Fresno State Bulldogs vs. Cal Poly Mustangs: First look, TV info and return of Robbie Rouse
Robbie Rouse, the all-time leading rusher at Fresno State, will be back in the stadium where he churned out a good chunk of his 4,647 career rushing yards on Thursday as an assistant coach at Cal Poly.
The Bulldogs have had a lot of big seasons from running backs from Ron Rivers to Lorenzo Neal or Ryan Mathews. But Rouse in 2011 may have had, if not the best, then perhaps the most mind-boggling season of them all.
The 5-foot-6 back in 2011 carried the ball 328 times and on 93.4% of the rushing plays by a Bulldogs running back. Milton Knox was second with just 20 carries. That qualifies as a workload — Lew Nichols III of Central Michigan led the nation last season with 341 carries, but carried the ball on 77% of its rushing plays by running backs.
The Bulldogs did not have another running back log a rushing play until the fourth game of the season and by that point, Rouse had 17 rushing plays against Cal, 36 at Nebraska and 27 against North Dakota.
Rouse finished that season with 1,549 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns, both season-highs in his career.
“Robbie, the thing that separated him from a lot of people that I was ever around, was his work ethic,” said Derek Carr, the Bulldogs quarterback that season. “It didn’t matter how many carries he had the game before, how his body felt, the next day he was in there squatting the house. The next day he was in there trying to get all the soreness and flushing his body out so that he could go out there and do it again.
“He was the gold standard for what a Fresno State running back should be — tough, hard-nosed and aggressive. I think what made him special is that he did it every day and not just on Saturday or whatever game day was. He did it the whole week in practice. He really tried to outwork everybody. He protected me, also. So, shout-out to Robbie Rouse, who I think is probably the greatest running back to ever play there.”
The game
Fresno State vs. Cal Poly
When: Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Valley Children’s Stadium
TV: FS1 (Eric Collins and Devin Gardner)
Find it fast: Channels 652, 1652 on AT&T Uverse; 35, 408, 731, 1208 on Comcast; 219 on DirecTV; 150 on Dish Network
Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler, Pat Hill, Cameron Worrell)
Find it fast: 1400AM in Visalia/Tulare; 1340AM in Fresno; 1280AM in Stockton; 970AM in Bakersfield; 92.9FM in Modesto; 96.7FM in Fresno.
The records: Bulldogs (0-0, 10-3 in 2021), Mustangs (0-0, 2-9)
The series: Bulldogs lead 33-10-2
The streak: Bulldogs have won eight in a row
Last meeting: The Bulldogs won 63-10 in 2021
Tickets: 559-278-DOGS or gobulldogs.com
Former Sanger High star No. 1 at nickel
Morice Norris, a redshirt junior and former walk-on from Sanger, is listed No. 1 on the Bulldogs depth chart at nickel.
“He earned a scholarship after spring,” coach Jeff Tedford said. “He did a phenomenal job. He was playing in the secondary as a safety and just really stood out. His body type and the way he plays, his skills to be able to cover and be physical in the run game, it really stood out in the spring. We felt like that was a great move. I think he’s a great fit for that position. He plays like a linebacker, but he can cover. He’s fast. He’s very competitive, very smart. We’re excited about what he has done there, his progress not only through spring but in fall camp.”
Jake Haener on Jalen Cropper
Jalen Cropper, the senior wideout from Buchanan High, will line up outside this season after playing primarily in the slot a year ago. Quarterback Jake Haener’s thoughts:
“We’ve had our ups and our downs through camp. I think it’s a learning curve as far as Jalen moving outside and doing some different things on the perimeter. I think everybody is going to be excited to see what we do this season. I’m not going to give anything away right now, but I think it’s going to be really exciting to see the rest of those guys, having Nikko (Remigio), having (Erik Brooks) have an enhanced role in the slot and having Jalen primarily outside is something I’m really looking forward to and I think the Red Wave is going to like, as well.”
Quick bites
Haener and safety Evan Williams are the Bulldogs’ offensive and defensive captains. There will be two additional game captains selected each week.
In the past four games against FCS opponents, Fresno State quarterbacks have hit 68.6% of their passes and averaged 10.7 yards per attempt and 365.5 yards per game while throwing 12 TD passes and no interceptions.
Justin Houston, who started 11 games last season at the Husky position in a different defensive scheme, is ineligible for the first six games of the season.
Fresno State last season allowed only 40 points in the third quarter, after making halftime adjustments. That was the fewest in the Mountain West Conference. The Bulldogs were plus-73 points in the third quarter, the second highest spread in the conference to Nevada at plus-82.
