Breaking down Fresno State’s 12-game regular-season football schedule for 2017, the first under coach Jeff Tedford, which includes games against Alabama of the SEC and Pac-12 Washington.

▪ Sept. 2: 7 p.m., Bulldog Stadium

▪ 2016: 3-8, 3-6 Southland Conference

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▪ Coach: Larry Kennan (19-36 in sixth season, 32-53-3 overall)

▪ Key players: WR Kody Edwards (39 rec., 712 yards, 8 TDs, preseason all-conference), RB Desmond Hite (317 rushing yards, 7.5 per play, 2 TDs), OLB Blake Klumpp (30 tackles, 4.0 TFLs, 1.5 sacks).

▪ Outlook: Incarnate Word is in its fifth season at the Football Championship Subdivision level, moving up from Division II in 2013. It has played two games against Bowl Subdivision opponents in that time, losing at Texas-El Paso 27-17 in 2015 and at Texas State 48-17 in 2016. … The largest crowd the Cardinals have played in front of is 22,845 at Texas State. … Fresno State has not always looked sharp in these matchups, but is 27-1 against FCS teams since 1982 and last season beat Sacramento State 31-3. …Incarnate Word, ninth of 11 in the Southland last season in total offense and seventh in total defense, was picked to finish last in the conference this year.

Check this out: The first play run by coach Jeff Tedford at Cal in 2002 was a trick play, a halfback option pass that went for a 71-yard touchdown in a 70-22 victory over Baylor. This could be fun to watch, right from the start.

Prediction: Fresno State 49, Incarnate Word 17 (Bulldogs 1-0)

▪ Sept. 9: 12:30 p.m., Tuscaloosa Bryant-Denny Stadium (ESPN2)

▪ 2016: 14-1, 8-0 Southeastern Conference

▪ Coach: Nick Saban (119-19 in 11th season, 210-61-1 overall)

▪ Key players: QB Jalen Hurts (2,780 yards and 23 TDs passing, 954 yards and 13 TDs rushing), WR Calvin Ridley (72 receptions, 769 yards, team-high 21 receptions of 15 or more yards), DB Minkah Fitzpatrick (6 interceptions, two for TDs).

▪ Outlook: Fresno State will receive $1.4 million to play this game. The upper-echelon Power Five programs are just not within the Bulldogs’ reach. Alabama reportedly spent $48.3 million on its football program last season; the entire Fresno State athletic budget in 2017 is about $37.8 million. … While the Bulldogs will be in deep against one of the top programs in the nation, they can get a lot out of a game in front of 100,000 if they can keep themselves together, get lined up correctly, take care of the football, execute. … What to watch for – competitiveness and maturity. That was lacking quite often over the past few years in matchups against the likes of Ole Miss, Nebraska and Utah. The Bulldogs have lost their past seven games against Power Five teams by an average of 34 points.

▪ Check this out: Alabama will be coming off a game against Florida State in the Kickoff Classic, then has Colorado State after playing the Bulldogs.

▪ Prediction: Alabama 48, Fresno State 10 (Bulldogs 1-1)

▪ Sept. 16: 6:30 p.m., Seattle Husky Stadium (Pac-12 Network)

▪ 2016: 12-2, 8-1 Pac-12

▪ Coach: Chris Petersen (27-14 in fourth season; 119-26 overall)

▪ Key players: QB Jake Browning (62.1 completion percentage, 3,430 passing yards, 43 TDs, 167.52 rating), WR Dante Pettis (822 receiving yards, 15 TDs), DT Vita Vea (6-foot-5, 344 pounds, 39 tackles, 6.5 TFLs)

▪ Outlook: This is another big payday for the Bulldogs athletic department – $1 million – and another brutal matchup against a team that was in the college football playoffs last season and has the players to make a return trip this season. For Fresno State, the mission will be the same as it was at Alabama. … One matchup to watch: whoever takes on the 344-pound Vea. The Bulldogs won’t see anything like him in conference play.

▪ Check this out: Washington last season led the nation with 33 forced turnovers and turned them into 119 points (13 TDs and seven field goals), or 8.5 points per game. The Huskies turned it over 15 times, leading to just 31 points for their opponents.

▪ Prediction: Washington 49, Fresno State 13 (Bulldogs 1-2)

▪ Sept. 30: 7 p.m., Bulldog Stadium

▪ 2016: 5-7, 3-5 Mountain West

▪ Coach: Jay Norvell (first season)

▪ Key players: QB David Cornwell (transfer from Alabama), DL Malik Reed (second-team all-conference, 59 tackles, team-high 9.5 for loss), OT Austin Corbett (second-team all-conference, 36 consecutive starts at left tackle)

▪ Outlook: Fascinating matchup against Nevada and its new Air Raid offense, and the outcome could not be of more importance to the Bulldogs in capturing a fan base that apparently has found other things to do on Saturdays. … If it is going right for Nevada, Cornwell will have the ball in the air before the Pack’s lack of experience up front matters much. Fresno State ranked second in the conference in pass defense last season, but opponents only averaged 22.5 attempts per game. Expect the Wolf Pack to double that number and put a lot of pressure on the Bulldogs’ corners, a group that lost two senior starters and is relatively young and inexperienced.

▪ Check this out: The Wolf Pack last season allowed 319 rushing yards per game in conference play. Fresno State had the worst running game, averaging 3.2 yards per play and 116.2 per game) and it rolled up 255 against Nevada.

▪ Prediction: Fresno State 34, Nevada 31 (Bulldogs 2-2)

▪ Oct. 7: 4:30 p.m., San Jose Spartan Stadium (ESPN3)

▪ 2016: 4-8, 3-5 Mountain West

▪ Coach: Brent Brennan (first season)

▪ Key players: CB Andre Chachere (Clovis West High; fourth in nation with 18 passes defended, four interceptions, 14 breakups), RB Malik Roberson (508 yards, 5.1 yards per carry), WR Tre Hartley (33 receptions, 17.3 yards per catch, four TDs).

▪ Outlook: Quarterback play is big, and in the Mountain West there are 10 teams with returning starters. The Spartans are one of the two have-nots. Brennan in his first season went into fall camp with six on the roster, hopeful that a starter emerges and plays well enough to hold the position against a schedule that includes back-to-back road dates at Texas and Utah. Between the six quarterbacks, there are a total of 60 passes at the FBS level, all from sophomore Josh Love, who hit 51.7 percent of his attempts for 392 yards with five interceptions and two TDs. … The Spartans lost leading receiver Tim Crawley and Billy Freeman, one of the best tight ends in the conference.

▪ Check this out: The most engaging thing about the Spartans’ offense this season might be running backs coach Alonzo Carter, a backup dancer for hip hop artist MC Hammer in the late 1980s and ’90s.

▪ Prediction: Fresno State 31, San Jose State 20 (Bulldogs 3-2)

▪ Oct. 14: 7 p.m., Bulldog Stadium

▪ 2016: 9-4, 6-2 Mountain West

▪ Coach: Bob Davie (27-36 in sixth season, 62-61 overall)

▪ Key players: QB Lamar Jordan (681 yards and six TDs passing, 739 yards and three TDs rushing), RB Tyrone Owens (1,097 yards, 8 yards per play, 7 TDs), DE Garrett Hughes (28 tackles, 7.5 for loss, 6.5 sacks).

▪ Outlook: Fresno State could be 2-0 in the conference when this game rolls around and getting the Lobos at Bulldog Stadium could be of value against a tricky option offense. New Mexico was far more proficient at home last season, averaging 445.5 yards per game compared to 268.1 on the road and 44.5 points compared to 30. Their road games were at New Mexico State (118th against the run), Rutgers (126th), Hawaii (113th), Utah State (91st) and Colorado State (98th). Take a bite out of that option, and the Bulldogs could take advantage of a defense that returns three starters.

▪ Check this out: New Mexico led the MW in scoring offense last season? It did, averaging 36.7 points per game. From 2009 to ’11, the three seasons before Davie arrived in Albuquerque, the Lobos averaged 16.3, 15.8 and 12.0 points per game.

▪ Prediction: Fresno State 42, New Mexico 38 (Bulldogs 4-2)

▪ Oct. 21: 7:30 p.m., San Diego Qualcomm Stadium (CBS Sports Network)

▪ 2016: 11-3, 6-2 Mountain West

▪ Coach: Rocky Long (54-26 in seventh season, 119-95 overall)

▪ Key players: RB Rashaad Penny (1,018 rushing yards with 11 TDs, 3 TDs receiving, 2 TDs on kickoff returns), CB Kameron Kelly, (5 interceptions), LB Ronley Lakalaka (73 total tackles, second on team, 3for loss).

▪ Outlook: The Aztecs have won 11 games in each of the past seasons and though they are down some key pieces they are the prohibitive favorite in the West Division. … The past two seasons the Bulldogs have held up fairly well physically in low-scoring, close games, losing 17-3 last season and 21-7 in 2015. The key here will be making some plays against the Aztecs’ 3-3-5 – Fresno State could have an advantage in that this will be the second time they will have seen that look. Nevada also is running it under defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. … The Bulldogs’ quarterback play, pre- and post-snap, has been a significant issue in the past two losses in the series.

▪ Check this out: The last time the Bulldogs played at San Diego State they generated only 89 yards of total offense in a 21-7 loss – 12 rushing yards and 77 passing. The Aztecs’ Chase Price and Donnel Pumphrey rushed for 151 and 124 yards.

▪ Prediction: San Diego State 23, Fresno State 17 (Bulldogs 4-3)

▪ Oct. 28: 7 p.m., Bulldog Stadium

▪ 2016: 4-8, 3-5 Mountain West

▪ Coach: Tony Sanchez (7-17 in third season, 7-17 overall)

▪ Key players: WR Devonte Boyd (45 receptions, 746 yards, 16.6 yards per catch, 4 TDs), RB Charles Williams (Bullard High; 763 yards, 3 TDs), DT Mike Hughes (37 tackles, 3.5 for loss).

▪ Outlook: The Bulldogs’ effort in Las Vegas last season was poor, to put it put politely. But this has the makings of a pretty good game that comes down to which team has the ball last. … The Rebels have struggled on defense since forever – they have allowed more points than they have scored every year since 2001 – and that should give the Bulldogs a chance to keep pace with an offense that has some dynamic playmakers starting with Boyd and redshirt freshman quarterback Armani Rogers. Rogers, 6-5 and 225 pounds, is much more of a legitimate threat than UNLV has had at the position over the past few seasons and could elevate a program that has not had much success.

▪ Check this out: UNLV has two starters back on defense – only two programs in the nation have fewer – and a year ago the Rebels ranked last in the Mountain West in scoring defense in conference play. They allowed an average of 38.6 points per game, and 38 or more in five of their last six.

▪ Prediction: Fresno State 38, UNLV 35 (Bulldogs 5-3)

▪ Nov. 4: TBA, Bulldog Stadium (ESPN Networks)

▪ 2016: 9-4, independent

▪ Coach: Kalani Sitake (9-4 in second season, 9-4 overall)

▪ Key players: QB Tanner Mangum (3,377 passing yards with 23 TDs and 10 interceptions as a freshman in 2015), OLB Fred Warner (86 tackles, 10.5 for loss), WR Jonah Trinnaman (28 receptions, top returning receiver).

▪ Outlook: The Cougars lost their top two rushers and top three receivers, but Mangum is back after sitting behind Taysom Hill last season and BYU has four returning starters along the offensive line. There’s a good chance they will find answers at the skill positions. … The larger issue for the Bulldogs will be matching the physicality against an older team – the Cougars figure to be a distant third there to Alabama and Washington, but ahead of the majority of tests in the Mountain West. BYU has 13 returning starters not counting Mangum, who started 12 games as a freshman, and in 2016 had oh-so-tantalizing losses to Utah (20-19), UCLA (17-14), West Virginia (35-32) and Boise State (28-27).

▪ Check this out: BYU allowed just 19.5 points per game last season, ranking 14th in the nation, and only once since 2008 has it yielded more than 23 points a game over a season. The Cougars return seven starters on defense this season.

▪ Prediction: BYU 42, Fresno State 23 (Bulldogs 5-4)

▪ Nov. 11: 8 p.m., Honolulu Aloha Stadium

▪ 2016: 7-7, 4-4 Mountain West

▪ Coach: Nick Rolovich (7-7 in second year, 7-7 overall)

▪ Key players: QB Dru Brown (2,488 yards, 62.4 completion percentage, 19 TDs), LB Jahlani Tavai (129 tackles, 19.5 for loss, 7 sacks), RB Diocemy Saint Juste (1,006 yards, 6.1 per play, 3 TDs).

▪ Outlook: After the Rainbow Warriors went 3-10, 4-9, 1-11 and 3-9, Rolovich in his first season righted the program and with eight returning offensive starters could take another forward step. One big plus is that they found a quarterback in Brown, who made his first start in Week 5 in a 38-17 victory over Nevada. Brown hit 15 of 18 passes for 222 yards and two TDs, and in 10 starts connected on 63.3 percent of his passes and threw for 19 TDs. In 2014-15, Hawaii quarterbacks didn’t complete even 50 percent. … The Bulldogs have a rough trip to the islands coming off a tough game against BYU, but have won their past four at Hawaii.

▪ Check this out: Legi Suiaunoa is the Rainbow Warriors’ defensive coordinator – their fifth in five seasons following Kevin Lempa,, Tom Mason, Kevin Clune, and Thom Kaumeyer.

▪ Prediction: Hawaii 34, Fresno State 27 (Bulldogs 5-5)

Wyoming QB Josh Allen on attending the Manning Camp this summer ... pic.twitter.com/3BIJE6XDHk — Robert Kuwada (@rkuwada) July 26, 2017

▪ Nov. 18: 11 or 11:30 a.m., Laramie War Memorial Stadium

▪ 2016: 8-6, 6-2 Mountain West

▪ Coach: Craig Bohl (14-24 in fourth season, 118-56 overall)

▪ Key players: QB Josh Allen (Firebaugh High/Reedley JC; 3,203 yards, 28 TDs, 15 interceptions, Mountain West Preseason Offensive Player of Year), DB Andrew Wingard (131 tackles, Preseason Defensive Player of Year), LB Logan Wilson (94 tackles, 3.5 for loss, 3 interceptions).

▪ Outlook: Think Allen has been looking forward to this game? The Firebaugh native didn’t get much of a look from Fresno State – or anywhere else, really – but has developed into an intriguing next-level prospect. To hit that high ceiling, Allen will have to cut down on the interceptions and improve his completion percentage, but Fresno State will offer that opportunity unless by this point it has found the personnel and ways to apply pressure on quarterbacks. Last season the Bulldogs had only 14 sacks, down from 28 in 2015, 30 in 2014 and 40 in 2013. Allen, with time (and he has four returning starters on the offensive line), is a dangerous proposition.

▪ Check this out: This would seem a tough back-to-back on the road, but Mountain West teams have navigated the trek well since Hawaii joined the conference in 2012, going 5-2 in the second of those B2Bs.

▪ Prediction: Wyoming 42, Fresno State 31 (Bulldogs 5-6)

▪ Nov. 25: 12:30 p.m., Bulldog Stadium (CBS Sports Network)

▪ 2016: 10-3, 6-2 Mountain West

▪ Coach: Bryan Harsin (31-9 in fourth season, 38-14 overall)

▪ Key players: QB Brett Rypien (3,646 yards, 280.5 yards per game, 28 TDs), WR Cedric Wilson (56 receptions for 1,129 yards, 20.2 per catch), NT David Moa (10.5 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, 4 breakups).

▪ Outlook: Is Boise State vulnerable? The Broncos are the comfortable pick in the Mountain Division but have only four starters returning on offense and on defense, and it is worth noting that they have played in the conference championship game only once in four years and in that time basically just beaten up on bad teams. They are 16-13 against teams with winning records, 21-1 against those with losing records. … Boise State does have one of if not the best quarterback in the Mountain West in Rypien, but much of the supporting cast is a question mark. … The Mountain will not be easy to get through, and the Broncos have road games at San Diego State, Washington State and BYU.

▪ Check this out: Fresno State receivers coach Kirby Moore played at Boise State and in 2013 was the intended receiver on a fourth-down pass broken up by Jonathan Norton with 56 seconds remaining, preserving the Bulldogs’ 41-40 victory.

▪ Prediction: Boise State 35, Fresno State 31 (Bulldogs 5-7)