The Fresno State football team has one week to find its missing offense.

Otherwise, the Bulldogs risk a third straight humiliating defeat in Mountain West Conference play when they travel to Boise State next Saturday.

Despite an extra week to prepare for San Diego State — this season’s conference bully — the Bulldogs’ offense was missing in action Saturday.

Not even swapping in Carson Conklin at quarterback for the turnover-plagued E.J. Warner provided a spark, as Fresno State fell 23-0 in front of an announced crowd of 41,535 at Valley Children’s Stadium.

Most mysterious was the complete loss of octane in a running attack that had fueled Fresno State to a 5-1 start under first-year coach Matt Entz.

As Saturday’s struggles again illustrated, the Bulldogs don’t have sufficient firepower at quarterback to compete with upper-tier Mountain West teams if tailbacks Bryson Danielson and Rayshon Luke aren’t the centerpieces of the offense.

With a helping hand from the Bulldogs, the Aztecs registered their nation-leading third shutout of the season, adding Saturday’s blanking to earlier wins over Stony Brook and Cal.

It was the first time Fresno State failed to score at Valley Children’s Stadium, which opened Nov. 15, 1980. The stadium was previously known as Bulldog Stadium.

Red zone defense was the lone bright spot for Fresno State, limiting San Diego State to 13 points through three quarters. With the Bulldogs punting six times and failing to sustain drives, their defenders were repeatedly asked to hold the line against the Aztecs’ bevy of talented running backs. For the most part they did — until the dam broke in the fourth quarter.

Entz: ‘We Are Going to Keep Building’

Entz vowed to remain positive.

“We are going to keep building, we are going to keep growing. There are championships in our future,” Entz said in the postgame news conference.

On Monday, Entz said he was sticking with Warner. He explained his change of heart, sort of.

“I felt like I had the right to make that decision. I walk in here every Monday, and we talk about the ball as the team. And we weren’t living that. We had turned the ball over too many times, too often. And then at the same time, trying to push a button, maybe get a little more leadership out of some people on offense,” Entz said.

His message to Conklin: “Be ready to get back to work tomorrow.” Conklin threw for 182 yards on 20-of-42 passing, with two interceptions.

Entz said he was disappointed the team did not run the ball better. Fresno State rushed for 45 yards on 23 attempts.

A Midseason Swoon?

Fresno State has now dropped back-to-back games, falling to 5-3, 2-2 in the Mountain West Conference.

He speculated about the midseason drop.

“All of a sudden we become indecisive, a little bit hesitant,” Entz said.

He even discussed the problem with Jeff Tedford, the former Bulldog coach on hand for his Ring of Honor ceremony.

“He made the same comment, he goes, it’s real. And it’s happened before, it has happened when (he) was head coach. And it is unfortunate, but we got to figure out why. Why have we plateaued?” Entz said.

San Diego State improved to 6-1, 3-0.

First-Half Blues for Bulldogs

The Aztecs dominated the first half but led only 13-0, as quarterback Jayden Denegal threw an interception and repeatedly failed to see wide-open receivers. In addition, the Bulldogs benefited from the fact that San Diego State didn’t fully utilize a ground game led by running back Lucky Sutton and its overpowering offensive line.

Al’zillion Hamilton stopped an Aztecs drive in the second quarter with a spectacular leaping pick of a ball slightly underthrown by Denegal. It was Hamilton’s second interception of the year. The play prevented a touchdown, and gave the Bulldogs hope. However, the punch-less Bulldogs couldn’t capitalize.

The Bulldogs had five first-half drives. Three ended with punts, another was ended by an interception of Conklin, and a late second-quarter possession ended on downs.

Conklin made the surprise start at quarterback, a decision TV broadcasters said, was revealed Friday. He led the Bulldogs on an 11-play, 40-yard opening drive, but Entz chose to punt from the SDSU 35-yard-line instead of going for a first down or trying a field goal.

The good news after that was the Bulldogs pinned the Aztecs at their own 8-yard line. The bad news for the Red Wave was Denegal led SDSU on a nine-play, 92-yard-drive for the touchdown. The Aztecs were bailed out by a holding call against the Bulldogs on a third-down incompletion. The key pay was a 54-yard pass to Byron Cardwell, who took it to the Fresno State 1-yard line.

Sutton then hit the end zone untouched following a line-clearing block by 6-foot-6, 375-pound tackle Kalan Ellis for the game’s first touchdown.

Placekicker Gabriel Plascencia supplied San Diego State’s other first-half points, making field goals of 42 and 50 yards in the second quarter. Plascencia added another field goal in the fourth quarter, extending his Mountain West record to 25 straight.

Bulldog Notes

Fresno State inducted former head coach and quarterback Jeff Tedford into the Ring of Honor during a halftime ceremony.

Many former Bulldogs, including quarterbacks David and Derek Carr, attended the game honoring Tedford. Former tight and current state Assemblymember David Tangipa, R-Clovis, presented Tedford with a proclamation.

The last time the Bulldog failed to score in the first half was Sept. 28 of last year in a 59-14 loss at UNLV.

Fresno State has failed to score on its second-half opening drive in every game this season.

Fresno State heads to Boise State next week, with a kickoff set at 12:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FS1. Boise State defeated Nevada 24-3 Friday night.

The early start meant tailgaters were slow to arrive. By 10:15 a.m., there was still plenty of space in the white lot, adjacent to the stadium.

Linebacker K’vion Thunderbird missed the game, listed as “out” on the availability report.