LET THE 2006 SEASON BEGIN

Nevada game:

First let’s back up and explain some of the history of this program under head coach Pat Hill. The former Fresno State College rose to previously unthought-of heights under head coach Jim Sweeney, who took the program from playing at Ratcliffe Stadium, home of the local JC, to a home of its own in Bulldog Stadium. The stadium has been upgraded and expanded several times and now seats around 42,000.

Sweeney put the school on the map with a victory over USC in a long-forgotten bowl game that was known as the Freedom Bowl in the early 90’s. That USC team, despite having a lot of future NFL talent on its roster, was enduring a down period while FSU was on the rise, with Trent Dilfer and Lorenzo Neal among the future NFL’ers on its roster.

Hill came to FSU after Sweeney’s retirement with a noble goal and a flashy slogan: anybody, anytime, anywhere. Big-time BCS teams won’t come to Fresno so Hill will go there. At first there were bodybag games , but much more competitive games would follow.

During Hill’s tenure, the definition of “big game” has changed. Wins over Wisconsin and Colorado with David Carr at the helm were absolutely huge, with FSU playing David to the established schools’ Goliath. Subsequent wins over Kansas St. and a Washington Husky team that was at absolute rock-bottom were trumped up as “wins over BCS opponents,” which, of course, they were. But those wins certainly didn’t compare to Carr & CO. going into Camp Randal and emerging victorious. Or even to the Freedom Bowl win.

Hill openly states that his goal is to have his WAC team crash the BCS party by going undefeated against a strong non-conference schedule and riding that momentum into the WAC season. Some years it works out well in the pre-conference season (2001). But a huge problem presents itself. That would be the WAC. First it’s Boise State. Then Louisiana Tech. Then an ugly habit of stumbling to the finish line dogs the Dogs.

The “glass is half-full” perspective is stretched to its absolute limits with Bowl wins over the likes of Georgia Tech and Virginia in venues such as the Silicon Valley Classic and the MPC Computers Bowl.

Hill, the master motivator and champion of Fresno State’s cause, constantly paints these successes in the best possible light. He moves Fresno State games to Fridays to get ESPN exposure wherever possible, knowing that that game is watched by everybody in college football, as they are all preparing for the normal slate of games on Saturday.

Unfortunately, Hill also states publicly that getting to the BCS is the only acceptable goal and that the FSU season is over with a loss, any loss. The trouble with that: FSU’s “season” ends sometimes as early as week 2.

Another possible fallout is the heavy burden of playing teams from the next level, often on the road, that seems to take a lot out of the Bulldogs. Conference losses stack up, even in years that the ‘Dogs have beaten the likes of Wisconsin, et al. And often one loss turns into three.

Last year was a perfect example. An early loss at Oregon in a very close game was shaken off as FSU climbed the polls with a series of wins. Then came the non-conference blockbuster game that the entire season was centered around: #1 USC. Of course this game took place on the road. The spirited Bulldogs, ranked somewhere around 16, traded bombs with the two-time defending national champions and even held a lead in the fourth quarter. USC and Reggie Bush proved to be too much in the end and the ‘Dogs came home with a well-deserved moral victory.

After going toe-to-toe with the juggernaut Trojans, the Bulldogs responded by losing their next three games to the likes of Nevada, Louisiana Tech, and Tulsa, along with any national ranking, to finish the year on a four-game skid.

That’s how it goes in the land of the Green V.

Enter the year 2006. With four straight losses on the books and a four-year starting quarterback gone, along with some key defensive players, FSU enters a season with all the usual marquee non-conference matchups. Oregon comes to Bulldog Stadium while the ‘Dogs have a date in Seattle with the Washington Huskies. And mid-season is another “game of the century,” this time at LSU.

But it all starts with Nevada, a team that methodically defended its home turf the week after the FSU-USC game for a 38-35 victory. Lots of offense for the Wolfpack, who didn’t have Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush or Lendale White in uniform. The FSU defense just couldn’t corral them in the cold Reno night and one loss had turned into two. (La Tech would make it three less than a week later, of course).

The 2006 opener against Nevada would be a Friday night ESPN affair, kicking off at 5PM local time. QB Tommy Brandstater would take over the reins from the departed Paul Pinegar, who graduated. The Wolfpack brought back Jeff Rowe at QB and the battle was joined to start a new year.

The four-game skid was halted as the ‘Dogs posted a 28-19 victory in front of its home crowd. Kudos to the ‘Dogs for getting revenge and especially to the new QB who handled himself quite well and connected on 16 of 24 passes.

A possible harbinger of things to come, however, was the free-running Nevada receivers in the Fresno State secondary. Rowe missed several wide-open receivers who had a step (or five) on the inexperienced Bulldog secondary.

Bottom line: Dogs win, Brandstater can definitely do this job, Dwayne Wright is a force at running back (158 yards) and the pain of last year’s finish is behind the team.

Cause for concern: The secondary is abysmal. Wright is coming back from injury and his workhorse running style will definitely lead to two bad things – more injury and fumbles while fighting seven or eight defenders for that extra yard or two.

Next up – Oregon.