What a difference a week makes for the Fresno State football program.
It kind of felt like the sky was falling after getting shutout at USC, but one week later, there is suddenly optimism and momentum heading into a rivalry game at San Jose State, and the big reason (at least to me): the impressive play of the offense and quarterback Jayden Mandal, in that dominating win over Sacramento State.
The big question then, as the Bulldogs look to win a third straight game in the “Battle for the Valley” series is, will that offensive momentum from last week carry over to San Jose?
Call me Prisoner of the Moment, but I say yes. Maybe not to the same degree that we saw against the Hornets (I mean, Mandal was the only QB in the country last week with an adjusted completion percentage of 100% according to Pro Football Focus), but if they can get 75 to 80 percent of the offensive production we saw last week, that should be enough against the Spartans.
I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that we saw San Jose State and Fresno State play in San Jose, last Thanksgiving Saturday in fact. And that 41-14 win by the Bulldogs was dominated by the Bulldog defense, which only allowed 227 total yards to the Spartans and created five takeaways.
That San Jose State team had to play three different quarterbacks in that game, after their starter Walker Eget (now the starter at Duke) was injured the week before the 2025 Fresno State game, which might have skewed the result a little bit.
But even though the Spartans appear much more stable at that position heading into this year’s game, with Manteca native and former Modesto JC star Luke Weaver at the controls, the nucleus of the 2025 Bulldog defense has returned this season, while the Spartans had a big overhaul of their roster in the portal.
I don’t think Mandal and company will make things look as easy offensively as they did last week, but after that confidence-building performance not only for him, but for guys like WR’s Ezekiel Avit and Josiah Freeman, and RB Bryson Donelson, I expect the Bulldogs to score into the high 20’s or low 30’s against a San Jose State team that struggled to put away FCS foe Cal Poly last week.
And defensively, although Weaver could provide some challenges with his dual-threat ability, the Bulldogs have only allowed 10 and 14 points respectively, the last two seasons against the Spartans, and I don’t see any reason why that would change dramatically in year three.
Fresno State 31, San Jose State 21
