Fresno State Football: Ranking 2023’s Opposing Quarterbacks
Fresno State Football: Ranking 2023’s Opposing Quarterbacks
The defending Mountain West champions will have to contend with a number of talented quarterbacks to tally another ten-win season.
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A good Bulldogs secondary will be tested this fall.
12. Kent State — Jaren Lewis, Tommy Ulatowski, or Devin Kargman
The Golden Flashes were gutted by the transfer portal this off-season, an exodus that included Collin Schlee’s departure for UCLA. It’s a significant loss since he completed 59% of his 266 pass attempts a year ago with 13 touchdowns and a 1.8% interception rate, but Ulatowski and Kargman both played sparingly in 2022, combining for 81 attempts.
Purdue transfer Michael Alaimo could also factor in here, but it remains a big mystery in an offense suddenly chock full of them.
11. Eastern Washington — Kekoa Visperas
The Eagles fell on hard times in 2022, suffering their first losing campaign in 16 years, but you can’t put too much blame on a passing offense that remained pretty good, if not as prolific as it had been. Last year’s starter, Gunner Talkington, tossed 22 touchdowns with a 2.3% interception rate, while Visperas completed 65.9% of his throws with three touchdowns and one INT in five games as a backup.
The job seems likely to fall to Visperas now, so the task of boosting an attack that averaged a respectable 7.1 yards per attempt but managed only 253.6 yards per game is going to be at the top of his to-do list.
10. Wyoming — Andrew Peasley
For a brief moment late last September, it looked like the Cowboys passing game had turned a corner: Peasley completed at least 60% of his throws in three straight games, culminating in the team’s home upset of Air Force, but he got banged up struggled badly the rest of the way, reaching 60% just once in his last eight games.
Peasley also had what was arguably his worst performance of 2022 against Fresno State, in particular, completing 12-of-29 passes for 104 yards and two interceptions in the season finale.
9. Nevada — Shane Illingworth or Brendon Lewis
The Wolf Pack never really figured out their quarterback situation last year, which explains why Illingworth went 13-30-123-0-0 in a 38-point November loss to Boise State and Nate Cox took over to go 16-38-243-2-2 in a 27-point loss to Fresno State the following week. The former is back for another round and might have been a little better than the surface numbers would suggest — Pro Football Focus tabbed him with a 71.2% adjusted completion rate that was fifth in the Mountain West because he was saddled with a 9.6% drop rate which was fourth — but he’ll have to win another competition against Lewis, the former starter at Colorado.
8. Utah State — Cooper Legas
Legas has moxie and the ability to extend a play, but his first extended audition as the Aggies’ starter had some holes in it. After taking over for an injured Logan Bonner, he completed 61.1% of his passes and threw 11 touchdowns, but he also finished 2022 with a 4.5% interception rate that was far too high.
7. San Diego State — Jalen Mayden
It took Mayden little more than a half-season to cement himself as the Aztecs’ quarterback of the present and near future, finishing last season with a Mountain West-best 8.6 yards per attempt. Avoiding turnovers will be crucial to taking the next developmental step, though, because he threw at least one interception in each of his last six starts (a streak that, coincidentally, began in a loss to Fresno State).
6. Arizona State — Trenton Bourguet, Drew Pyne, or Jaden Rashada
This trio is an educated guess at the likeliest QB1 candidates at the roster, but as many as five players could be in the mix to replace Emory Jones in the first year of the Kenny Dillingham era. Bourguet started five games for the Sun Devils last year, completing 71.1% of his throws, while Pyne started ten games at Notre Dame last year and Rashada signed with Arizona State after a prolonged NIL ordeal with Miami (FL).
5. New Mexico — Dylan Hopkins
Hopkins is a newcomer to the Mountain West, but there’s a good reason why he followed new Lobos offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent to Albuquerque. It’s because he spent the last two years as one of the better quarterbacks in Conference USA at UAB, completing 64.7% of his throws for 9.3 yards per attempt with 31 touchdowns and a 2.4% interception rate.
He gives UNM instant credibility at the position, even if the Lobos still have plenty of questions elsewhere on offense, and should be a focal point of the team’s potential for a rebound in 2023.
4. UNLV — Doug Brumfield
Health concerns have plagued Brumfield in his two seasons under center with the Rebels, but he made strides in ten games last year with a 64.6% completion rate, the second-highest in the Mountain West, 7.5 yards per attempt, and ten touchdowns against five interceptions.
He also remains dangerous as a runner, scoring six times on the ground in 2022. That helped bail him out when he wasn’t so sharp as a passer, as was the case against Fresno State (18-33-172-0-0, 60 rushing yards), and could make him a dark horse offensive player of the year candidate this fall.
3. San Jose State — Chevan Cordeiro
After transferring to the Spartans from Hawaii, Cordeiro had the best overall season of his career with a 60.7% completion rate, 23 passing touchdowns, and a 1.4% interception rate. It wasn’t always easy, though, as he also absorbed 43 sacks and, against Fresno State in particular, had one of his more uneven games of 2022 (22-45-302-1-1).
When he’s on his game, though, few players in the Mountain West can do as much with their arm and feet as Cordeiro. He remains a primary reason why you can’t count the Spartans out as a title contender in 2023.
2. Boise State — Taylen Green
Green’s emergence was one of the biggest reasons why Boise State turned its 2022 around, but the Bulldogs got a better look than just about anyone at the ups and downs which marked his redshirt freshman year.
His first showdown with Fresno State came early in his tenure as QB1, but he answered the bell on the road and completed 10-of-18 passes for 127 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in a 20-point victory. The Bulldogs defense returned the favor in the Mountain West football championship game, though, and Green had the worst overall game of his young career while posting a 17-38-175-1-2 line.
On the whole, though, Green’s tools as a passer and runner are undeniable. He completed 61% of his throws for 7.5 yards per attempt and, after adjusting for sacks, ran for 620 yards, as well, accounting for 24 total touchdowns. He’ll make an ideal foil for the Red Wave over the next few years.
1. Purdue — Hudson Card
Card spent three seasons with the Texas Longhorns and made five starts in 22 appearances, but he never claimed the starting role outright against Casey Thompson and Quinn Ewers in that time, prompting his move to East Lafayette.
He could be a quality replacement, though, for the departed Aiden O’Connell, who was a fourth-round selection in April’s NFL Draft. According to Pro Football Focus, Card had an adjusted completion rate of 74.8% in 2022, which ranked second among Big 12 quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks, but he also sports a career 65.5% completion rate and 7.9 yards per attempt with 11 touchdowns and just two interceptions in 194 attempts.
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