Fresno State Bulldogs open the 2019 season against USC

PHOTO COURTESY OF FRESNO STATE FOOTBALL

The Fresno State Bulldogs kick off the 2019 season with a nationally-televised away game against one of the most storied universities in college football history — USC.

On Saturday, August 31, the Bulldogs will travel to Los Angeles to face off with the Trojans at 7:30 p.m. at the LA Coliseum. The game will be televised on ESPN.

Fresno State will play USC three times in the next six years; 2019, 2022 and 2025. The Bulldogs haven’t beaten the Trojans since Jim Sweeney coached the team to a 24-7 win back in 1992.

While USC has taken the last two matchups in 2013 and 2014 for a combined score of 97-33 under former head coach Tim DeRuyter.

Now, Jeff Tedford and the Bulldogs enter season three and coming off a 2018 Mountain West Championship, Fresno State is looking to continue their dominance on the West Coast, but the Trojans look to spoil the Bulldogs season before it even begins.

Fresno State has won 22 games in two years and has made the MWC Championship in back-to-back years, but there are some new faces amongst the Bulldogs, including four players from the Tri-River Athletic Conference.

Jorge Reyna will be behind center this season too.

Freshman Rodney Wright III (Clovis West), Matthew Sanchez (Clovis), Tanner Blount (Buchanan), Jalen Cropper (Buchanan) will join former TRAC standouts Josh Hokit (Clovis), Tanner Rice (Clovis), Ricardo Arias (Clovis West) and Jasad Haynes (Clovis North) on the team.

While a few former TRAC standouts are expected to break into the lineup as the season progresses, expect upperclassmen Haynes, Hokit and Rice to play a prominent role against USC and further down the line as the season continues.