Know Wyoming’s Foe: Fresno State Bulldogs

LARAMIE — Is there a more bipolar team of late in the Mountain West Conference?

Fresno State, led by first-year head coach Matt Entz, won five straight games after an opening-day blowout loss at Kansas. Fueled by a dominant ground game and a seemingly always stingy defense, the Bulldogs grinded out back-to-back wins over Hawaii and Nevada.

Then, the bottom fell out.

Facing a one-win Colorado State team in Fort Collins, EJ Warner, son of NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, tossed three interceptions and lost a fumble in a stunning 49-21 setback. Uncharacteristically, the visitors allowed the Rams to roll up nearly 200 rushing yards and three scores on the ground.

CSU quarterback Jackson Brousseau, making just his second-career start, also completed 12-of-18 throws for 144 yards and three touchdowns.

The Bulldogs made the switch under center the following week at home against San Diego State, inserting Carson Conklin into the lineup. The former Freshman All-American at Sacramento State was picked off twice in a 23-0 blanking at the hands of the Aztecs.

Was the ship sinking?

Not quite.

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Conklin, despite only connecting on 10 of his 21 passes for just 35 yards, helped lead Fresno State to an improbable 30-7 victory over Mountain West heavyweight Boise State, inside Albertsons Stadium, no less. The defense took center stage on The Blue, holding the high-powered Broncos to just 193 yards of total offense. They also took advantage of three turnovers and injured starting signal caller Maddux Madsen.

“I haven’t really even broached that topic with our team,” Entz said when asked if it gives his team hope they can still win a league title with all the upsets within the conference this fall. “All that matters is we got to take care of business this week. We’ve got to have a great week of prep, find ways to win each day and find ways to be competitive on Saturday.”

What does Wyoming’s staff make of this Bulldog team it will see Saturday night inside Valley Children’s Stadium?

“They’re still a team that is still competing for a conference championship,” cornerbacks coach Benny Boyd said, adding whether it’s Conklin or Warner at the helm, Fresno State has had plenty of success stretching the field horizontally. “So, regardless of what it may look like on the outside, they’re finding ways to win games.”

Boyd and Co. are focused on the ‘Dogs loaded backfield, which features Rayshon Luke and Bryson Donelson, but no one is sleeping on No. 17.

“He’s got some savvy to him,” Boyd added, referring to Conklin. “He has experienced some success. So our job is to make sure we can make him as uncomfortable as possible, to eliminate throwing windows, and again, when we have opportunities to capitalize, we need to make plays.”

Wyoming ranks 26th in the nation on pass defense, allowing just 184.9 yards an outing. The secondary has combined for five of the team’s nine interceptions, too.

Jay Sawvel said to become a truly dominant unit, the Cowboys need to put a halt to the run game completely. That hasn’t happened thus far this season. If that happens in California’s Central Valley, the underdogs could become one step closer to postseason eligibility.

There’s another category, though, the head coach has his sights set on.

“Minus-3.”

That’s where Wyoming sits in the turnover department. An unacceptable number, Sawvel said, when you consider his defense has forced 13 takeaways through nine weeks.

“That has been a problem,” Sawvel said. “We have 12 of them in Mountain West games. So, I think, if you single out one thing right away to start this game is the fact that we’ve got to win turnover margin. We’ve got to be able to do that. We’ve got to take care of the ball. We’ve got to make great decisions with the ball. That’s going to be important for us to get started.”

Fresno State, in its three conference victories, is a plus-9. In the two losses to Colorado State and San Diego State, that number plummets to minus-4.

Kickoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. Mountain Time and the game will be televised on FS1.

Meet the Bulldogs:

* Head coach: Matt Entz (1st year)

* Offensive coordinator: josh Davis (1st year); Defensive coordinator: Nick Benedetto (1st year)

* Record in 2024: 6-7 overall, 4-3 in Mountain West Conference

* Offense in 2025: Average 26.1 ppg, 347.9 ypg (154 rush, 193.9 pass)

* Defense in 2025: Allow 21.8 ppg, 300.9 ypg (127.7 rush, 173.2 pass)

* Key Returners/ Newcomers – Offense in 2025: EJ Warner (QB – 139-202, 1,486 yds, 10 TD, 9 INT; 31 rush, 69 yds, TD), Carson Conklin (QB – 35-69, 259 yds, 2 INT, 11 rush, -3 yds), Rayshon Luke (RB – 80 rush, 495 yds, 5 TD; 25 catch, 167 yd, 2 TD), Bryson Donelson (RB – 103 rush, 473 yds, 4 TD, 16 catch, 107 yds), Josiah Freeman (WR – 31 catch, 353 yds, 4 TD), Richie Anderson III (TE – 24 catch, 233 yds, 2 TD), Ezekiel Avit (WR – 19 catch, 197 yds)

* Key Returners – Defense in 2025: Jadon Pearson (LB – 78 tackles, PBU), Simeon Harris (CB – 38 tackles, sack, 3 PBU, 3 INT, FF), Finn Claypool (DL – 33 tackles, 5.5 sacks, PBU, FF), K’Vion Thunderbird (LB – 32 tackles, 3 PBU, 2 INT, TD), Camryn Bracha (DB – 32 tackles, 2 INT, FF), Jayden Davis (DB – 28 tackles, sack), Al’zillion Hamilton (DB – 27 tackles, 2 PBU, 2 INT), Martin Owusu (DL – 25 tackles, PBU)

– University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players