Know the Foe: Fresno State at Wyoming

Oct. 6—Robert Kuwada has covered Fresno State University football for the Fresno Bee since 2011. He weighs in on what University of Wyoming fans can expect during Saturday's matchup between the Cowboys and Bulldogs.

Quarterback Mikey Keene had big shoes to fill with the graduation of Jake Haener, but looks to be playing the part well. What have you seen out of him so far this season?

Keene is really solid and a good fit for a team that has a lot of new pieces. Fresno State didn't just lose Jake Haener, it lost its starting running back in Jordan Mims, top three wideouts in Jalen Moreno-Cropper, Nikko Remigio and Zane Pope and starting center Bula Schmidt. Fresno State is still putting it together and Keene has managed to hit 69% of his passes, working with new skill guys and behind an offensive line that has struggled in pass protection at times. With as many pieces as that team lost, 36.4 points per game with two Power Five opponents on the schedule is noteworthy.

Erik Brooks, Jaelen Gill and Jalen Moss have a combined 12 touchdowns on the year. How good are these receivers at getting open to give Keene options in the passing game?

All three are very good, and it has been a combination of skill set and scheme. Brooks ripped up Purdue, which played a lot of man coverage and stuck to it the whole game even though none of the guys they tried could stay with him. Gill, who I think is underutilized, is a matchup nightmare. They've lined him up in the backfield a couple of times where a linebacker ends up in coverage and he's winning that 10 times out of 10. It happened at Purdue, and it happened just last week against Nevada. Touchdowns, both times.

Gill's highest number of snaps this season is just 27, and yet he's sixth in the Mountain West in receptions, has thrown a touchdown pass and has been used in the run game. Moss is just a redshirt freshman, and he will develop into one of the best wideouts in the conference. He's close now. He's only about 170 pounds right now, but he'll get after the football, which is not something all of the wideouts I've seen here do.

The Bulldogs are 109th in the country at 115 rushing yards per game. Is that more because of a pass-heavy attack, or will they try to establish the run against the Cowboys?

The run-pass ratio Saturday will have a lot to do with what Wyoming is giving offensive coordinator Pat McCann and Keene, but Jeff Tedford-coached teams have always been pretty balanced. Last year, they attempted 473 passes and ran it 466 times, though Haener missing four games had a lot to do with that. In 2019, they threw it 373 times and ran it 390; in 2018, they threw it 440 times and ran it 495. Fresno State to this point just hasn't run it very consistently, or well.

Fresno has the 14th-ranked defense in the country. How will Wyoming need to attack the Bulldogs to stay in this game?

Wyoming will do what Wyoming does, I'm sure. I guess you can make a case to throw in a few wrinkles, since it hasn't scored a single point in the past two matchups and only 10 in the past four. But I think Wyoming can really jam up this game. Fresno State, as you said, is 14th in the nation in defense and 15th in third-down defense, but it also has had difficulty getting off the field at times.

Eastern Washington had a 21-play drive against Fresno State. Nevada had an 18-play drive that took more than nine minutes off the clock. Kent State had a 13-play drive. If Wyoming is able to do that a time or two, it changes the dynamic. First down and setting up second and third down will be big for Wyoming in this game, and it is leading the Mountain West and fifth in the nation in yards per rush on first down (6.7 yards per carry) and has had much better success throwing it on first down (62.7%) than it has on second (48.4%) and third (54.3%).

Wyoming running back Harrison Waylee has three consecutive 100-yard games. Will the Bulldogs key-in on the run game and force the Cowboys to win through the air?

I'm sure that's the case for everyone. Wyoming is a run-heavy team; 60.3% of its plays (being run plays) is not Air Force, but it's up there. It seems to have found its back in Waylee, and it's going to find ways to run it. Kevin Coyle, the Fresno State defensive coordinator, was talking about that, just how the Cowboys will run it, and run it out of 12 personnel, 22 personnel, 21 personnel and 13 personnel.

Wyoming has been shutout in consecutive games against the Bulldogs and Fresno State is currently 5.5-point favorites. What do you expect to see between these two teams this weekend in Laramie?

I expect another game like the past four in that points will be difficult to get. I think Fresno State will win a lower scoring game, but it has a big issue against Wyoming. It has had trouble getting into the end zone. It's leading the nation in field goal attempts. It also has scored a touchdown on only 57.1% of its red zone possessions, which ranks eighth in the Mountain West. The Wyoming defense has allowed its opponents to score a touchdown on only 52.6% of their red zone possessions, which is second-best in the conference.

Alex Taylor is the assistant editor for WyoSports and covers University of Wyoming athletics. He can be reached at ataylor@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @alex_m_taylor22.