.
ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: The defending Mountain West champions enter 2023 fresh off a 10-win season, capped by a dominant 29-6 win over Washington State in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl. Only Georgia and Troy finished 2022 on a longer win streak than Fresno State’s nine-game surge to close the year.
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Fresno State loses all-everything quarterback Jake Haener, who passed for over 9,000 yards and 68 touchdowns to just 18 interceptions. To make matters worse, the Bulldogs’ leading rusher and top three pass-catchers all depart from the 2022 squad. A quarterback competition will run into fall camp between Logan Fife and UCF transfer Mikey Keene, and many other positions remain up for grabs on the re-tooled offense. On the bright side, four starters return to the Bulldogs’ offensive line, providing continuity in an important area.
On the other side of the football, seven starters return from the Mountain West’s top defense in 2022, highlighted by a solid front seven and star cornerback Cam Lockridge. The Fresno State secondary allowed just 189 passing yards per game last season, finishing inside the top 20 nationally. If the front seven can improve in the run game, the continuity in the secondary could help make this year’s defense more stout than last.
Jeff Tedford returned for a second tenure ahead of last season. He established himself as a legitimate head coach during a successful run at Cal, when he coached Aaron Rodgers. And Tedford seems to have Fresno State headed in the right direction. After nearly upsetting an Oregon State team that won 10 games and posting a comfortable win over Washington State, the Bulldogs will enter West Lafayette hungry for another Power Five upset.
