Fresno State Bulldogs football The Fresno State Bulldogs football team represents California State University , Fresno in NCAA Division I FBS college football . The green “ V ” on the Bulldogs ' helmets , uniforms , field symbolize California Central Valley , specifically the San Joaquin Valley , the agricultural valley from which they draw their support . The current head coach is Tim DeRuyter , who was hired to replace Pat Hill on December 14 , 2011 . History . Football was first played on the Fresno campus in 1921 , and for its first year it played as an independent . The Bulldogs joined the California Coast Conference which included several regional opponents the next year , and moved to the Northern California Athletic Conference of which it was among the charter schools in 1925 . These early years laid the foundations of rivalries to come , with games against San Jose State and Pacific in the first year , and adding UC Davis , Nevada , and San Diego State in the following years of NCAC play . The NCAA began classifying schools into University Division and College Division groups in 1937 , and the Bulldogs , along with the other major college schools in the conference , broke off into the California Collegiate Athletic Association in 1939 , a conference it remained in until joining the Pacific Coast Athletic Association , later known as the Big West Conference , in 1969 . Notable coaches during this period include Cecil Coleman , who during his five years at Fresno State had a . 76 winning percentage , and took the 1961 team to an undefeated season capped by a 36 - 6 Mercy Bowl victory over Bowling Green . Fresno State football experienced a stretch of seasons hovering around the . 500 mark during the later 1960s and 70s . Yet despite also having a number of winning seasons , including two where the Bulldogs went undefeated , they only participated in two university division bowl games before the 1980s . The Sweeney era . In 1976 , Jim Sweeney took over a Bulldog squad that had had 8 winning seasons since its last bowl bid , and promptly took the 1977 squad to a 9 - 2 record in his second year as head coach . The Sweeney era bristled with confidence as the Bulldogs became , along with rival San Jose State , the class of the Big West , earning postseason bowl berths four times in the 1980s . Sweeney ’ s 1985 squad is particularly memorable for Bulldog fans , as the team finished as the only unbeaten Division I - A team in the country , ranked 16th in the coaches poll . The 1985 squad did not , however , finish untied , after a 24 - 24 tie at home against the Rainbow clad Warriors of Hawaii . The lone blemish to a perfect season , coupled with the difficulty either team has had in winning in the other ’ s home stadium , has led the Warriors and Bulldogs to contend for one of the WAC ’ s fiercest rivalries . The face of Fresno State football changed with the construction of a university football stadium for the team for the 1980 season . Before then , the Bulldogs played their home games in Fresno City College ’ s Ratcliffe Stadium , which seated approximately 13 , 000 fans . The construction of a modern new stadium which held over 30 , 000 in attendance was an outstanding improvement for the Bulldogs , who saw drastic increases in attendance and alumni support . The new stadium brought with it a renewed success for the football team , as they enjoyed four Big West championships in the new stadium which took them to five California Bowl appearances against opponents from the Mid - American Conference . During the Sweeney era , the Bulldogs posted nine consecutive winning seasons , a run which included five double - digit win seasons . 1994 , however , marked the beginning of three consecutive losing seasons which ended the Sweeney era and brought in Pat Hill , who had worked both in the NFL and colleges for the past several decades . The Hill era . Fresno State began a renaissance under Hill , who continued the advances the program had made during the Sweeney era . Noted for playing particularly difficult non - conference schedules , Hill ’ s teams routinely played elite , highly - ranked teams . The Bulldogs have also been the only non - BCS school to record three consecutive bowl victories over schools from BCS conferences . In 2001 , the Bulldogs , under Hill and quarterback David Carr , began their season with several remarkable upsets of ranked teams . The Bulldogs opened the season in Boulder against the Colorado Buffaloes , leaving with a 24 - 22 win over the eventual Big 12 champions . The next game of the 2001 season was at home against the Oregon State Beavers , the team that " Sports Illustrated " had picked as its preseason # 1 . In an electric game at Bulldog Stadium , the Bulldogs outplayed the Beavers in a 44 - 24 rout . Fresno State then headed to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers , winners of the Sun Bowl over UCLA the previous year . The Bulldogs also topped the Badgers by a score of 32 - 20 . These victories , followed by wins over Tulsa , Louisiana Tech , and Colorado State led the Bulldogs to a ranking of # 8 in the polls , the highest for a mid - major team since ( BYU was ranked # 5 in 1996 ) BYU won the national championship in 1984 , and earned the Bulldogs a degree of prestige not usually afforded a mid - major program . This changed abruptly , however , when the Boise State Broncos and Hawaii Rainbows upset the Bulldogs in Fresno and Honolulu respectively to smash the Bulldogs ’ hopes of playing in a BCS bowl . The defeats led the team instead the Silicon Valley Classic against Michigan State , a game which was taken by the Spartans by a score of 44 - 35 . Nonetheless , the impressive performances of the regular season earned Fresno State its first number one overall NFL draft choice in David Carr , picked first by the expansion Houston Texans . The 2002 squad , which had difficulty opening the season with a 1 - 3 record , finished strong to finish the regular season 8 - 5 and earning another bid to the Silicon Valley Classic against Georgia Tech . This resulted in a win for the Bulldogs , who beat the Yellow Jackets 30 - 21 . The 2003 squad earned a spot in the Silicon Valley Classic for the third year in a row , this time facing UCLA in San Jose . The Bulldogs defeated the Bruins 17 - 9 . The 2004 season began for the Bulldogs much as the 2001 season had , with surprising upsets over BCS opponents in their home stadiums . The Bulldogs opened in Seattle against the Washington Huskies , a team with high expectations in its second year with head coach Keith Gilbertson . The Bulldogs came away with the win by a score of 35 - 16 . The second game was against the Big 12 champions , the Kansas State Wildcats , who had beaten the # 1 ranked Oklahoma Sooners to finish the previous year . The Bulldogs walked out of Manhattan with an unexpected 45 - 21 win , again earning the squad national attention and a ranking in the polls . Again , similarly to the 2001 season , the Bulldogs unexpectedly lost to Louisiana Tech , followed by two more losses , including to newly cemented rival Boise State . However , the Bulldogs found their redemptive qualities pervading in five straight wins by 40 or more points , including a 70 - 14 home rout over rival Hawaii , to earn a bid to the MPC Computers Bowl . In the MPC Bowl , the Bulldogs won their third straight bowl victory against a BCS conference team , beating the Virginia Cavaliers 37 - 34 in overtime . The 2005 season began with heady expectations which the Bulldogs largely lived up to for much of the season . The 2005 squad , after an early 3 - point loss to Oregon in Eugene , rallied to win seven straight , including the first win at Hawaii since 1994 , and a redemptive home victory over Boise State , traveled to the Los Angeles Coliseum to face the # 1 ranked USC Trojans , bringing with them an 8 - 1 record , a ranking of # 16 , and senior leadership and depth at key positions . The match up against USC turned out to be one for the ages as Fresno State quarterback Paul Pinegar continually drew against USC quarterback Matt Leinart , and Fresno State running back s Wendel Mathis and Bryson Sumlin exchanged touchdown runs with eventual Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush . Despite taking a halftime lead and trading scores with the Trojans all night , at the end of regulation , USC ' s athleticism with Reggie Bush , the Bulldogs lost by a score of 50 - 42 . The loss to the Trojans changed the character of the team , who proceeded to lose their next four games , including the Liberty Bowl against Tulsa . The 2006 squad , weakened by key senior losses at quarterback , running back and on the defense , struggled with the schedule , opening the year 1 - 7 before winning three straight , only to close the season with the first loss to San Jose State since before the fall of the Soviet Union . After a disappointing season in 2006 , the 2007 Fresno State Bulldogs bounced back , finishing 9 - 4 . They started strong against a weak Sacramento State team before losing a close game at Texas A & M in triple overtime . After another loss to Oregon , they won 8 of their final 10 games , including a victory over Georgia Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl . On September 1 , 2008 , the Bulldogs opened their season with a 24 - 7 victory over Rutgers in a non - conference game . The Bulldogs would end the season with a 7 - 6 record , including a loss in the New Mexico Bowl against Colorado State . The 2009 season begin with high hopes as Fresno State dominated its first opponent UC Davis . However , the Bulldogs would go on to lose three straight games against Wisconsin , Boise State , and Cincinnati . The Bulldogs would rebound to win their next five games , before falling to rival Nevada . The Bulldogs would also go on to beat Illinois , in one of the more memorable college football games of the year . The Bulldogs scored a touchdown with only seconds left . Down by one point , the Bulldogs decided to go for two rather than kick a field goal to tie it up . With time expiring , Fresno State QB Ryan Colburn was forced to throw the ball into the end zone . The ball was deflected by an Illinois player , and caught by Fresno State offensive lineman Devan Cunningham who barreled his way into the end zone for a two - point conversion . The Bulldogs won 53 - 52 . This miraculous play has been dubbed by many as the " remarkable deflection " . The Bulldogs would end the season at 8 - 5 including a loss to Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl . However , Ryan Mathews had one of his best seasons to date , rushing for 1800 yards , and scoring 19 touchdowns . Ryan Mathews declared his eligibility for the NFL draft , and was selected 12th over - all by the San Diego Chargers . Much like the 2009 season , the 2010 season saw its share of highs and lows . The Bulldogs would start the season off with a victory over Cincinnati . However , they ' d go on to lose against the upper half of the WAC conference and finish the regular season at 8 - 3 . The Bulldogs accepted an invite to face Northern Illinois in the Humanitarian Bowl . It marked the third straight year that Fresno State would face a fellow non - AQ program in a bowl game . The Bulldogs would lose the game to Northern Illinois adding to its disappointing bowl record against other non - AQ programs . Tim DeRuyter . On December 5 , 2011 , after finishing the year 4 - 9 , Fresno State announced that Pat Hill had been fired as the head coach of the football program . On December 14 , 2011 , Tim DeRuyter , Defensive Coordinator and interim head coach of Texas A & M was introduced as the new head coach .