There really has not been much to cheer about for Fresno State Bulldogs fans so far this season. After being the coaches’ pick to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference behind No. 18 Boise State, the Bulldogs have stumbled out of the gates to a 1-5 overall record and 1-2 conference record. Fresno State ranks second-to-last in the WAC in passing yards, receiving yards and total points allowed per game. One of the few bright spots for the Bulldogs has been their running game, especially the play of junior running back Dwayne Wright. But being the catalyst of the Bulldogs’ rushing attack this season was not an easy task to accomplish. On Sept. 11, 2004, Fresno State defeated then-No. 13 Kansas State on the road, 45-21. In the fourth quarter of the contest, Wright tore his left patellar tendon at the end of a 61-yard pass play. The injury sidelined Wright until the Bulldogs’ 28-19 victory against the University of Nevada to open the 2006 season. Wright said from the moment he hit the ground, he knew something bad had happened. “I knew [the injury] was something serious,” he said. “I knew it when I was lying down, and I looked at my knee cap. It was up in the bottom of my quad. I knew it was either the end of my season or my career.” At the time of the injury, Wright was the Bulldogs’ No. 1 running back. He rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown in the first game of the 2004 season, and after transferring from West Hills Junior College, he rushed for more than 1,000 yards and averaged 5.5 yards per carry in 2003. A rigorous rehabilitation process followed that bittersweet win against Kansas State, a process that lasted almost a full two years. Wright said he could have returned to the field midway through last season when he was about 85 percent healthy, but the coaching staff and trainers advised him otherwise. “The coaches told me ‘Dwayne, get that knee ready, and get ready for spring football,’ and that’s what I did,” he said. Instead of being on the field, Wright witnessed his team go through a series of ups and downs from the bench. Fresno State got off to an 8-1 start before losing to No. 1 USC, 50-42 on Nov. 19, 2005. Since that game, the Bulldogs have a record of 1-8. Wright said it simply did not feel normal watching instead of playing with his team in one of the biggest and most memorable games in school history. “It just felt weird because you’re in the limelight, then all of a sudden you’re behind closed doors just watching,” he said. Wright said one of the positives that came out of the injury saga was the chance to focus more on off-the-field issues such as academics, which culminated with Wright graduating this past December with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication. After two years of uphill battle and wide-ranging emotions, Wright appears to be back to the form that earned him All-WAC Honorable Mention honors in 2003. He has rushed for more than 100 yards in four of Fresno State’s six games this season. He currently sits second in the WAC in total rushing yards and touchdowns, and No. 10 in the nation in rushing, averaging 113.2 yards per game. Fresno State running backs coach Tim Skipper said he knew before the season started that Wright was going to make a remarkable comeback. “By the time he got into training camp, he was running really well,” Skipper said. “We expected him to have a big year, and he’s had that so far.” Wright said numerous people, including his wife Jewelyn and his children Jewelyn and Demarion, contributed to regaining his status as an elite running back. “I knew I would get back to this level because I trust in God,” he said. “I trusted in my teammates, in the people that were rehabbing me and in my family. I had no doubt in my mind. It was just depressing that the [rehab] process took so long.” Wright hit a minor bump in the road to full recovery Saturday when he ran for only 16 yards on 11 carries in the Bulldogs’ 68-37 loss to the University of Hawaii. Freshman running back Lonaye Miller ran for 113 yards in the game, but Skipper said Wright’s performance this past Saturday will not affect how much he is used during the rest of the season. “Dwayne is the type of player that’s built to carry the ball 20-plus times, and we’re going to run him as much as we need to,” he said. Wright said since he’s still adjusting to playing big-time defenses again, the No. 2 LSU defense will be a welcomed challenge for him and his teammates. “I think [LSU’s defense] is going to be a great test for us,” he said. “Everybody’s going to be watching. Everybody’s going to see what Fresno State has to offer, and I just can’t wait until Saturday.”
—–Contact Tyler Batiste at [email protected]