Fresno State (0-0, 0-0 MW) at No. 8/9 Michigan (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Saturday, August 31, 2024 | 4:30 p.m. PT | NBC | Michigan Stadium (107,601) | Ann Arbor, Mich.
MEDIA COVERAGE
TV - NBC
Play-by-Play - Noah Eagle
Analyst - Todd Blackledge
Sideline - Kathryn Tappen
Radio - Bulldog Sports Network (BSN)
Play-by-Play - Paul Loeffler
Analyst - Pat Hill
Sideline - Cam Worrell
Social Media: Twitter: @FresnoStateFB | Instagram:@fresno_state_football | Facebook: FresnoStateFootball | YouTube: FresnoStateAthletics
Live Stats: BulldogsLive.com
A LOOK INSIDE
Series: First meeting
Head Coaches:
Tim Skipper
Fresno State Record (Years): 1-0 (1st season*)
Career DI Record (Years): Same
Sherrone Moore
Michigan Record (Years): 1-0 (1st season*)
Career DI Record: Same
QUICK LOOK
Fresno State is set to open the season at Michigan, facing the defending national champion for the first time in the CFP era.
The teams will meet for the first time in program history on Saturday.
Saturday's game has a primetime broadcast on NBC. The primetime selection is the first time in program history that Fresno State will play a game broadcast on NBC.
2024 will be the third straight year with Fresno State being showcased on a major broadcast network throughout the regular season, playing games on FOX in 2022 and 2023.
Saturday's game is the 13th time Fresno State will face an AP Top 10 team in program history.
Fresno State is under the direction of interim head coach Tim Skipper. The Bulldogs are entering the season with their third head coach in the last five seasons.
Skipper took over as interim head coach on July 15, 2024, just two and a half weeks before the start of fall camp.
With the head coaching change, the portal window opened back up for players on Fresno State's roster. The Bulldogs lost just one player in that 30-day portal window.
Fresno State saw just one change to the assistant coaches on staff as 2023 offensive line coach Brian Armstrong left for Nevada. However, the change wasn't drastic as Matt Smith was elevated into that role after spending two seasons as the OL graduate assistant and the six years prior as a player on the offensive line himself.
The entire defensive staff remains intact for the third season in a row.
Fresno State returns 2023 All-Mountain West talent in QB Mikey Keene, RB Malik Sherrod, OL Mose Vavao and Jacob Spomer and DL Devo Bridges.
The Bulldogs had four preseason All-MW selections this year in Keene, Sherrod, Vavao and Bridges.
Nineteen different players received preseason recognition ahead of the 2024 season, including players on offense, defense and special teams.
Keene, Vavao, Bridges and linebacker Tuasivi Nomura were voted team captains by their teammates this season.
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
Fresno State and Michigan will meet for the first time in program history on Saturday.
This weekend's trip will be the longest of the season for the Bulldogs.
Fresno State will face the defending national champion for just the third time in program history, and the first time in the CFP era.
Michigan has a new head coach this season in Sherrone Moore. The matchup is between two first-year head coaches who have both been put in a position before to serve as the acting head coach for their program. Both Moore and Fresno State interim head coach Tim Skipper have a 1-0 record at their school and in their careers.
Michigan is one of six schools that the Bulldogs will face this season with a new head coach.
Fresno State has one player on its roster from the state of Michigan -- WR Karim McCune II. He transferred in this season from Monterey Peninsula College. He is a native of Saginaw.
Michigan has a former Fresno State quarterback on its roster in Anthony Arnou. The Santa Monica native was on the Bulldogs' roster in 2021 before transferring and spending one season at a junior college then making the move to Ann Arbor. He did not see play time for the Bulldogs in 2021.
Fresno State special teams coordinator John Baxter spent the 2015 season at Michigan as the special teams coordinator
Fresno State could be facing its first crowd of over 100K since playing at Alabama in 2017. It would be just the third time in program history playing in an environment with over 100,000 fans.
Michigan has an active winning streak of 15-straight games, going undefeated in the 2023 campaign
Michigan is 12-0 against current members of the Mountain West