Fresno State Athletics

Fresno State Athletics

iHeartMedia! The New Home For Fresno State Athletics!

 

Football Game Week: No. 13 UCLA

Head Coaches:

Kalen DeBoer

Fresno State Record: 5-4 (2nd season)

Career D-I Record: Same

Alma Mater: Sioux Falls (1998)

Chip Kelly

UCLA Record: 12-21 (4th season)

Career Record: 58-28

Alma Mater: University of New Hampshire

Fresno State (2-1, 0-0 MW) at No. 13 UCLA (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12)

Sept. 18, 2021 • 7:45 p.m. • Rose Bowl (90,888)  - Pasadena, Calif. 

THE BONES

  • Fresno State Athletics is celebrating its centennial year and the 2021 football season is the 100th season of competition in program history.
  • The Bulldogs are looking for their fourth-straight win in the series between the two programs on Saturday night after winning the most recent matchup in 2018, 38-14, at the Rose Bowl. 
  • Fresno State's offense scored its most points of the season in a 63-10 victory over Cal Poly at Bulldog Stadium last Saturday. The Bulldogs totaled 671 yards of total offense, their most in a game since 2014.
  • The 'Dogs enter game four with two wins for the second-straight season, and the third time in four years.
  • Fresno State has won two of its last three games against a ranked opponent. Fresno State's last test against a top-25 team was at then-No. 11 just two weeks ago. 
  • Fresno State is 27-46 all-time against current members of the Pac-12.
  • The Pac-12 is nothing new for a handful of Bulldogs as six current players on the Fresno State roster hail from a Pac-12 school at their last stop, and two are from UCLA in Elijah Gates (S) and Alex Akingbulu (OL).
  • Fresno State has had 23 first-year Bulldogs see game action in three games this season. 
  • For the third-straight game, the Bulldog offense showed off its weapons, using 10 different receivers to record positive yardage in the explosive 63-10 win over Cal Poly. Of the 10 receivers last weekend, seven were wide receivers, two were running backs and one was a tight end.
  •  Fresno State's total sack number (11) is the third-most by a team in the FBS this season. 
  • The Bulldogs lead the FBS in total tackles for loss (30.0) and are tied for sixth with an average of 10.0 TFL per game this season.
  • Fresno State's pass defense is among the top of the conference standings early, limiting its opponents to an average of just 155 yards per game through the air. The Bulldogs have kept opposing quarterbacks to completing 48-of-91 attempts at a 52.7 completion percentage. 
  • Jake Haener has passed at a .736 clip, ranking him No. 10 in the NCAA in completion percentage. 
  • Haener is the current FBS leader in passing yards (1,009), becoming the first quarterback in the FBS to surpass 1,000-yards passing this season.
  • The senior quarterback has completed 67-of-91 attempts in three games this season.
  • Earning the title of team captain, as voted on by his teammates, Maeva has been the "quarterback of the defense" to start the season. Sitting as the team's second-leading tackler, Maeva has 17 stops with 1.5 TFL and 1.5 sack on the year. 
  • Senior running back Ronnie Rivers became the program's all-time leading touchdown scorer with touchdown No. 45 of his career against UConn on Aug. 28. 
  • Rivers tacked on 107 all-purpose yards against Cal Poly on Saturday and is now just 87 yards shy of passing his father, Ron Rivers (1991-93), and breaking into the top five in the career all-purpose yards leaderboards.