Fresno State guard Edward Fonua has been ruled out for the football season due to an off-field lower leg injury, a second hit to a run game at the heart of the Bulldogs’ offense since the spring.

“Eddie was injured away from football back home, in the time between finals and the start of summer,” coach Matt Entz said on Tuesday, following the Bulldogs’ first fall camp practice. “Unfortunately, football is a violent-enough sport, and for guys to get injured away from the game, really, it’s frustrating for him and frustrating for the team because people lean on Eddie.”

Fonua, a senior, made significant progress since first seeing the field in 2023 and starting all 13 games last season. He played 858 snaps, the second-highest total on the offense, and graded out much higher as a pass blocker than as a run blocker, according to ProFootballFocus.

Running back Brandon Ramirez, who suffered a lower leg injury during spring practices, also is out for the year.

The offensive line was seen as a strength for the Bulldogs coming out of spring ball, with three returning starters in left tackle Brayden Walton, right tackle Rolan Fullwood and Fonua, plus the addition of San Diego transfer Oscar Weigel, who started 12 games last season for the Toreros.

The Bulldogs do have answers, but not a lot of experience, and also now perhaps a greater challenge putting together a top seven or eight linemen. The Bulldogs are still expected to contend for a Pac-12 Conference title.

“I think we have a couple of other guys — Braylan Henderson, Bode Stoddard … Gino (Quinones) is healthy now,” Entz said. “Alex Rivera, a young man who came in June, was the No. 1 player in the state of New Mexico, and as of right now the ability is evident. We have an unbelievable offensive line coach (Brian Ferentz) and so he’s going to have a solution, and he’s going to get guys ready to go.”

Henderson played 35 snaps in three games last season. Stoddard is in his first season, transferring in from San Diego Mesa College. Rivera is a true freshman, though that is not an impediment to playing time. Fresno State last season started Walton, the Buchanan High grad, from play No. 1 at Kansas in his true freshman season.

Quinones, in his eighth season of college football, is the most experienced player in that group having started an injury-plagued career in 2019 at USC.

But, with or without Fonua, gaining a greater degree of consistency in the run game is a critical piece to the Bulldogs’ offense and season. Ferentz was not available for media interviews, following practice.

Fresno State, a year ago, racked up 2,216 rushing yards, its most since 2014. It averaged 4.5 yards per play against FBS (football bowl subdivision) opponents, ranking fourth in the Mountain West Conference.

But it clearly is building into a game-defining force that Entz’ teams were known for when going 60-11 and winning two FCS national championships at North Dakota State. Those two title teams, in 2021 and 2019, rolled up 34.1 and 37.2 points per game, while rushing the football on 72.5% and 70.3% of their plays.

The Bulldogs last season gained only 39 yards in 38 short-yardage rushing plays and were able to rush for a first down on only 50% of those plays, the lowest percentage in the conference. They also struggled in some matchups, averaging 1.3 yards on 29 rushing plays in an opening loss at Kansas, 2.0 yards on 23 plays in a loss to San Diego State and 2.3 yards on 32 plays in a win at Hawaii.

This story was originally published August 4, 2026 at 5:25 PM.