Monday, November 20, 2006

Two Down Two To Go

Pat Hill stated that this Bulldog team would finish the season 4-0 and why shouldn't they? This Bulldog team is not nearly as bad as the 3-7 record they currently hold. A few breaks here and there and this team is currently 6-4 playing for eight wins and a bowl birth. Next up is La. Tech, a team with more problems than Fresno State has right now. Yes, I realize that is hard to believe but La. Tech has done very little right this season. Fresno State wll not be traveling down to Ruston this week to play in front of a large television crowd. Instead the Dogs will head into Ruston and likely play in front of maybe 10,000 fans. In other words there really won't be much of a homefield advantage for the Bulldogs of La. Tech. Fresno has lost to La. Tech two years in a row, both of them being back breaking losses. The first loss ended a 3-0 start with wins over both Washington and Kansas State. The second loss ended any chances of the Dogs tying for the WAC title last season with Boise. In other words the Dogs have many reasons to get up for this game against Tech. Whether we win or lose will come down to game execution. If Tom Brandstater cannot break out of his funk this game may be far closer than we all would like it to be.

With all week to talk about the upcoming games against La. Tech and San Jose State I would like to focus on another topic. I am wondering what you as fans thought about Senior day with the Bulldogs. I realize we won the game 34-0 but
Matt James today pointed out many of the mistakes Pat Hill may have made during the course of that game. I did not realize that we didn't mention Kyle Young on senior day, nor did I realize Roshon Vercher was not starting. I don't want to sit here and down the team because we played a very good football game against Idaho. I feel like part of the reason that Idaho played so badly is because of the great defense the Bulldogs brought to the table in this game. However, I am wondering what you as fans think of Pat Hill and the job he is doing right now? Take into consideration what happened Saturday with Christensen and such and maybe we can all discuss what we think of this team right now. I feel terrible for Christensen because he should have been in the game to start the fourth quarter. I realize Hill is stubborn in his ways but everyone in the stadium and on the sidelines wanted Christensen in there trying to throw ball for the final time in his career at state. Maybe I am the only one who feels like Hill completely missed the boat here. Let me know what you think about how Hill handled this situation.

Note - I will be blogging about Fresno State for the remainder of the football season. Once the Bulldogs football season is over I am going to change focus and switch to the basketball team. I will still write about Fresno State football whenever we have news to share with all of the fans (MDG and I) but I think this Bulldogs basketball team is one we should all pay attention to and support. Just because the Bulldogs football team had a down year doesn't mean we as fans should forget how good the other teams at this university will be. I hope we have plenty of basketball fans, it would be nice to see you out at the games now that the Dogs football season at home is over with.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It comes down to a matter of class. Do you think it would have been classy to reward Christensen for the four years he has done the grunt work by allowing him, with the game in hand, a meaningful few minutes? Do you think Vercher deserved to block for Wright when he broke 1,000 yards? Do you think Pat Hill showed a lot of class, or do you think he displayed a lack of class?

Remember, PH makes $1,300,000.00 per year, but money has never bought class.

Steve Burnes

Anonymous said...

basketball = who cares

what is the name of this blog:

"Fresno State Football Blog"

Just kidding!!!

I would love to hear what's going on with the basketball team.

nsc said...

First off I think the level of class showed on Saturday was little to none. DE would have put his QB in easily in that same situation and let him fling it all over the field. So i agree that Pat Hill disappointed heavily on Saturday, I just want to know what other fans think. Secondly when I begin writing for the basketball team it will not be on the football blog site, it will probably be on the barkboard. So no worries this will stay the football blog year round.

Anonymous said...

J.C. should of got a chance to throw the ball on 3rd and 8. The crowd would've loved it

Anonymous said...

Evo 2, I will answer you: Yes I am putting up that number, not because PH makes more than me (I am a school teacher, and happy with my salary), but because I am on a quest to get the kind of coach who earns--rather than just "makes"--that kind of income.

Our teams have featured a lack of discipline, a lack of creativity, and an inability to remain motivated for an entire season for too long. I love the 'Dogs, am a faithful FSU alum, and want the best for my school. That would include a coach who is worth, get ready for it, $1,300,000.00 per.

Steve Burnes

Anonymous said...

p.s. Evo 2, that is why I post my real name, in order to take responsibility for my comments.

By the way, I'm also getting tired of the "quest." Perhaps your comments let me know my point is made, and I can move on.

Steve Burnes

Anonymous said...

Evo 2, I didn't realize it might sound like I was implying you should use your real name; sorry, not my intention.

Actually, we agree on many points. FYI, I was a Hill supporter for many years. One of my problems with him is I bought into his rhetoric: we will be BCS busters. Last year was my "...he has to change; ...this year will be tellling..." time. Hence, I looked to this year to let me know if he would change, or we would suffer another meltdown, as we did to end last season. You know what happened. Maybe next year you will be where I am now; maybe you will be vindicated (I hope, because PH is not going anywhere).

Yes indeed, PH gave us more national recognition. He gave us a brand: "Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere." Thanks for that. However, we cannot sneak up on opponents anymore, they all know what we will bring, and they out-prepare us. Thus, we lose to teams that have inferior talent to ours.

I disagree with 9 good years, against 1 bad year. We have no outright WAC Championships under Hill, most of the BCS games we won have been devalued over time, and Hill's record averages about 8-4 (making him an average coach in a very soft league). I think we have many "average" years under PH..

Athletes are here--we have good ones buried in outmoded schemes. Remember, the class leaving was touted by Hill himself as his "best ever."

You are absolutely right: PH must evolve (hey, is that where your name came from!?)in order to reach the next level.
Will he? THAT is the million dollar (notice I left off a certain exact figure) question. I hope so. If he does modernize our schemes, and avoid meltdowns, I will again support him; his track record says he will not.

Finally, we can agree that we love the Bulldogs. Go 'Dogs, win the WAC on the way to busting the BCS (they can't get there otherwise, y'know?)!

Steve Burnes

Anonymous said...

NSC, thanks for your time and effort on this blog. I agree with much of your analysis, and I am just as happy to read what I disagree with. Keep it up!

Steve Burnes