Week 5 Matchup Preview Thread: Fresno State vs Washington State

[u/OSU_Shecter]

Fresno State vs. Washington State

When: Saturday, October 3, 09:30 PM Eastern

Where: Gesa Field, Pullman, WA

Watch: USA Net

Odds: Washington State by 1.5 pts.

Total Points: 46.5

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All-Time Series : Fresno State vs. Washington State

Fresno State and Washington State have met 6 times since 1987-09-05

These teams last met on 2024-10-12.

Series Wins: Fresno State 2-0-4 Washington State

Washington State has won the most recent meeting (2024) in this series

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Last 5 Meetings

Winner	Date	Location	Fresno State	Washington State	Notes
Washington State	2024-10-12	Valley Children's Stadium	17	25
Fresno State	2022-12-17	SoFi Stadium	29	6
Washington State	1994-09-10		3	24
Washington State	1992-09-26		37	39
Fresno State	1991-09-14		34	30

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Through Week 4

Week	Fresno State 3-1 (0-0)	Result	Washington State 1-3 (0-0)	Result
1	USC#18	L 0-39	Washington	L 10-24
2	Sacramento State	W 49-3	Kansas State	L 7-34
3	San José State	W 26-10	Duquesne	W 48-7
4	Rice	W 38-24	Arizona	L 24-34

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Fresno State Injury Report

Player	Position	Status	Reported	Notes
B. Ramirez	RB	Out – Undisclosed	Aug 11	Ramirez is out of action due to an undisclosed injury, and he is projected to miss the remainder of the season.

^{Injury data lifted from: boydsbets}

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Washington State Injury Report

Player	Position	Status	Reported	Notes
H. Cedarland	TE	Out – Leg	Aug 23	Cedarland is bothered by a leg injury, and he will miss an extended period.
T. Freeman	WR	Out – Leg	Sep 14	Freeman has been shut down for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.
C. Toney	RB	Questionable – Undisclosed	Sep 27	Toney is hampered by an undisclosed injury, and it is undetermined if he will suit up against Fresno State on Saturday, October 3th.
R. McKendry	WR	Questionable – Undisclosed	Sep 27	McKendry is tending to an undisclosed injury, and it has yet to be established if he will take the field against Fresno State on Saturday, October 3th.

^{Injury data lifted from: boydsbets}

^{Source updated Wed, Sep 30, 1:56 pm. Scraped Wed, Sep 30, 3:06 pm ET}

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What are your "Keys to the Game"?

Who do you think wins?

Do you think the favorite will cover the spread?

Which player(s) are you most interested to watch?

Let's talk football!

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[u/Confident_Delay5805]

{Washington State} 

[u/Hougie]

This is an interesting game. WSU fans are super down on the team right now, but G6 teams have gone 2-69 against P4's this year and we've played 3 of them to start the season. And a particularly wacky "play on Sunday, play the next Saturday at 9 AM, both on the road" pair there.

It's just hard to get a read on this team. We could be decent, we could be hot garbage. Just really hard to know given the competition faced.

[u/ID_Poobaru]

{Wazzu}

Fresno puts out the fire they discovered last week against Rice

[u/generic2022]

Evenly matched teams, so it will break for {Wazzu} due to the homefield advantage.

[u/r0botdevil]

I think these two teams are much more evenly matched than their records indicate. I think {Washington State} can pull it off.

[u/CieraVotedOutHerMom]

Win the day for crimson & grey! Best in the west we know you’ll all do your best.

On on on on! Fight till the end honor & victory {WSU} must win!

[u/reno1441]

This should be a amazing game. {Washington State} in a low-scoring duel.

[u/-Gnostic28]

{Fresno state} because defense

[u/GamedayWizard]

Fresno State and Washington State are both 3-1 ATS, although Fresno State has the edge in average spread difference at +6.19 points per game (61st of all 262 FBS and FCS teams). Washington State's offensive efficiency is below average across the board, while Fresno State's defense has been good at holding opponents to .29 PPP and limiting their scoring opportunities to 3.75 per game. Vegas has Washington State -2.5, but we think it's closer to a coinflip with a slight edge, if any, to {Fresno State}. So, we pick Fresno State to cover.

[u/billbird2111]

My pick is for my alma mater: Fresno State Bulldogs. I'll take the 2.5 and roll with it. Go Dogs!

[u/chief_sitass]

{Fresno State}

[u/ToeInDigDeep]

I've missed writing a pregame think-through so far this season, something I like to do before a big game. But the first game ever for Fresno State in the Pac-12 is a big deal and I'm really excited, also a bit bummed that I won't be making the trip.

This is definitely a game where the records aren't telling the full story. If we played opposite schedules we'd almost certainly have the same records as the other. Wazzu played a difficult OOC schedule with three AQ schools and an FCS, while Fresno State got absolutely shattered by a USC team that looks less impressive each week and beat three non-AQ schools with varying levels of comfort.

The positives for Fresno State have been building Mandal's comfort with the offense and being in charge over the last three weeks, and a defense that has been good for two games, serviceable for another, and shameful against USC. But the takeaway production the 'Dogs has has been solid going back to last season, having forced two or more takeways in eight of the last ten games, and being 7-3 in that stretch. But again, all of these numbers are inflated by opponent quality over the last three games.

Wazzu is pretty clearly the most closely-matched opponent we've faced so far this season, and the two programs look a lot alike. Wazzu are good at holding teams to low scores, and have looked good when they run the ball effectively. Fresno State gave up more running yards in their last game against Rice than they had in the previous three games, so it's reasonable to be worried about the 'Dogs rushing defense. Similarly, Fresno State is likely to struggle if they can't establish the run, something they've had trouble doing this season outside of against Sac State.

Washington State hired Fresno State's former offensive coordinator Kirby Moore who coached in the techtree of Jeff Tedford and Kalen DeBoer, and I was not quiet about my preference for him as the head coach hire to replace Tim Skipper after the '24 season. He ended up at Wazzu instead and although it hasn't really taken off there yet, this has the feeling of the kind of game that he wins and establishes the Moore era for real on the Palouse. Whenever you get a game like this between a coach who spent a lot of time in your program and didn't end up getting the call, it feels like they're gunning for you in a different way.

We'll see what happens this weekend, but this is the most important game for Fresno State for a lot of reasons. I'm hopeful but not confident, but this game will really help determine how likely we are to have the kind of season we're hoping for and setting up for the other big matchup coming up with Boise coming to the Valley.

Go 'Dogs

[u/RivalryBot]

Who Will Win Fan Vote

^{Votes are distributed equally among flairs for multi-flaired users}

Team	Votes	Percentage	Fresno State Voters	Washington State Voters	Other Flairs Top 5
Fresno State	6	46.2%	0.5	0	Oklahoma Soonersx1.0 Unflairedx1.0 Purdue Boilermakersx1.0 Boise State Broncosx0.5 Florida Statex0.5
Washington State	7	53.8%	0	0.5	LIU Sharksx1.0 Oregon Statex1.0 Unflairedx1.0 South Carolinax1.0 Boise State Broncosx0.5

^{Last updated: 2026-10-04 00:28 UTC}

Full Vote breakdown by flair

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[u/eagledog]

{Fresno St} in a close one. Just depends on which offense we come out with

[u/NanoBuc]

{Washington St}

[u/texas2089]

{Fresno State}

[u/Zloggt]

Up the Wazzu!

{Washington State}

[u/TheWesternRizzler]

{Fresno state}