Even with the coaching change, Fresno State football shouldn’t miss a win in the 2022 season as the Bulldogs prepare for the challenge at Mountain West.
Whenever Kalin Debor chose to leave football in Fresno for Washington, it looked as if the Bulldogs might be thrown into disarray. Fortunately Jeff Tedford is back on the program and it looks like it will prevent this from happening.
Not only that, but he has every reason to believe that the team he took over could win again and possibly take the Mountain West crown.
The Fresno State Bulldogs were ranked 39th in the pre-season FanSided Top 50 rankings.
Fresno State Football Season 2021 Review
In what was ultimately DeBoer’s last season with the program, he got his chance to jump into the Power 5 League. Although a strong midfielder was the team’s driving force, they used a defense that was one of Mountain West’s best and a solid attack to rush out of a season. 10-3 and scored 6-2 in the conference.
Of course, as mentioned, DeBoer left and made way for former head coach Jeff Tedford, at the helm from 2017-19, to take back the reins. This continued the status quo for the Bulldogs and left the team looking forward to the 2022 season when they could be one of the best teams in Mountain West once again.
Fresno State Bulldogs offense preview for 2022 season
Return appetizers (8): QB Jake Haener, WR Jalen Cropper, WR Josh Kelly, TE Raymond Pauwels Jr. OT, Dontae Bull, OG Braylen Nelson, OC Bula Schmidt, OG Mose Vavao
Notable newcomers: WR Nikko Remigio (Cal) and OL Daniel Taumalolo (San Mateo College)
effect player: Jake Hanner
Jake Hainer flirted with the decision to follow DeBoer to Washington, by the way where he began his career, but Tedford’s appointment convinced him to stay. Now is the time for him to take another leap and establish himself as a legitimate potential man in the NFL, an ordeal he started last year with an impressive campaign.
He’ll have plenty of guns to help him as his two top strikers, Galen Cropper and Josh Kelly, once again in the fray along with the high hopes of Jordan Mims in the running as long-time starter Ronnie Rivers takes over. Newcomer Nico Remigiu will be a significant factor as he grabbed 97 balls in the Pac-12 with Cal.
No matter how good Haener is, though, everyone needs the streak that brings back four players who started six or more games in 2021 to be more consistent. Hanner was beaten and appeared, unfortunately, at times. With that kind of experience and hopefully more consistency, though, there’s at least reason to be optimistic with that group.
Fresno State Bulldogs defense preview for 2022
Return garnish (7): Dee David Perales, DT Leonard Payne Jr., LB Levelle Bailey, S Evan Williams, S Elijah Gates, CB Bralyn Lux, NB Justin Houston
Notable newcomers: CB Cam Lockridge (Hawaii), DT Joshua Bakula (Stanford), LB Raymond Scott (USC)
effect player: Evan Williams
It was a massive leap in performance last season for the defensive side of the ball and one that Tedford and old/new defense coordinator Kevin Coyle, who held the position from 1997-2000, will hope to maintain the upside.
The driving force behind it will be secondary bringing back both starting safety – including star and group leader, Evan Williams – one of the mainstays, Justin Houston’s hybrid ace and several players who played meaningful shots a year ago. This group should inspire confidence and may need to make up for some shortcomings up front.
David Perales and Leonard Payne Jr are solid and Level Bailey was a villain in the middle of the field. However, the depth on the streak and linebacker is hard to expect to be a bit annoying, and it’s something Coyle will have to contend with if he is to be one of Mountain West’s top defenses for the second year in a row.
Watch the 2022 Fresno State Football Player Awards
Jake Hanner, Maxwell
He’s talking about the 2021 season that Haener mentioned is on his Maxwell Award watchlist but is due. If he could not only match his production from last season, but do even better while leading the Bulldogs to success, I wouldn’t count on him earning some hardware.
Galen Cropper, Beletnikov
Hainer’s Best Fellow, Galen Cropper, is nominated for the award honoring the nation’s best recipient. His ability to make plays at all levels of the field and as a veteran he now has a lot of experience with Haener should lead to a very successful campaign.
Nico Remigiu, Paul Hornung
Cal newcomer, Remigio is on the watch list for the award honoring the most versatile player in college football. This pays tribute to him and the player who can make a huge impact on the Bulldogs attack and possibly special teams as well.
Biggest Fresno State Bulldogs on the 2022 schedule
After a non-conference schedule featuring two Pac-12 opponents, Fresno State will begin playing at Mountain West with a trip to the blue turf to face Boise State on October 8. This will be a very important confrontation.
With MWC giving up sections, getting a leg up on the Broncos is a big deal for the Tedford team. There’s also a motivating factor in play as losing to Boise State was the only time the Bulldog looked mismatched and incapable in the 2021 season. So, with a conference championship berth at stake early in league play, that wild ride in early October will be a pivotal one. .
Best Screenplay for Fresno State Football
In almost any scenario for the Bulldogs this season, a 3-1 start should be the expectation. UConn is a doormat, Cal Poly is no threat, and while I love Oregon State and they are a Power 5 team, what I see from Fresno State is a better team. The opposite is true when matched against USC but that’s still a good start that leads to a Mountain West play.
Victories over San Jose State, New Mexico, Hawaii, UNLV and Wyoming will likely come without many problems, leaving two games on the road at Boise State and Nevada as well as welcoming San Diego State into the city as swing games. Given what Fresno State has to offer, they can win all three of these games.
That’s not the most likely scenario, but if Haener improves and things completely crash, the best case for Fresno State Soccer is an 11-1 season and an undefeated campaign in multiplayer.
Worst-case scenario for football in Fresno
There is some variation in Fresno State in terms of the best and worst of the 2022 season.
Let’s say Haener retreats with DeBoer gone, offensive line is a problem, defense can’t solve the questions in the front seven. Well, things can get dicey out there. In light of that, I think it’s possible at least Oregon will cut Fresno, putting them at 2-2 which leads to team play, which will start with the Broncos losing down the road.
We’re still locking up on this team’s certain conference wins, but at the same time, it’s really going to cast doubt in San Diego and Nevada State. For me, I don’t like what that might mean, and if the problems continue from the start of the season, all three of these games are potential losses. Finally, this will put the Bulldogs at 7-5 per season, so it’s still bowling, but below expectations.
Fresno 2022 football season predictions
Full disclosure, I’m a believer in Jake Haener and believe he has the goods to deliver this season. For me, the best case scenario is much more likely than the worst case, especially given Tedford’s pedigree and history with this program.
As such, my earlier statement on most scenarios including the start of season 3-1 represents this expectation. By my yardstick, they score wins over Nevada State and San Diego quite often when I see how those two teams match up to Fresno State. This makes Boise State the biggest game mentioned above of the year, but I have the Bulldogs short on that competition.
However, this puts Fresno State ending the year 10-2 with a conference record 7-1, which should be good enough to give them a shot at the Mountain West Championship and a potential second crack at defeating the Broncos.
Fresno State 2022 football prediction game
Bill Bender’s latest pot drops In Sporting News, the Bulldogs face SMU at the Gasparilla Bowl on December 23. college football news She has Fresno State in the Easyport Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve playing against Florida Atlantic.
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