If Fresno State is to become the football team it wants to be, it must run the ball with the effectiveness it did Saturday night, but against the Mountain West heavyweights — not a nonconference lightweight such as New Mexico State.

The Aggies posed no challenge for the Bulldogs in one of those blowouts illuminating the gaping chasm among collegiate programs. Fresno State virtually could have picked the score in a game aired nationally on truTV and streamed on MAX.

Not that a nearly full house at Valley Children’s Stadium minded on a beautiful night. Who doesn’t love touchdowns galore when it’s your team piling touchdowns up like barbecued chicken bones on a paper plate?

And, what better  way to celebrate the Bulldogs’ entry into the rebuilding Pac-12 than strutting your stuff like a program that’s serious about finishing atop the Mountain West in 2024?

Suffice to say the Bulldogs led 48-0 with 5 minutes, 15 seconds left in the third quarter. For the record, the Bulldogs are 20-1 all time against the Aggies — qualifying them as more of a punching bag than a worthy opponent.

Next week, the Bulldogs will play at 0-3 New Mexico, which lost by 26 points at Auburn. Motivating the ‘Dogs shouldn’t be a problem for coach Tim Skipper as Fresno State inexplicably lost at home to the Lobos, 25-17, last season. I say “inexplicably” but that’s not true. The Bulldogs offensive line didn’t block anyone that night, allowing a team with lesser talent to embarrass them in their own house.

Related Story: Fresno State Football vs New Mexico State: Players of the Game

Big Game in Two Weeks

And that takes us to UNLV, which might have the Mountain West’s best roster. In case you missed it, the Rebels improved to 3-0 by clipping the Big 12’s Kansas. Fresno State plays at UNLV in two weeks and the Bulldogs must find a way to protect quarterback Mikey Keene against the Rebels’ overpowering defensive front.

One way would be keeping UNLV’s pass rushers honest by effectively running the ball. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, tailback Malik Sherrod appears healthy once more. Against the Aggies, he ran for more yards in the second quarter than he had in the season’s first two games. At halftime, he totaled 107 yards and a touchdown.

Most important: Sherrod looked like his old self. Quick, shifty, and fending off tacklers with a stiff-arm. The Bulldogs will need every ounce that a healthy Sherrod can give when they play in Las Vegas.

“You got to a find a way. Anytime we get the ball we got to find a way to score,” Sherrod said after the game. “It all starts at practice. We did a good job practicing this week and working on finishing better through contact leading up to the game.”

The Rebels are less lethal offensively, relying on the strong legs of QB Matthew Sluka, who gashed Kansas for 113 yards on the ground. With the Bulldog defense displaying flashes of dominance — the first half against Michigan comes to mind — they could pose problems for the Rebels.

It helps, too, that Fresno State has two stars in the defensive secondary: the sure-tackling cornerback and ballhawk Cam Lockridge and safety Cam Bracha, who launches himself like a missile at whoever has the football.

“Just wanting to score when I get the ball in my hand. I don’t play offense so when I get the ball it feels like scoring, that where my ball instincts come from,” said Lockridge of the attitude he takes to the field.

The Bulldogs have to take care of business at New Mexico. No road distractions. No slip-ups. No being overconfident.

They need a victory to set up the collision with UNLV that will provide a barometer to both teams — and the nation — as to who will rule the Mountain West this season.