Fresno State Football: Can Bulldogs compete for Mountain West title in 2019?

The defending Mountain West champs have some holes to fill at key positions. Can Fresno State football retool quickly and remain in the title hunt in 2019?

Last year, Fresno State surprised the country as they took down Boise State in overtime to claim the Mountain West title on the snowy Smurf Turf at Albertsons Stadium. In Jeff Tedford’s second season, the Bulldogs broke through to beat their Milk Can rival and win 12 games for the first time in school history.

There is plenty of reason for optimism at Fresno State as the Bulldogs look to defend their Mountain West championship. At the same time, for every place where it looks like this team is ready to leap forward, there is another unit that could regress due to roster attrition. A lot of inexperience will make it that much tougher to replicate last year’s feat.

That said, the Bulldogs set up an ambitious non-conference schedule that will help boost their chances of relevance in the New Year’s Six race — if they can navigate their way to victories against Power Five opponents. Fresno State also must find their way back to the top of the table in an increasingly-open MWC West race this season.

Can Fresno State stay relevant against a deeper pool of divisional challengers than they have faced in recent seasons? Read on to learn more about the offense and defense before we break down the schedule and predict where the Bulldogs will finish in 2019.