Coming off back-to-back Mountain West championships, Fresno State enters its third season in the Mountain West with a 2014 schedule that lays out as one both challenging and favorable.
"Our program is excited to see our full 2014 schedule come out today and we know the Red Wave too will be excited to see the lineup of teams coming to Bulldog Stadium," Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter said. "We look forward to the challenge of defending our Mountain West championship."
The previously announced non-conference schedule takes up the first four weeks of the season.
Fresno State then begins Mountain West play on Sept. 27 at New Mexico. That New Mexico game is the lone road contest for the Bulldogs over a four-game stretch from Sept. 13 through Oct. 4. Fresno State hosts Nebraska and Southern Utah and then ends the stretch with a home game against in-state rival San Diego State on Oct. 4.
After that, Fresno State faces two challenging road games at UNLV (Oct. 11) and at Boise State (Oct. 18) before receiving its first bye nine weeks into the season on Oct. 25.
Coming off the bye, the Bulldogs play three of their final four games of the season at home. Remember, Fresno State has gone a perfect 13-0 at home in two seasons under DeRuyter and his staff.
The 'Dogs host Wyoming (Nov. 1) and San Jose State (Nov. 8) before receiving their second and final idle weekend of the season on Nov. 15. The 2014 regular season schedule ends with a road trip to Nevada on Nov. 22 and a Nov. 29 home game against Hawai'i.
The 2014 schedule will play out over 15 weeks, concluding on Saturday, Dec. 6, with the Mountain West Football Championship Game to be played at the home stadium of the highest-ranked of the two divisional champions.
The scheduling format for the 12-member football lineup consists of five intra-divisional games and three cross-divisional contests. Each institution will play four home and four road conference games. This is the second year of the initial four-year cycle in which each member institution will play every other Mountain West opponent home and away.
Thursday's release represents the first phase in the 2014 football schedule process. Mountain West national television partners CBS Sports Network and ESPN will now initiate a selection procedure which will include the shifting of particular games to Thursdays and Fridays. That will be followed by the identification of network outlets and kick times, along with the picks for regional partner ROOT SPORTS and the Mountain West Network powered by Campus Insiders.
The 2014 MW football membership includes Air Force, Boise State, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah State and Wyoming in the Mountain Division and Fresno State, Hawai`i, Nevada, San Diego State, San José State and UNLV in the West Division.
Season tickets for the 2014 Fresno State football season are currently on sale. Visit GoBulldogs.com or call the Fresno State ticket office at 278-DOGS for more information.
Aug. 30 -- at USC -- Los Angeles, Calif.
Sept. 6 -- at Utah -- Salt Lake City, Utah
Sept. 13 -- Nebraska -- Fresno, Calif.
Sept. 20 -- Southern Utah -- Fresno, Calif.
Sept. 27 -- at New Mexico* -- Albuquerque, N.M.
Oct. 4 -- San Diego State* -- Fresno, Calif.
Oct. 11 -- at UNLV* -- Las Vegas, Nev.
Oct. 18 -- at Boise State* -- Boise, Idaho
Nov. 1 -- Wyoming* -- Fresno, Calif.
Nov. 8 -- San Jose State* -- Fresno, Calif.
Nov. 22 -- at Nevada* -- Reno, Nev.
Nov. 29 -- Hawai'i* -- Fresno, Calif.
