Fresno State (0-1, 0-0 MW) vs Georgia Southern (0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Saturday, August 30, 2025 | 6:30 p.m. PT | FS1 | Valley Children's Stadium | Fresno, Calif.
TICKETS
GAME DAY INFORMATION
MEDIA COVERAGE
TV - FS1
Play-by-Play - Dan Hellie
Analyst - Petros Papadakis
Sideline - N/A
Radio - Bulldog Sports Network (BSN)
Play-by-Play - Paul Loeffler
Analyst - Pat Hill
Sideline - Cam Worrell
Social Media: Twitter: @FresnoStateFB | Instagram:@fresno_state_football | Facebook: FresnoStateFootball | YouTube: FresnoStateAthletics
Live Stats: GoBulldogs.com/LiveStats
A LOOK INSIDE
Series: First meeting
Head Coaches:
Matt Entz
Fresno State Record (Years): 0-1 (1st season)
Career DI Record (Years): 60-12 (5 seasons)
Clay Helton
Georgia Southern Record (Years): 20-19 (4th season)
Career DI Record: 66-43 (8 seasons)
QUICK LOOK
For the second week in a row, Fresno State will face an unfamiliar opponent. The Bulldogs host Georgia Southern for the 2025 home opener, marking the first matchup between the schools.
Fresno State and Georgia Southern have never met, but the Bulldogs have faced head coach Clay Helton three times during his time as head coach and offensive coordinator at USC. Fresno State is 0-3 in those meetings.
Helton and Fresno State special teams coordinator John Baxter were on staff together at USC from 2010-13 and again from 2016-18.
The Bulldogs are led by Matt Entz, who became Fresno State's fourth head coach in five years (& fifth if you count the one-week stint when the program was led by Interim Head Coach Lee Marks for the 2021 New Mexico Bowl after Kalen DeBoer departed for Washington).
Entz spent five seasons (2019-23) as the head coach at North Dakota State, leading the program to two FCS National Championships in his tenure.
Fresno State is coming off of a 31-7 loss at Kansas last Saturday, its first Week 0 game since 2021.
Fresno State looks ahead to its home opener this Saturday. For the last three years, Fresno State has led the Mountain West in average attendance. In addition to that, the Bulldogs have led Group of 5 schools in average attendance in back-to-back seasons. In 2024, Fresno State averaged 40,600 fans per game, its highest single season average since 2001.
Fresno State has won its last four home openers.
If Fresno State were to win Saturday, it would be the first home opening win against a non-FCS program since 2021 when the 'Dogs defeated UConn (FBS Independent).
Saturday's game theme is education night and Jr. Bulldogs Kids Club night at Valley Children's Stadium.
The Bulldogs had 24 players see their first bit of game action as a Fresno State football student-athlete last week at Kansas.
Ten total Bulldogs earned their first career starts - five on offense and five on defense.
In the Week 0 game at Kansas, Fresno State lost the turnover battle 3:0. Of Kansas' three turnovers gained, it scored just three points.
Senior quarterback E.J. Warner leads all active FBS quarterbacks with 8,993 career passing yards.
Warner began his collegiate career at Temple, then spent one season at Rice before transferring to Fresno State for his final season of eligibility.
Warner connected with 11 different pass catches in the season opener at Kansas. It was the most Bulldogs with a reception since the MW opener last season (at New Mexico, 9/21/24).
Defensively, senior linebacker Jadon Pearson led all players with 12 tackles in his Bulldog debut.
Fresno State embarks on its final season of football in the Mountain West, as the school will change conferences to the Pac-12 in 2026. Fresno State will head to the Pac-12 with Mountain West members Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Utah State
Including the Week 0 game, Fresno State will play two games in August. It is the first time since 2002 and just the second time in program history that the 'Dogs will play twice in the month of August
ABOUT THE MATCHUP
Fresno State and Georgia Southern will meet for the first time in program history on Saturday.
Although the first meeting between the programs, Fresno State has familiarity with Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton.
Fresno State faced Helton when he was head coach at USC in 2019. The Bulldogs also went against him at USC when he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2013 and 2014. Fresno State is 0-3 in those matchups.
Fresno State special teams coordinator spent two stints on staff at USC, while Helton was there. Baxter and Helton were on staff together from 2010-13 and 2016-18.