THIS WEEK’S GAME: San Diego State at Fresno State, Sept. 29 — This is Fresno State’s first-ever Mountain West league game. After spending the past 20 seasons as members of the Western Athletic Conference, the Bulldogs joined the Mountain West on July 1, 2012. Over the last 35 years, the Bulldogs have won their first conference game of a season 25 times.
KEYS TO THE GAME: Fresno State must continue its improvement on defense against a San Diego State team that ranks 40th among FBS teams in total offense, including No. 15 in rushing. Aztecs running back Adam Muema ranks 13th nationally with115.3 yards a game. Last week in the Tulsa game, Fresno State held the Golden Hurricane to 160 yards under their rushing average and 171 yards of total offense under their season average. Tulsa entered the game ranked 10th nationally in rushing at 285.7 yards per game, 14th in scoring at 44.7 points per game and 18th in total offense at 525 yards per game, but Fresno State held the Golden Hurricane to 126 yards rushing, 27 points and 354 yards of offense.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
OLB Tristan Okpalaugo — The senior outside linebacker led the Fresno State defense in against a Tulsa team that had one of the top offenses in the country. Okpalaugo finished with six solo tackles, one tackle for a loss, one pass breakup, one quarterback hurry and his first career interception, which he returned 21 yards for a touchdown.
WR Josh Harper — The sophomore caught a game-high seven passes for 115 yards and one touchdown at Tulsa last weekend. It was Harper’s first career 100-yard receiving game and the third by a Bulldog in 2012. Harper’s touchdown was his second in the last two games and came from 32 yards out in the first quarter.
MLB Patrick Su’a — The junior has performed well for the Bulldogs in his first season as a starter. Su’a, who was a special teams captain for Fresno state last year, did start three games at outside linebacker in 2011. With the implementation of the new 3-4 defense this year, Su’a moved into a starting role at inside linebacker. Last weekend at Tulsa, he made the biggest play of his career when he intercepted a pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown
ROSTER REPORT
–LB Jeremiah Toma, who has missed the first four games at the Will linebacker position because of a sprained ankle, remains questionable for the San Diego State game this weekend.
–DT Todd Hunt is out indefinitely with a knee injury. He missed last week’s game at Tulsa.
–LB Shawn Plummer is nursing an injured knee and did not play against Tulsa. He is questionable against San Diego State.
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