Fresno State HC Tim Skipper talks facing the defending national champions in Week 1

Trent Knoop | Aug 27, 2024

Fresno State Bulldogs wide receiver Erik Brooks (3) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the NCAA football game against the Purdue Boilermakers, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Fresno State Bulldogs won 39-35. / Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK

Fresno State head coach Tim Skipper is set to coach his first full season as the Bulldogs' head man. Skipper takes the place of former Fresno State legendary coach, Jeff Tedford. Fresno State lost Tedford after five seasons with the team where he compiled a 44-22 record. Tedford stepped down due to health reasons and Skipper is now in charge after coaching the Fresno State linebackers.

It's not going to be easy for Skipper. He's tasked with bringing in his Bulldogs into Ann Arbor for this first game as head coach. Michigan is coming off a national championship, but even though the Big House will be rocking on Saturday night, Skipper says he's going to embrace the hostile environment. He's been working with his team on the noise level.

"I love hostile environments to be honest with you," Skipper said. "I think that's the magic of college football. You get 110,000 in the stadium and it's loud and it's rocking, you can't hear. You want it to be as hard as it can possibly be. That's just the way I think about it. We did a lot of stuff with noise, we played crowd noise over the speakers and things like that."

Fresno State is coming off a 9-4 record in 2023. The Bulldogs have won nine or more games in the past three seasons. The Bulldogs also have 64% of their production returning from last season, including 80% of their offense. But even so, Michigan will be a large favorite when the ball kicks on Saturday night. But the first-year head coach says he's going to enter the Big House with confidence and try to come out with a major upset.

"I never think about losing," Skipper said. "I think about it's 0-0, we breathe the same air so why not go out there and try to win? College football is hard. Every game is going to be hard no matter who we're playing. We'll just stick to our plan, play hard, play Bulldog football and let the chips fall as they may. That's kind of how I look at it. I'm not a negative guy, I'm a positive guy so I think about trying to find ways to win."

Fresno State knows who its quarterback is going to be when it takes the field on Saturday, but it's not the same case with Skipper knowing who Michigan is going to start. The Wolverines are down to an Alex Orji vs. Davis Warren battle and it's possible the Bulldogs see both quarterbacks on Saturday. Skipper says he has to make sure his team is ready to see either guy this weekend.

Past the quarterbacks, Michigan has a fairly new-looking starting lineup -- especially on offense. With new starters and new coordinators, it's hard for Skipper to look back to last season to figure out the Wolverines. Instead, he says in-game adjustments will be the key.

"College football every year, the roster is going to change," said Skipper. "They still haven't decided on who their starting quarterback is going to be so we've had to practice against different styles. We've been doing that since last week so we'll see what happens during the game. We're anticipating seeing both, we're ready to see both. They're going to do it however they're going to do it and we're gonna have to adjust.

"You get ready, see all the stuff they did last year and you get into that first game and there's going to be new wrinkles. They obviously have a good coaching staff also. They're going to do things that are good for their quarterbacks and their O-line and their running backs. That type of stuff. We'll see how it goes. It's a game of adjustments, it really is. It's not halftime adjustments. It's going to be series-to-series adjustments. We wait until halftime, this game will be over. We'll be adjusting as we go."

Michigan and Fresno State will kick at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC on Saturday.

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