Fresno State

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Fresno State Begins 2026 Season Against No. 14 USC in Pac-12 Openerour readUSC and Fresno State schedule Friday opener on FOXour readThe San Diego State rivalry

Pac-12 · Matt Entz, year 2 (10-5) · Valley Children's Stadium · 41,031 · 40,198 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#57 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #99 (-7.6) · FPI #72
The marketFresno State by 6.5at San José State · our model 65% Fresno State · a number, not a pick

LastW 49–3 vs Sacramento State · Sat Sep 12 · Jayden Mandal 316 pass yds, 2 TD, 8 rush yds

Nextat San José State · Sat Sep 19 · 11 pm ET · CEFCU Stadium · Fresno State by 6.5 · series 39-31, won the last 2 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureNational Program III#73 all-time– holding
one line from National Program II
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 82-67 12 seasons
Best season 12-2 2018
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 6-8 '15 3-9 '16 1-11 '17 10-4 '18 12-2 '19 4-8 '20 — '21 9-3 '22 10-4 '23 9-4 '24 6-7 '25 9-4

Fresno State's 2014–2025 record is 82-67. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.550
Ranked seasons (AP)
4/12
Best AP finish
#19

Program outlook

For fifteen years, Pat Hill's Bulldogs drove into anybody's stadium and dared the blue bloods to schedule them back. In 2026, Fresno State joins the Pac-12 — and the dare finally has an answer.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

Fresno State built its entire identity on a four-word philosophy: Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere. Pat Hill didn't just say it — he meant it, loading the Bulldogs on buses to hostile road environments and winning enough of them to make the Valley a genuine threat on the national schedule. David Carr cracked the top 10 in 2001 and became the first overall NFL pick in 2002. Derek Carr followed two decades later. The Carr pipeline is the clearest evidence that the Central Valley produces NFL quarterbacks at a rate the sport has never fully credited.

After the 2018 Mountain West title under Jeff Tedford — 12-2 and a Las Vegas Bowl win, the program's modern peak — Fresno cooled into several seasons of ordinary results. Matt Entz's first year in 2025 snapped the pattern: 9-4 and an Arizona Bowl win over Miami (OH), the validation that the Valley standard hadn't permanently slipped. Entz enters 2026 with the program restored and a historic upgrade locked in: Fresno State leaves the Mountain West for the Pac-12, playing its first power-conference season with an opener at USC.

The Pac-12 chapter is the question 2026 will answer — not whether Fresno belongs (the Pat Hill era settled that argument for anyone who watched) but whether a first-year power-conference program can compete for a league title immediately or needs a transitional season first. 'Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere' has a new venue. The Valley will find out if the giants can still be had.

On the field

Physical, run-first football with a quarterback capable of beating you through the air — the Carr brothers set the template and Fresno has never fully abandoned it. Under Entz the Bulldogs run a pro-style spread that prioritizes the run game and play-action, with an offensive line identity inherited from decades of Valley football that values downhill toughness over space-creation. The chip is the scheme: 'Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere' is not a slogan in Fresno, it's a blocking mentality.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Fresno State

Fresno State has won 56% of its games since 1926 — 67% at home, 44% on the road.

432-338-6 all-time · 97 seasons · 1926–2026

Home 253-120-3
Away 164-205-3
Neutral 15-13
4 g 1920s
29% 1930s
28% 1940s
29% 1950s
61% 1960s
46% 1970s
70% 1980s
57% 1990s
62% 2000s
52% 2010s
65% 2020s

Coaching Era · Fresno State

Matt Entz

Matt Entz in year 2 of the rebuild. The methodology is taking shape.

Era Matt Entz · 2025–presentPrev: Tim Skipper (interim) (2024)OC: Josh DavisPrev OC: Pat McCann (2023–2024)DC: Nick BenedettoPrev DC: Kevin Coyle (2022–2024)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
2 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

2001 top-10 run

David Carr's Bulldogs beat ranked opponents on the road and crack the top 10 — the 'Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere' apex

2018 Mountain West title

Tedford's 12-2 team wins the conference and the Las Vegas Bowl

The 2025 reset

Matt Entz's first year goes 9-4 with an Arizona Bowl win over Miami (OH) ahead of the Pac-12 move

Moment of the season — so far · Fresno State · 2026

Lost 0-39 at USC

Week 1 of 2026. A reckoning loss — the data point the next season must answer. It turned on one snap in Q2 — a 35-point win-probability swing.

Decisive Marginvs AP #14

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2023

Fresno State has sent 2 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — none in the first round.

Thin. Roster development still maturing.

2 picks · 0 in round 1
#127 Jake Haener Quarterback · 2023 · New Orleans · #53/140 final season
#167 DaRon Bland Cornerback · 2022 · Dallas · #182/321 final season
#76 all-time · 5 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

Fresno State is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Matt Entz2025
  • Hired Tim Skipper (interim)2024
  • Tim Skipper departs (interim)6-7, 1 season
  • Jeff Tedford departs19-8, 2 seasons
  • Hired Jeff Tedford2022
  • Hired Lee Marks2021
  • Kalen DeBoer departs12-6, 2 seasons
  • Lee Marks departs1-0, 1 season
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Fresno State’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · Dave Schramm2016 · Eric Kiesau2017–2018 · Kalen DeBoer2019–2021 · Ryan Grubb2022 · Kirby Moore2023–2024 · Pat McCann2025–2026 · Josh Davis
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · Nick Toth2016 · Lorenzo Ward2017 · Orlondo Steinauer2018–2019 · Bert Watts2020–2021 · William Inge2022–2024 · Kevin Coyle2025–2026 · Nick Benedetto
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

Three gameday rituals — the ones outsiders never quite catch.

Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere (Pat Hill Era)

since 1997

more

Pat Hill's 1997-2011 tenure produced the famous 'Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere' scheduling philosophy — Fresno State would play anyone, including P5 powers, on any field, any time. The aggressive non-conference scheduling produced multiple top-25 finishes + multiple bowl wins + the program's national reputation. The philosophy is permanent identity.

Carr Brothers QB Pipeline

since 2002

more

David Carr (1997-2001) + Derek Carr (2009-2013) — brothers both at Fresno State, both first-round NFL draft picks (David #1 overall 2002, Derek #2 in 2014 — second round). The Carr-brothers pipeline + Derek Carr's NCAA passing-yards-per-game record + the QB-development lineage make Fresno State QB U at the G5 level.

Jeff Tedford 2018 Mountain West Championship

since 2018

more

Jeff Tedford's 2018 12-2 + Mountain West championship + Las Vegas Bowl championship (his first year as head coach) is the program's modern peak. The Tedford era's recruiting + competitive cycles continued the Pat Hill ascent narrative. Tedford's 2022 departure to UC opened the next cycle.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2014-2025): 6-2

Most recent: 2025 — win 18-3 (home). Last 5 postseason: 4-1.

20252024202320222021
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

857
[Postgame Thread] Connecticut Defeats Fresno State 19-14
Oct 2022 · r/cfb
543
[Postgame Thread] Fresno State Defeats Connecticut 45-0
Aug 2021 · r/cfb
442
[Postgame Thread] USC Defeats Fresno State 45-17
Sep 2022 · r/cfb
406
[Postgame Thread] USC Defeats Fresno State 31-23
Sep 2019 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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