After loss, does Fresno State need to make changes in offensive backfield?

Fresno State didn’t play much football on Friday in a 49-21 loss at Colorado State, and a defense that had played well through much of the season produced some startling numbers.

The Rams rushed for 193 yards not including one Fresno State sack, and according to Pro Football Focus, 152 of those yards came after contact by a defender. The Rams also passed for 144 yards, and 110 of those yards were gained after the catch was made.

The yards after contact and catch accounted for more than 75% of the offense for a team that went into the game ranked 10th in the Mountain West Conference in scoring, ninth in rushing, 10th in passing and 11th in total offense. The 49 points were the most Colorado State had scored since it had 52 in a loss to Boise State in 2017.

Some better tackling by the Bulldogs and those numbers look different, and it is worth noting 60 of those rushing yards after contact and 45 of the yards after the catch came on two plays.

Pro Football Focus had Fresno State with 15 missed tackles, a season high.

That’s fixable. Can the same be said for the Fresno State offense?

Fresno State quarterback E.J. Warner looks to pass against Nevada in the first half Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA [email protected]

A long road to nowhere

Quarterback E.J. Warner had 350 passing yards in the loss and surpassed the 10,000-yard mark in career passing yards. That Fresno State could put up just 21 points in a game it threw for more than 300 yards should not come as a surprise — that is what Warner has done throughout a career that started at Temple and includes a stop at Rice.

The teams he has played on have averaged 21.9, 21.1 and 22.2 points per game. Fresno State this season is averaging 29.3, which includes two defensive scores and one on special teams.

The Bulldogs in the past three games have scored 23, 20 and 21 points.

Warner is the Bulldogs’ best quarterback procedurally, but is limited on the field. Fresno State does not want to use him in the run game and it rarely pushes the ball down field in the passing game.

The Bulldogs tried at Colorado State, taking shots at man coverage, but Warner was 2 of 8 for 59 yards with a 23-yard touchdown to Josiah Freeman and two interceptions. The eight downfield attempts almost equaled the Bulldogs’ total in their first six games — just nine. This season, only 8.4% of Warner’s passing attempts have been 20 or more yards downfield, the ninth lowest percentage in the nation.

And, in a stat that should confound, Air Force has attempted 106 fewer passes this season than Fresno State, yet has more explosive pass plays of 20 or more yards. Air Force has 25, the Bulldogs 21.

But the yards per point is just out of whack. Fresno State had averaged 38.5 points per game when throwing for 300 or more yards, going back to 2021. There also have been 14 300-yard passing games this season in the Mountain West and the average number of points to come with those yards is 36.7.

Is three one too many?

Coach Matt Entz said that Brandon Ramirez was in line to get more early-down work after the San Joaquin Memorial High grad closed out the Bulldogs’ victory over Nevada, rushing four times for 39 yards and two first downs on the final drive.

He did, at Colorado State. Ramirez carried the ball seven times, five on first down plays. Those plays went for 19, five, four, seven and minus-2 yards, an average of 6.6 yards.

Rayshon Luke got only four rushes. He averaged 6.3 yards on three first-down plays.

Bryson Donelson, meanwhile, continues to struggle. He led the backs with eight rushing attempts and generated only 23 yards. He carried the ball six times on first-down plays and gained nine yards with a high of 4 yards, an average of 1.5 per play.

Fresno State has run the ball on 65.7% of its first down plays, third highest in the conference.

In the past three games, Donelson has rushed for 18 yards on 13 plays at Hawaii, 39 yards on 14 plays against Nevada and 23 yards on eight plays at Colorado State.

Fresno State has made a three-back rotation work before — in 2017, Jordan Mims had 151 rushing plays, Josh Hokit had 128 and Ronnie Rivers 101 on a 10-win team.

But that has not been the norm with Entz or offensive coordinator Josh Davis. Interestingly, in three of Entz’s five seasons at North Dakota State the quarterback played a large role in the run game, including 2019 when the Bison won a national championship and 2021 when they reached the semifinals.

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