Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 48. Fresno State
The Valley
One of my favorite parts of this series was learning just how good Fresno State’s been since they moved up to Division 1-A in 1969. For some reason, I thought Bulldog football under coach Pat Hill (1997-2011) were the golden years, but legendary coach Jim Sweeney (1976-77, 1980-96) was a hell of a program builder, and of course Jeff Tedford, Kalen DeBoer, and Tim DeRuyter have enjoyed success in the Valley since Hill left. I really like Fresno State, and hope to make the trip out for a game there some day.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+--------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+--------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 9 | Fresno State | 1985 | 33.19 | 11-0-1 |
| 13 | Fresno State | 2018 | 26.484 | 12-2 |
| 16 | Fresno State | 2001 | 19.745 | 11-3 |
| 24 | Fresno State | 2013 | 18.729 | 11-2 |
| 18 | Fresno State | 1989 | 18.601 | 11-1 |
| 27 | Fresno State | 2021 | 16.113 | 10-3 |
| 20 | Fresno State | 2004 | 15.033 | 9-3 |
| 26 | Fresno State | 1991 | 14.736 | 10-2 |
| 25 | Fresno State | 1988 | 12.235 | 10-2 |
| 33 | Fresno State | 2017 | 12.034 | 10-4 |
| 31 | Fresno State | 2022 | 9.943 | 10-4 |
| 29 | Fresno State | 1986 | 8.715 | 9-2 |
| 26 | Fresno State | 1992 | 6.952 | 9-4 |
| 38 | Fresno State | 2007 | 6.157 | 9-4 |
| 46 | Fresno State | 2012 | 4.564 | 9-4 |
| 35 | Fresno State | 2005 | 3.892 | 8-5 |
| 37 | Fresno State | 1990 | 3.035 | 8-2-1 |
| 33 | Fresno State | 1993 | 2.313 | 8-4 |
| 47 | Fresno State | 2002 | -1.059 | 9-5 |
| 51 | Fresno State | 2003 | -1.462 | 9-5 |
| 55 | Fresno State | 2009 | -2.602 | 8-5 |
| 46 | Fresno State | 1999 | -2.836 | 8-5 |
| 58 | Fresno State | 2010 | -6.592 | 8-5 |
| 56 | Fresno State | 2000 | -6.786 | 7-5 |
| 53 | Fresno State | 1987 | -11.437 | 6-5 |
| 65 | Fresno State | 2008 | -11.869 | 7-6 |
| 79 | Fresno State | 2020 | -12.226 | 3-3 |
| 64 | Fresno State | 1997 | -13.992 | 6-6 |
| 61 | Fresno State | 1983 | -15.555 | 6-5 |
| 66 | Fresno State | 1998 | -16.567 | 5-6 |
| 66 | Fresno State | 1984 | -16.738 | 6-6 |
| 76 | Fresno State | 1994 | -22.529 | 5-7-1 |
| 99 | Fresno State | 2019 | -27.134 | 4-8 |
| 89 | Fresno State | 2006 | -28.223 | 4-8 |
| 93 | Fresno State | 2014 | -28.56 | 6-8 |
| 78 | Fresno State | 1995 | -28.627 | 5-7 |
| 87 | Fresno State | 1996 | -31.58 | 4-7 |
| 100 | Fresno State | 2011 | -36.73 | 4-9 |
| 117 | Fresno State | 2015 | -48.74 | 3-9 |
| 127 | Fresno State | 2016 | -61.942 | 1-11 |
+------+--------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 21481 (48th)299-192-3 record
11 conference titles
12-12 bowl record
1 consensus All-American
69 NFL players drafted
Some very interesting rankings in the table above. My model seems to be very high on Fresno, ranking them #9 in 1985 (actual rank: unranked), #13 in 2018 (actual rank: #18), and #16 in 2001 (actual rank: unranked). Am I overrating them, or did the AP underrate them? We’ll get into it below. Fresno’s been extremely dominant, winning on average a conference title just under every 4 years. 11 titles is by far the most we’ve seen so far, with Cincinnati as the closest with 8. Fresno’s bowl wins and losses come in spurts, having won their first 3, losing 4 of their next 5, winning 4 of their next 5, losing their next 6, and finally winning their last 4. Fresno enters 2023 on their 4 bowl win streak. 1 consensus All-American makes this easy—it was DB Phillip Thomas (2012), who led the nation with 8 interceptions and 3 interception return touchdowns. He also had 84 tackles, 4 sacks, and 8 TFL. Fresno’s had no shortage of great NFL players, with just a few of the names being WR Davante Adams, QB Derek Carr, WR Henry Ellard, OG Logan Mankins, FB Lorenzo Neal, #1 overall pick QB David Carr, RB Michael Pittman, QB Trent Dilfer, RB Ryan Mathews, and WR Bernard Berrian.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2016 (1-11 overall, 0-8 Mountain West)
Never ask a woman her age, a man his salary, or a Fresno State fan how the end of Tim DeRuyter’s tenure went. After reaching a high of 11-2 in 2013, Fresno fell off a cliff the next few years, going from 11-2 to 6-8 to 3-9 to 1-11 in a span of 4 years. DeRuyter was fired 8 games into 2016 after a 1-7 start, losing to Nebraska 10-43, Toledo 17-52, UNLV 20-45, and a 20-38 loss to a Utah State team that would finish 3-9 was the final straw. Fresno did what they could in the final 4 games, looking for their first win over an FBS opponent (their only win was against FCS Sacramento State), but came up 1 point short against Hawaii and 2 points short against San Jose State to finish 1-11. The QB play was a far cry from Derek Carr just a few years prior, with Chason Virgil completing just 52% of passes for 2000 yards 13 TD 10 INT. The run game was worse, averaging 3.2 YPC as a team. Fresno’s offense was the 4th worst in the nation, averaging just 17.7 PPG, while just 1 defensive player (LB Jeff Camilli) made 1st/2nd Team All-MWC.
5. 1989 (11-1 overall, 7-0 Big West)
This was the 2nd of a run of 5 conference titles in 6 years from 1988-93. Coach Jim Sweeney had the Bulldogs dominating the non-Pac-10 west coast at the time. Well, even the Pac a little bit, beating Oregon State 35-18. The ‘89 team paved the way for Bulldog greatness, winning 11 games for just the 2nd time in school history, which they wouldn’t do again until 2001 and after that until 2013. They rolled the competition early, starting 8-0 with the win over Oregon State and a win over eventual 6-4-1 Cal State Fullerton. In the rivalry game vs San Jose State, the #25 Bulldogs stopped SJSU's 2 point conversion to hold for a 31-30 win and improve to 9-0. They’d blow out New Mexico State before losing a meaningless (albeit very surprising) game to New Mexico to finish 10-1. MAC champion Ball State stood no chance in the California bowl, held to 61 rushing yards in a 27-6 Bulldog win. They didn’t finish in the AP Top 25, but won the Big West with a perfect record and had great talent. RB Aaron Craver was an All-American, setting a school record with 1313 rushing yards. LB Ron Cox was also a 3rd Team All-American and Butkus Award finalist, setting a school record with 28 sacks. CB James Williams was a 3rd Team All-American as well and the 16th overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft. Cox was a 2nd round selection, and Craver a 3rd rounder a year later.
4. 2013 (11-2 overall, 7-1 Mountain West)
The 2013 Bulldogs were looking like a BCS buster for a hot minute in the last season of the BCS. They had maybe the most stacked offense in Fresno State history with QB Derek Carr throwing to WR Davante Adams and two other 1000 yard receivers, averaging 40.3 PPG for the season. They started hot, winning close games against Rutgers (52-51 in OT) and Boise State (41-40) thanks to 9 TD from Carr. The Boise win ended a 7 game losing streak against the Broncos, and was a huge weight off of Fresno State’s shoulders. Fresno opened 10-0 against one of the weakest schedules in the country, narrowly slipping by against 1-11 finisher Hawaii, but also taking out MWC division contender San Diego State. Fresno’s BCS bowl hopes would come to an end in a 52-62 upset loss to San Jose State, with Carr and SJSU QB David Fales combining for 13 TDs. Davante Adams had 13 catches for 264 yards and 3 TD!! Fresno still managed to win the Mountain West, beating Utah State 24-17 to finish the regular season 11-1. A blowout loss to USC in the bowl knocked Fresno out of the top 25 to end the year, but I had them at #24.
Carr was borderline unstoppable, throwing for 5000+ yards with 50 TD 8 INT, winning MWC Offensive POTY for the second year in a row, and the Sammy Baugh Trophy. He had plenty of weapons to throw to with WR Davante Adams (131 catches for 1719 yards and 24 TD), Isaiah Burse (100 catches, 1026 yards, 6 TD), Josh Harper (79 catches, 1011 yards, 13 TD), and TE Marcel Jensen (2nd Team All-MWC). Adams and Burse finished #1 and #2 in MWC catches, respectively, with Adams leading the nation in catches and receiving TDs. He’s gone on to become one of the best receivers in the NFL, making 6 Pro Bowls and is a 3x 1st Team All-Pro. Carr went on to start 9 years for the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders, making 4 Pro Bowls.
3. 2001 (11-3 overall, 6-2 WAC)
Sorry baby bro, David Carr led Fresno to the better season. Led by the future #1 overall pick, Fresno State was one of the hottest teams in the nation to start the year, getting all the way up to #8 with a 6-0 start. Fresno’s opening resume was ludicrous—they started the year beating eventual Big 12 champion Colorado 24-22, then beat #10 Oregon State 44-24, then #23 Wisconsin 32-20 IN Wisconsin, beat a weak Tulsa team, beat eventual WAC champion Louisiana Tech, and finally beat eventual 7-5 Colorado State who was coming off a #14 final ranking the previous year. Whew. Carr emerged as one of the Heisman favorites, and there were serious rumblings of what Fresno could achieve if they finished unbeaten. Pat Hill’s mantra of Fresno State playing “anybody, anywhere, anytime” was starting to pay off. An upset loss to Boise State is credited by Bronco fans as the catalyst for Boise’s rise to power, and for Fresno it ended their unbeaten run. A follow up loss to Hawaii knocked them out of both the AP Top 25 and the top spot in the WAC, but they’d at least finish the regular season 5-0 with an average score of 52-19. A loss to Michigan State in the Silicon Valley Bowl ended the year 11-3.
Carr led a top 5 offense in the nation, scoring 40.0 PPG. He was the best non-Power 6 conference player in the country, throwing for 4839 yards 46 TD 9 INT, leading the nation in passing yards and passing TD, and winning the WAC Offensive POTY, Sammy Baugh Trophy, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, and finished 5th in Heisman voting, just 490 points from winning it. He’d go #1 overall in the 2002 NFL Draft to the Houston Texans. It helped that he was throwing the ball to 2 studs in WRs Rodney Wright and Bernard Berian. Wright was somehow only 2nd Team All-WAC, despite leading the nation with 104 catches for 1630 yards and 12 TD. Berian was an All-American as a return man with 2 return TDs, but also had 85 catches for 1364 yards and 13 TD. Both were drafted into the NFL, with Berian going as a 3rd round pick and had over 4000 receiving yards in the league.
2. 2018 (12-2 overall, 7-1 Mountain West)
2018 Fresno State was a REALLY good Group of 5 team, one you probably don’t think about much if you’re not a Fresno fan. Jeff Tedford had revamped the program, taking them from 1 win in 2016 to 10 in 2017. Fresno started with a very strong 3-1 record, losing only to Minnesota by 7 points, and beating Idaho 79-13, UCLA 38-14, and Toledo 49-27. Fresno had one of the best defenses in the country, in any conference, winning their next 5 Mountain West games by an average score of 37-7. In their hit list included 8-5 Nevada, 6-6 Wyoming, and 8-6 Hawaii. A close loss to Boise knocked Fresno from #23 to unranked, but the two would rematch in the Mountain West title game a few weeks later, this time Fresno emerging victorious over #22 Boise 19-16 in OT. Tied 17-17 at halftime with Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl, the defense stepped up as usual, holding Herm Edwards’ team to 3 second half points in a 31-20 win. RB Ronnie Rivers won MVP, rushing for 212 yards and 2 TD on just 24 carries.
2018 Fresno wasn’t sexy, but they were efficient, scoring 34.6 PPG while giving up just 14.1 PPG. Notable wins included UCLA, 7-6 Toledo, 8-5 Nevada, 6-6 Wyoming, 8-6 Hawaii, 7-6 San Diego State, #22 Boise State, and 7-6 Arizona State. Not many standout opponents, but a LOT of solid ones and Fresno had an average score of 32-15 in those games. QB Marcus McMaryion finished off a very efficient 2-year career with the Bulldogs, completing 69% for 3629 yards and 25 TD to just 5 INT, along with 8 rushing TD. WR KeeSean Johnson (no relation to former Dancing with the Stars contestant Keyshawn Johnson) was top 6 in the NCAA in both catches and receiving yards, snagging 95 balls for 1340 yards and 8 TD in a 2nd Team All-MWC season, finishing as Fresno’s all-time leader in receiving yards with 3463. LB Jeff Allison won Mountain West Defensive POTY, amassing 120 tackles, 5 TFL, and 2 INT, leading the 3rd ranked defense in the country.
2018 Fresno State is my 50th best Group of 5 team since 1983.
1. 1985 (11-0-1 ovrall, 7-0 PCAA)
Robbed of a national title! Fresno State was the only team to finish unbeaten in 1985. If BYU got the 1984 title, surely Fresno deserves 1985. Kidding, but this was a really good team unfortunately stuck in a really weak conference. The offense was #1 in the country, averaging 40.1 PPG, while the defense gave up just 17.4 PPG. Fresno opened with a 26-6 win over defending PCAA champs UNLV, before beating Oregon State 33-24. To this day, Fresno has an impressive 8-6 record against Oregon State. The only blemish on the year was a 24-24 tie with Hawaii, who wasn’t particularly impressive at just 4-6-2. They’d easily dispatch the inferior competition in the PCAA, beating 2nd place Cal State Fullerton 42-7. A 10-0-1 regular season saw the Bulldogs win the PCAA and enter the California Bowl as one of just two unbeaten teams left in the country—facing the other one in 11-0 #20 Bowling Green. Fresno left absolutely zero doubt, with one of the greatest performances in school history, winning 51-7. They somehow didn’t finish as a top 25 team because of playing in the weak PCAA, but that’s also because the AP Poll used to finish up before bowl season. After the California Bowl, they finished #16 in the Coaches Poll.
Jim Sweeney’s son, Kevin, was actually the QB for this team, leading the PCAA in passer rating completing 60% of throws for 2604 yards 14 TD 7 INT. Sweeney was the school’s all-time leading passer with 10,623 yards before Derek Carr rewrote the record books in 2013. RB James Williams endowed himself to fans in his first year in the Valley, leading the PCAA with 1017 yards and 13 TD. WRs Stephen Baker and Gene Taylor would be drafted in the 3rd and 6th rounds of the 1987 NFL Draft, respectively, with Sweeney going in the 7th to the Dallas Cowboys. Fresno’s #16 postseason ranking in the Coaches Poll is their highest ever finish in a poll to this day.
1985 Fresno State is my 26th best Group of 5 team since 1983.
5th Quarter
Would you agree with my individual Fresno State season rankings of #9 (1985), #13 (2018), and #16 (2001), or am I overrating them? Is the order of top 5 Fresno seasons accurate? Were 1985 and 2018 Fresno State top 50 Group of 5 teams since 1983? What about Fresno’s rank on this list as the 3rd best G5 team and #48 overall, is that fair? Who are the top 3 Fresno coaches since 1983, and how would you rank them? Is Sweeney the clear #1, or does Pat Hill have an argument for that spot? Where would Fresno State football be today if they had beaten #1 USC in 2005 and Reggie Bush hadn’t had a billion all-purpose yards? What are some other what-if scenarios involving Fresno? Which Carr brother was better in college? Who’s the best Fresno State player I didn’t talk about much above?
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub
