Fresno State HC Matt Entz Praises Beaver Nation, Skyler Thomas, and more

Last Saturday, new Fresno State head coach Matt Entz earned his first win for the Bulldogs. He hopes it will be the first of many. 

The former North Dakota State coach won two FCS national championships with the Bison, and is hard at work to bring that winning tradition to Fresno. Monday, Entz spoke with Fresno/Bakersfield area press in advance of the Bulldogs’ weekend tilt at Oregon State. Here are five highlights from that conversation.

Fresno State HC Matt Entz on facing Oregon State at Reser Stadium

“We have our work cut out for this week, on the road you’re always going to show what you’re made of. I think it’s a very good Oregon State program. One that has a ton of tradition, and they are very difficult to beat at home. We know that, we talked about it this morning, a loud venue, we’re going to make sure that we do everything we can to try to be as prepared as possible.”

Fresno State HC Matt Entz on his team’s slow start last Saturday

“Well, I think just the biggest thing is one: it’s hard to win games when you turn the ball over. And so, I thought the start of the game was pretty dang good. I mean, we went down and scored today. It was 10 to nothing. I don’t know if you could, or I could, emulate that every week. I’m not complaining about that start. There might just be a little void in there where we can’t turn the ball over. We fumble it inside the five. And so there was a lot of positives right there, we just got to finish, and that’s what you saw in the second half [in the 42-14 win over Georgia Southern] was our ability to finish.”

Fresno State HC Matt Entz on the challenges that Oregon State present to the Bulldogs

“Very sound defensively. They play really well. I think their defensive front is really good. Then on offense, they have an experienced quarterback [Maalik Murphy], transfer from Duke who was nine and three last year, can make every throw, has athleticism, he’s big, 6’5”, 230 pound quarterback. They have skilled kids on the perimeter and they had some veterans coming back up front. We’re going to have to put a good game plan together. And we got to block out the outside noise to be competitive.”

Fresno State HC Matt Entz on starting QB E.J. Warner, son of NFL legend Kurt Warner

“I think for the most part we did [see him process plays quicker last Saturday]. He’s a people pleaser. He doesn’t want to make mistakes. Unfortunately when you play quarterback, you’re going to be the most evaluated position out there, but he went seven for eight in the second half [in last Saturday’s 42-14 win over Georgia Southern], and the only incompletion he had was a drop. I think we need to continue to put him in good situations. Does he wish he had a play back? Of course he does. We’re not coaching him [?], and he doesn’t want to make mistakes, and so we’re just going to continue to keep pouring into him, making sure that we’re doing the right thing and putting a gameplan in front of him that he can execute.”

Fresno State HC Matt Entz on what he likes about Oregon State’s defense

“Uh, really good up front, and again, we’re still I think a team in progress. We’re still moving ahead. We think our best football is ahead of us. They have a really good, solid defensive line. They play with great hands and great pad level. So the first level is going to be a priority for us. I think they have a couple players in the back end, they have a boundary safety number 17 (Skyler Thomas), leading tackler, who I think is a good player that will get down in the box. [He is] not shy of contact. And then of course you know I think they can be explosive offensively too, and we got to stay on top of routes and keep the ball in front of us.”