1952 Fresno State Bulldogs football team

{{short description|American college football season}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox college sports team season

| year = 1952

| team = Fresno State Bulldogs

| sport = football

| image =

| image_size =

| conference = Independent

| record = 8–2

| head_coach = Clark Van Galder

| hc_year = 1st

| captain =

| stadium = Ratcliffe Stadium

}}

{{1952 Western college football independents records}}

The 1952 Fresno State Bulldogs football team represented Fresno State College—now known as California State University, Fresno—as an independent during the 1952 college football season.

Led by first-year head coach Clark Van Galder, the Bulldogs compiled a record of 8–2. Fresno State played home games at Ratcliffe Stadium on the campus of Fresno City College in Fresno, California.

Schedule

{{CFB schedule

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = September 20

| w/l = w

| opponent = Cal Aggies

| site_stadium = Ratcliffe Stadium

| site_cityst = Fresno, CA

| score = 41–7

| attend = 7,524

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = October 4

| w/l = w

| opponent = Pepperdine

| site_stadium = Ratcliffe Stadium

| site_cityst = Fresno, CA

| score = 60–7

| attend = 8,198

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = October 10

| w/l = l

| away = y

| opponent = San Jose State

| site_stadium = Spartan Stadium

| site_cityst = San Jose, CA

| gamename = rivalry

| score = 6–40

| attend =

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = October 18

| w/l = w

| opponent = Utah State

| site_stadium = Ratcliffe Stadium

| site_cityst = Fresno, CA

| score = 27–21

| attend = 9,266–13,000

| source = {{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-salt-lake-tribune-fresno-state-upset/171559630/|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|title=Fresno State upsets Ags for 27 to 21 triumph|date=October 19, 1952|accessdate=April 5, 2025|via=Newspapers.com}}

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = October 24

| w/l = w

| away = y

| opponent = {{cfb link|year=1952|team=Occidental Tigers|title=Occidental}}

| site_stadium = Occidental Stadium

| site_cityst = Los Angeles, CA

| score = 20–9

| attend =

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = November 1

| w/l = w

| away = y

| opponent = San Diego State

| site_stadium = Balboa Stadium

| site_cityst = San Diego, CA

| gamename = rivalry

| score = 49–33

| attend = 18,000

| source = {{cite news|title=Bulldogs Whip Aztecs in 49 to 33 Scoring Spree|newspaper=The San Diego Union|location=San Diego, California|author=Howard Hagen|date=November 2, 1952|page=B-1}}

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = November 8

| w/l = w

| away = y

| opponent = Nevada

| site_stadium = Mackay Stadium{{#tag:ref|This stadium is the predecessor to the current Mackay Stadium, which was opened for the 1966 season.{{cite web |author=|title=Mackay Stadium |url=http://www.unr.edu/around-campus/mackay-stadium |publisher=University of Nevada, Reno |access-date=January 4, 2017 }}|group=note}}

| site_cityst = Reno, NV

| score = 59–32

| attend =

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = November 15

| w/l = l

| opponent = Pacific (CA)

| site_stadium = Ratcliffe Stadium

| site_cityst = Fresno, CA

| score = 0–50

| attend = 7,155

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = November 22

| w/l = w

| opponent = San Francisco State

| site_stadium = Ratcliffe Stadium

| site_cityst = Fresno, CA

| score = 48–20

| attend = 5,119

}}

|{{CFB schedule entry

| date = November 29

| w/l = w

| opponent = {{cfb link|year=1952|team=Whittier Poets|title=Whittier}}

| site_stadium = Ratcliffe Stadium

| site_cityst = Fresno, CA

| score = 21–14

| attend = 5,949

}}

}}

{{cite web |author= |title=Fresno State Football Media Guide |url=https://gobulldogs.com/documents/2024/8/21/5._2024_Record_Book.pdf |publisher=Fresno State Athletics |page=119 |access-date=January 27, 2025 }}

Team players in the NFL

The following were selected in the 1953 NFL draft.{{cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1953.htm|title=1953 NFL Draft|website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |access-date=December 7, 2016|archive-date=October 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030104143/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1953.htm|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/schools/fresnost/|title=Fresno St. Players/Alumni|website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |access-date = December 12, 2016}}

class="wikitable" width="65%"
align="center" style="background:#A81933;color:#FFFFFF;"

| Player

PositionRoundOverallNFL team
align="center" bgcolor=""

| Larry Willoughby

Back23276Los Angeles Rams

Notes

{{Reflist|group=note}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Fresno State Bulldogs football navbox}}

Fresno State

Category:Fresno State Bulldogs football seasons

Fresno State Bulldogs football

{{collegefootball-1952-season-stub}}