Fresno State (5-5, 3-3 MW) vs Colorado State (7-3, 5-0 MW)
Saturday, November 23, 2024 | 7:30 p.m. PT | CBS Sports Network | Valley Children's Stadium (41,031) | Fresno, Calif.
MEDIA COVERAGE
TV - CBS Sports Network
Play-by-Play - Carter Blackburn
Analyst - Randy Cross
Sideline - N/A
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: Colorado State leads 10-6
Head Coaches:
Tim Skipper
Fresno State Record (Years): 6-5 (1st season*)
Career DI Record (Years): Same
Jay Norvell
Colorado State Record (Years): 15-19 (3rd season)
Career DI Record: 48-45 (8th season)
QUICK LOOK
Fresno State will honor its senior class on Saturday night before kickoff. The Bulldogs will honor 16 seniors who are out of eligibility - Offense: Mac Dalena, Jake Boust, Daniel Taumalolo, Kingsley Ugwu, Mose Vavao, Osmar Velez, and Braylen Nelson; Defense: Kavika Baumgartner, Devo Bridges, Malachi Langley, Tuasivi Nomura, Tyler Mello, Steven Scheidt, Dean Clark, Kosi Agina and Cam Lockridge.
This senior class has players on it from the 2019 team. Since then, the group has accumulated 41 total wins, three bowl game victories and earned a Mountain West Championship title.
Of the 16 seniors being honored on Saturday, eight of them began their careers with Fresno State.
Fresno State and Colorado State are meeting for the first time since 2020 on Saturday.
The last meeting between the teams was a Fresno State victory, marking Kalen DeBoer's first career win as a Div. I head coach.
Fresno State is coming off of its second bye week of the season while Colorado State comes to Fresno after competing in the Border War, its rivalry game with Wyoming.
Saturday is Fresno State's final Mountain West game of the 2024 season. The Bulldogs will travel to the Rose Bowl to face UCLA in the final regular season game of the year.
With a win on Saturday, Fresno State would become bowl eligible for the fourth straight sesaon.
The Bulldogs have won their last five bowl games, an active streak that is third in the nation behind Georgia and Minnesota with seven each.
Skipper would be the fourth first-year head coach to lead the Bulldogs to a bowl game, joining Alvin Pierson (1945), Tim DeRuyter (2012) and Jeff Tedford (2017). Tedford is the only one to have led the team to a victory, defeating Houston in the Hawaii Bowl that season. That win by Tedford and Co. sparked the Bulldogs' current bowl game winning streak.
Fresno State interim head coach Tim Skipper spent four season (2012-14) at Colorado State as the linebackers coach and assistant head coach.
QB Mikey Keene set a program record with a 88.5 percent completion percentage (23-of-26) at Air Force. He owns the program's single game pass completion percentage record (more than 20 attempts) after passing Derek Carr's record of an 87.5 percent mark against Air Force in 2012.
Keene's 70.4 percent completion percentage is the ninth best in the FBS and leads the MW. His number is currently second all-time in program history, behind Jake Haener's 72 percent in 2022.
Keene has a 67.6 percent completion percentage in his collegiate career. It is the sixth best among all active FBS quarterbacks.
Fresno State had four players tackle in double digits last time out against Air Force.
Fresno State was led by Tuasivi Nomura with 18 tackles. It was the most tackles in a game by a Bulldog since 2014.
Fellow linebacker Malachi Langley is currently sixth all-time in Fresno State history with 312 career tackles.
At Air Force, Jalen Moss opened up the game with a 41 yard kickoff return. It was the longest return of his career, and the longest by a Bulldog since Malik Sherrod's 95-yard return for a touchdown in 2023.
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
Fresno State and Colorado State will be meeting for the 17th time in program history this weekend
Colorado State leads the series against Fresno State and has a 10-6 record against the Bulldogs all time
In their last matchup, the Bulldogs defeated the Rams at home by a final score of 38-17 on Oct 29, 2020
Fresno State is 4-5 at home against Colorado State and is looking to win back-to-back home games versus the Rams for the first time since meetings in 1999 and 2002
After joining the Mountain West in 2012, the Bulldogs and Rams have played in 5 conference games and Fresno State is 2-3 in those previous contests
Both Colorado State and Fresno State will be ending their tenure in the Mountain West and joining the Pac-12 in 2026 along with Boise State and San Diego State
Tory Horton, a graduate student who is listed as a wide receiver for the Rams, is from Fresno, California and played at Washington Union High School and spent two seasons at Nevada before transferring to Colorado State. Horton suffered a season-ending injury earlier this season.
Garrett Menagh, listed as a freshman running back for Colorado State, is from Clovis, California and played football at Buchanan High School
Colorado State currently sit at 7-3 on the season and have a 5-0 record in conference play
The Rams come into this matchup with a 2-2 record on the road following wins against Air Force and Nevada and loses to Texas and Oregon State
Last week, Colorado State defeated Wyoming at home by a final score of 24-10 to win the Border War.
Fresno State's largest margin of victory over Colorado State came in their first ever matchup in program history where the Bulldogs defeated the Rams 52-21 on Sept. 19 in Fort Collins