Quarterback towels are four inches wide by 12 inches long and have velcro hoops so they can hang from a waistband. Carson Conklin could have used a hoop when the Sacramento State quarterback reported to a recent practice with a bath towel tucked in his pants and dangling just below his knees.
Only a player with nothing to fear could get away with it. Conklin would have never thought of making such a bold fashion statement as a freshman in 2023. He certainly had no thoughts of leaving Sacramento State a year later and using the transfer portal to rejoin the Hornets this summer after spending a year at Fresno State.
Leaving Sacramento State was not his idea. Andy Thompson resigned as head coach after the 2024 season, UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion was hired and the Hornets imported more than 50 transfers. Two were quarterbacks whom Marion was planning to play ahead of Conklin.
Jaden Rashada started the first two games in 2025, did nothing to show why he was once a highly touted recruit and is now at Mississippi State. Cardell Williams started the other 10 games, was not much of an improvement over Rashada and is now at Maryland.
Conklin appeared in six games for the Bulldogs last season and started three in place of the injured E.J. Warner, the son of Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner. Fresno State lost to San Diego State in Conklin’s first start, but the Bulldogs bounced back the following week for a 30-7 win at Boise State.
Boise State had won 16 consecutive Mountain West Conference games at home, the longest active streak in the country at that time, but Fresno State ended it with Conklin throwing for just 35 yards. He made his final start against Wyoming, throwing for 95 yards and a touchdown in the 24-3 victory.
Conklin did not throw another pass for Fresno State. The next pass he throws will be for Sacramento State, where he returned after Marion resigned to become offensive coordinator at Colorado. Conklin did not give any thought to other schools before calling Hornets quarterback coach Bobby Fresques.
“No one believes in me as much as (Fresques) does,” Conklin said. Fresques expected Conklin’s call because “recruiting is about relationships and I have known Carson since his sophomore year in high school. That’s when you build a relationship with him and his family. I knew he wanted to be back.”
Fresques was the offensive coordinator in 2024 when Kaiden Bennett started the first two games. The second was at Fresno State and Conklin replaced Bennett in the second half with Sacramento State trailing 25-10. Conklin finished with 200 passing yards and three touchdowns in the 46-30 loss.
The starting job belonged to Conklin after that. He saved his best for the season finale, throwing for 389 yards and five touchdowns in the 42-39 loss to UC Davis in the Causeway Classic. That bumped his season totals to 2,876 yards and 28 touchdowns. If ever a player had job security, it was Conklin.
All that changed when Marion was hired. It was not as if Marion told Conklin to get lost, but Conklin had little chance of playing in an offense not suited for his skillset. “AT\t first we tried to make it work, but I think everyone knew that it wasn’t. It just wasn’t for me. There’s nothing wrong wit that.”
Conklin made the most of his time at Fresno State and has come back with a better understanding of playing the most important position on the field. “It was a great experience,” he recalled. “I learned everything over there and I’m able to bring it back and apply it out there and try to make us better.”
Football has occupied so much of his brain that Conklin has not given much thought to trimming his mullet or deciding what to do with the clump of hair on his chin. “I just decided to let it go for a little bit and see what it looked like,” he said. “There’s too much stuff to focus on, bigger things to worry about. A haircut wasn’t really on the top of my list.”
