UCLA Football Preview: Fresno State's Tim Skipper is Looking to Remove the Interim Tag
Skipper was named interim head coach when Jeff Tedford stepped down for health reasons.
It’s been an interesting eight years for the Fresno State football program. After former UC Berkeley head coach Jeff Tedford took over the program from fired head coach Tim DeRuyter, he had the program on an upward trajectory until 2019 when the team fell to 4-8 after going 12-2 in 2018.
But then Tedford stepped away from the program due to health issues.
Fresno State’s then-athletic director (and former UCLA football player and assistant coach) Terry Tumey brought in Kalen DeBoer to lead the program. It was a great choice by Tumey but, after just two seasons, the Bulldogs lost DeBoer to Washington where he led the Huskies to the CFP Championship game last season.
With his health in a better position, Tedford returned in 2022 and he led the team to a 10-4 mark and he followed that with a 9-4 record last season, though he missed the Bulldogs’ appearance in the New Mexico Bowl, again due to health reasons.
Tim Skipper was named the acting head coach for the bowl game.
Finally, in mid-July, Tedford stepped down again and Skipper was named interim head coach and the Bulldogs have compiled a 6-5 record this year under him.
Skipper is like DeShaun Foster in that both coaches were promoted by their respective alma maters to lead the program at a tough time. One big difference, of course, is that Skipper was named interim head coach, instead of being made the permanent head coach like Foster was. That’s likely due to the timin of the coaching change. While Foster’s hiring occurred late in the coaching carousel, Tedford’s mid-July departure made it nearly impossible to find a permanent replacement that quickly.
So, Skipper’s been coaching to keep his job all season, meaning a win over UCLA would be exactly the kind of signature win, even against a down UCLA team, which could allow him to have the “interim” tag removed.
Skipper’s coordinators are the same ones that Tedford had last year. Pat McCann is in his second season as the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator while Kevin Coyle is in his third season as the defensive coordinator.
In fact, with just two exceptions, the coaching staff is the same one that Tedford had last season. The first came with the addition of Patrick Markarian as the tight ends coach. Previously, special teams coordinator John Baxter had also coached tight ends. The second came with the promotion of Ben Watkins from defensive quality control coach when Skipper was promoted to interim head coach.
Special Teams
Overall, junior kicker Dylan Lynch is a very good kicker. He’s made 73.3% of his field goal attempts this season and he made 80% of them last season. He’s made 35 of his 36 PAT attempts this year. On kickoffs, 33 of his 60 kickoffs this year have gone for touchbacks and he’s averaging 63.6 yards per kickoff. So, just over half of the time, Fresno State’s opponents are starting on their own 25-yard line.
Australian freshman Clay Lawrence is the Bulldogs’ punter. He is averaging 40.77 yards per punt and his long was just 53 yards. However, only two of his 48 punts have gone for more than 50 yards. Four of his punts have gone for touchbacks while 22 have been fair catches and 18 have landed inside the 20.
Sophomore wide receiver Jalen Moss handles most of the returns for Fresno State. He has returned all but one of their punt returns along with two-thirds of their kickoff returns. He returned one of his 17 punt returns for a touchdown and is averaging 13.2 yards per punt return. On kickoff returns, he is averaging 15.5 yards per return and his longest went for 41 yards.
Senior receiver Jordan Brown is the only other Bulldog to return a punt this year and he’s returned two kickoffs as well. He hasn’t gain any yards on any of his returns.
Senior running back Malik Sherrod is the only Bulldog returner besides Moss to gain any yards on returns. Sherrod has returned three kickoffs for a total of 56 yards. That’s an average of 18.7 yards per return and his longest went for 29 yards.
Go Bruins!!!
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I like Fresno State and how they represent the Central Valley. Bruins are a 9 point favorite. Fresno is already bowling, and looking for a better bowl game. May the best team win.