2023 Fresno State

9–⁠4 (4–⁠4 Mountain West Conference), coached by Jeff Tedford, then Tim Skipper (bowl game).

Schedule and results

Fresno State in 2023, game by game: won at Purdue 39–35; won vs. Eastern Washington 34–31; won at Arizona State 29–0; won vs. Kent State 53–10; won vs. Nevada 27–9; lost at Wyoming 19–24; won at Utah State 37–32; won vs. UNLV 31–24; won vs. Boise State 37–30; lost at San José State 18–42; lost vs. New Mexico 17–25; lost at San Diego State 18–33; won vs. New Mexico State 37–10+43−24Won 39–35 at Purdue+4PurdueWon 34–31 vs. Eastern Washington+3Eastern Washing…Won 29–0 at Arizona State+29Arizona StateWon 53–10 vs. Kent State+43Kent StateWon 27–9 vs. Nevada+18NevadaLost 19–24 at Wyoming-5WyomingWon 37–32 at Utah State+5Utah StateWon 31–24 vs. UNLV+7UNLVWon 37–30 vs. Boise State+7Boise StateLost 18–42 at San José State-24San José StateLost 17–25 vs. New Mexico-8New MexicoLost 18–33 at San Diego State-15San Diego StateWon 37–10 vs. New Mexico State+27New Mexico State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat New Mexico State 37–⁠10 in the New Mexico Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Mountain West Conference.

In program history: The 19th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 97 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 25
  2. Wk 6: 24
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in Mountain West Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 24
Points
396–⁠305
Coach
Jeff Tedford, then Tim Skipper (bowl game)
Elo
1576 −34 this season
SP+ rating
2.5 No. 60 of 133; offense No. 52, defense No. 79, special teams No. 18
SRS
−1.6 No. 70 of 133 in FBS
Returning
17% of last season’s EPA, No. 123 of 131
Recruiting class
No. 83 roster talent No. 78 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Pat McCann
Defensive coordinator
Kevin Coyle
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense45th of 133
  • Defense50th of 133
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted67th of 133
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted61st of 133
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1543%1.3045th of 133
Defense0.0841%1.2450th of 133
Opponent-adjusted0.10 off
0.10 def
41% off
42% def
—67th off
61st def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.2own 3114% allowed
Defense3.3own 2816% caused

CORE rating 0.5, 61st of 133 (offense 2.5, defense 1.9).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsMikey Keene QB2,976 yds
Passing touchdownsMikey Keene QB24 TD
Rushing yardsMalik Sherrod RB967 yds
Rushing touchdownsMalik Sherrod RB9 TD
Receiving yardsErik Brooks WR771 yds
Receiving touchdownsJaelen Gill WR6 TD
TacklesDean Clark DB80 tkl
SacksJacob Holmes DL5 sacks
InterceptionsCarlton Johnson DB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2023 class

Brandon Ramirez S★★★No. 1340
Justin Johnson S★★★No. 1380
R.L. Miller LB★★★No. 1380
Charles Greer Jr. RB★★★No. 1481
Mordecai Hines DL★★★No. 1545

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2023 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.00.837
Running backs23.00.842
Offensive line12.00.790
Defensive line23.00.841
Linebackers23.00.844
Defensive backs42.80.804
Athletes and specialists13.00.826
Whole class142.90.826

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Roster 112

The 2023 roster

112 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2023 line; 62 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 7

The 2023 portal

Transfers out 23

Evan Williams S★★★★to Oregon
Leonard Payne Jr. DL★★★to Colorado
Cale Sanders CB★★★to SMU
Jaylen Henderson QB★★★to Texas A&M
Josh Kelly WR★★★to Washington State
Bula Schmidt OL★★★to UCF
Andres Fox DE★★★★no new school on file
Joshua Pakola DL★★★★no new school on file
Da’Marcus Johnson DE★★★no new school on file
Emari Pait ATH★★★no new school on file
Frankco Gratton Jr. DE★★★no new school on file
Joseph Church OT★★★no new school on file

And 11 more, lower-rated or unrated.

2023 Mountain West Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
UNLV6–⁠29–⁠5
Boise State6–⁠28–⁠6
San José State6–⁠27–⁠6
Air Force5–⁠39–⁠4
Wyoming5–⁠39–⁠4
Fresno State4–⁠49–⁠4
Utah State4–⁠46–⁠7
Colorado State3–⁠55–⁠7
Hawai’i3–⁠55–⁠8
San Diego State2–⁠64–⁠8
New Mexico2–⁠64–⁠8
Nevada2–⁠62–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.