Fresno State has what might be its greatest challenge ever to start a season: face the reigning national champions.
But interim Head Coach Tim Skipper believes his team is up for the task as the Bulldogs gear up for one of the most hostile environments in college football.
Flashback: Skipper stepped in as acting head coach for Jeff Tedford at the end of last season for the New Mexico Bowl, leading the ‘Dogs to a 37-10 victory over New Mexico State.
- Fresno State signaled that Tedford would return for the 2024 season despite his health concerns, but Tedford stepped down in July, just a couple weeks before fall camp was scheduled to start.
The big picture: While Fresno State has undergone change with Tedford’s departure, Skipper has been the assistant head coach since he returned to the program in 2022, bringing continuity to a program that has its eyes set on a Mountain West Championship.
- Michigan also has a new head coach in Sherrone Moore, taking over the Wolverines after Jim Harbaugh left for the San Diego Chargers. Similar to Fresno State, it doesn’t appear to be a huge transition for Michigan, since Moore stepped in as acting head coach during Harbuagh’s suspension last year for four games.
- But the Wolverines do not have the continuity on the field that Fresno State can boast heading into Saturday’s matchup. Michigan is returning only one player on offense and four players on defense who started over half of the games last year.
- On the other hand, Fresno State returns eight starters on offense – including quarterback Mikey Keene – and five on defense.
- Fresno State will not even know who Michigan will have under center until shortly before the game, as both Alex Orji and Davis Warren are competing for the quarterback job after J.J. McCarthy left for the NFL.
What we’re watching: Fresno State was a 21.5-point underdog as of Monday afternoon, according to sports betting news website Action Network.
- Michigan opens the season ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll despite winning the national championship last year. It’s the 13th time that the Bulldogs will face a team ranked in the top 10.
- Saturday’s game will also be the first time in program history that Fresno State will play in a game broadcast on NBC.
What he’s saying: Skipper, who played for the Bulldogs from 1997-2000 and has coached for over two decades across the nation, is not backing down from taking his team into The Big House, which holds 107,601 people.
- “I love hostile environments, to be honest with you,” Skipper said at his weekly press conference Monday. “I think that’s the magic of college football. You get 110 [thousand] in a stadium, it’s loud and rocking, you can’t hear. You want it to be as hard as it can possibly be. That’s just the way how I think about it.”
- The most hostile environment Skipper said he ever played in was at Ohio State, when the ‘Dogs opened the season against the Buckeyes in 2000 in front of 96,583 people.
- “The biggest thing I remember is when we went out to warm up, the stadium was already packed,” Skipper said. “I’d never been in a game where warmups – everybody was sitting in the seats. As a player, that was the biggest, most hostile environment.”
- As a coach, Skipper credited Fresno State fans for showing up when the ‘Dogs hosted Oregon in 2006.
- Even though Fresno State faces an uphill battle against Michigan, Skipper said the Bulldogs breathe the same air as the Wolverines, and as long as they play Bulldog football, they’ll have a chance to win.
- “To me, why not us? That’s kind of how our program is built,” Skipper said. “We’re ready for these types of moments, so we’ll go out there and go fight.”
