Jeff Tedford takes Cal playbook to Fresno State

In the background was a distant though beautiful view from the East Bay of San Francisco, but directly in front was a metaphorical vision of a coaches’ graveyard.

California was coming off a 1-10 season in 2001 in which it was outscored by an average of 39-18 and hadn’t posted a winning record in nine years, and it was Jeff Tedford’s job to find a way to stay out of the cemetery.

He walked in and won right away. The Bears went 7-5 in 2002, the beginning of a sustained run of such success that included eight bowl trips, giving Tedford an 82-57 record in 11 seasons.

Now Tedford, who turns 56 on Nov. 2, is in his first season coaching his alma mater — and he’s winning again. Fresno State, which went 1-11 last season, is 5-2 overall and 4-0 in the Mountain West and in complete control of the West Division.

The success comes not from focusing on the big picture of a conference race but the daily grind of paying attention to details in practice, game preparation and recruiting.

“We’re still trying to prove ourselves and trying to improve,” Tedford said. “We’re far from having arrived. We can be a lot better in a lot of areas.”

Tedford and Fresno State welcome UNLV (2-5, 1-3 MW) to Bulldog Stadium at 7 p.m. Saturday. This is quite a different matchup than expected before the season when it looked like one of the Rebels’ more winnable opportunities. Now they’re 21-point underdogs.

Coach Tony Sanchez is in his third season trying to turn around UNLV, which has a far more tortured history than Fresno State. The Bulldogs went 11-2 four years ago, with future NFL standouts Derek Carr completing passes for Davante Adams.

“(Tedford) got a bunch of ex-Bulldogs to come on back,” Sanchez said. “They have history. They have a tradition. There’s something about being a Bulldog, and I guarantee they’re in the locker room talking about toughness and history and tradition. There are bunch of ex-players and people around holding everybody accountable to that.”

Tedford took over a Fresno State team that brought back nine offensive starters and six on defense. Fresno State’s recruiting classes were rated in the 247Sports’ composite rankings from third to sixth in the Mountain West from 2013 to 2016, but the players hadn’t performed up to expectations.

But that didn’t mean Fresno State couldn’t use a talent upgrade.

Tedford has worked hard in recruiting, and the Bulldogs’ class this year was rated fourth in the MW, according to 247Sports.

He didn’t stop recruiting after signing day, and even well into August landed former Oregon State quarterback Marcus McMaryion, a player from California’s Central Valley.

Because of his late arrival, McMaryion didn’t become a starter until four games ago. Since taking over, he has completed 63.9 percent of his passes for a 226.6-yard average — and Fresno State has gone 4-0, with its two most recent victories 38-0 over New Mexico and 27-3 over San Diego State.

“He’s been a big difference,” Sanchez said. “I think when you look at that spot and find the right guy, it can really settle an entire program, especially an offense, down.”

Much of the Bulldogs’ success can be attributed to their defense, which allows a conference-best 17.6 points per game and has the nation’s longest active streak with not allowing a touchdown over the past nine quarters. Two Fresno State players have picked up Mountain West defensive player of the week awards in the past three weeks.

Unlike Cal, Fresno State is a familiar spot for Tedford, who was a record-setting quarterback at the school in 1981 and 1982.

“It was big knowing the people here and having played here and having coached here in the past,” Tedford said. “I love Fresno, and the people of Fresno are really special. Sometimes when you go to a new place, it takes you a minute to really get entrenched in what’s going on, but there was no transition that way for me here because I’ve been entrenched here for a long time.”

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Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.