Bulldogs' defense sets the tone
Yesterday at 5:32 PM
Fresno State's defense had a solid performance in the team's season opener on Thursday.
Was the word of the day physical, or tackling, fast, efficiency; how about ball-hawking? The 2015 Fresno State football season kicked off Thursday night in front of over 32,000 “Red wavers” and displayed what hopes to be a revamped defense. Although, this might look and seem like the same defense as last year’s on paper, it’s not. Yes, Abilene Christian is an FCS school; yes, Fresno State was supposed to win, yes, the Dogs’ were faster, stronger, more talented. But you still have to show that on the field.
“Defensively, I was really impressed with how physical our defense played,” Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter said. “We limit them, basically took the run away from them, made them one dimensional.”
No one picked Abilene Christian to win the ballgame, but the Wildcats were not intimidated, they were a “confident group” said DeRuyter. Abilene had all their skill players back, a starting quarterback in Parker McKenzie that threw for over 3,000 yards as a sophomore. Running back DeAndre Brown nearly rushed for a 1,000 yards as a true freshman, despite missing two games, averaging almost 100 yards per contest. They had multiple wideouts that contributed to their spread offense.
“This was an explosive group, they averaged over 30 points per game, put up over 30 points against two FBS schools a year ago,” DeRuyter said.
The defense held the Wildcats to 247 total yards of offense and they forced a few three and outs. Abilene Christian never really got into an offensive groove. Quarterback Parker McKenzie finished the night completing 18 of 29 passes for 168 yards, and was intercepted twice. Running back DeAndre Brown had nine carries for 32 yards. The Bulldogs held the Wildcats to 34 total yards rushing.
One stat that shows vast improvement was the third down efficiency. Last year, it felt as if the Dogs’ couldn’t get off the field if their life depended on it. Last night Abilene Christian was just 5 for 17. The defense finished the night with five sacks, two interceptions, and countless pressure of the quarterback.
Ejiro Ederaine who’s finally healthy, made his presence felt all night. Ederaine finished the night with six tackles, one sack, and an interception to complete the trifecta.
“It was good to see,” DeRuyter said. “It was great to see him put both arms above his head for the first time in a while and pick that ball off. Having him come off the edge and get the sack was good to see. He brings great energy to our defense, he’s got to be that productive player that disruptive player he was tonight.”
Ederaine was a little too excited, as he received a personal foul for roughing the quarterback. “He’s got to be smarter, he got that one personal foul that he’ll have to pay for on Monday.” DeRuyter said.
Along with Ederaine, several young players made an impact. James Bailey the true freshman out of Austin, Texas (Lake Travis HS) had a debut to remember. Bailey was very active, assisted on several tackles, and had a couple of pass breakups.
“I thought James (Bailey) played terrific,” DeRuyter said. “He doesn't act like a true freshman, he’s a dynamic football player, he’s very, very sharp, he’s athletic enough to play as our nickel, he’s an outside linebacker. You saw him today blow up some plays on the perimeter.”
Bailey and the rest of the defensive backs were very active, very physical, playing a lot of bump and run coverage. Coach DeRuyter alluded to the coaching duo of secondary coach Marcus Woodson and graduate assistant Ricky Manning Jr. as doing an excellent job coaching up the defensive backs. Malcolm Washington, Tyquwan Glass, Dalen Jones, Shannon Edwards, and Stratton Brown all made solid plays on the night. One thing that is very noticeable is how active and knack to find the ball all the defensive backs have been since spring ball.
“I thought our defensive backs did a terrific job of being physical,” DeRuyter said. “It helped because we had a good rush up front.”
Next week Fresno State travels to Oxford, Mississippi for a date with SEC power Ole Miss. The speed, and athleticism will test the Dogs’, how they handle it remains to be seen. Nonetheless this was a positive showing.
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