by NSC (this was supposed to be published Friday afternoon)
I want everyone who reads this blog to sit back and think about something for a minute. Fresno State embarks upon its 2007 football season tomorrow night at seven p.m (On a side note for those of you who will not be there tomorrow shame on you, it's the season opener and you need to get out there and see what this team is all about). Although we open the season against Sacramento State this game is being viewed by fans in various different aspects. Some fans are not excited about the prospects of playing a Div. 1AA school to start the season. Some fans think it is great to play a Div. 1AA school because this team needs to build some confidence going into the following two weeks at A&M and Oregon. Some fans do not care who we play and are just happy there is a college football game for the first time in nine months in the city of Fresno (I am a part of this group). While we all have our differing opinions of what this game means to the Bulldogs the question I want to ask is: If we win does it really matter how we win the game?
Tomorrow night there is a possibility that Fresno State will run the ball continuously and still win the game by at least four td's. Sacramento State is starting over in a sense as they welcome in an entirely new offense to the team. The Hornets will not have much of a chance against the Bulldogs but do you as fans expect Fresno State to throw for 300 yards? Do you expect the Dogs to run for 200 yards on the ground? Do you expect Devon Wylie or Clifton Smith to return a kick for a td? Do you expect the defense to be stellar and shut down the Hornets? What happens if the Dogs play is less than stellar? What happens if in the fourth quarter the Bulldogs find themselves winning by a mere td and our QB falters once again? Will you as fans begin to turn on the Bulldogs? What happens if the final score is 24-17 and the Dogs leave with a hard fought win? Yes the Dogs will have won the game but isn't this win so much more than just a win? When all is said and done wouldn't a win such as this type leave the fans with much to ponder in the coming week?
We as fans want the Dogs to punish the Hornets much like Boise State manhandled Weber State last night. But does the style of win truly matter? I used to worry about stats. I used to feel like it was important if our QB threw for 4,000 yards and 35 td's in a season. Today I do not care. Today all that matters is that the Bulldogs finish with a higher score than the opponent. If Fresno State scored 24 points a game and went 12-0 all that would matter is that 12-0 finish. In the end a win is never just a win. A win is always so much more than just that. A win gives us implications that maybe this team will win again next week. Sometimes a win tells us that there is no way we are going to win the following game because of the style we won the game in. Sometimes teams win and have no business doing so. In 2007 I feel like Fresno State will break even. I think this is a .500 team talent and experience wise. However, if this team wins seven to ten games I wil not care how it is done. If Brandstater throws for 150 yards and does not make the big game mistakes that he made in 2006 I will think of him as a much better QB. If Our CB's turn around while running down the field I will think of them as far superior to what we had last year. If our d-line finds a way to get pressure on the QB often I will feel like the d-line outplayed the d-line from 2006.
In the end a win is never just a win. If the Dogs win in an ugly game so many will find a way to crucify this team for the way they played. However, just remember that it does not matter if the Bulldogs win games 55-10 or 42-39, both still go down in the win column and that is the one result that matters. I do not have as positive an outlook on the season as MDG does. I do not feel this team will make a bowl game, but as I said before if they do I do not care how it happens. I do not care what they will have done to accomplsih a bowl game, I only care that they got there. I hope that most of you Bulldog fans feel the same exact way when all is said and done.
Note - Zagfan is the one who threw this idea for a blog at me. He asked me to write about the way we perceive the wins that the Bulldogs experience. He said that Mario gave him an assist on this. Thanks for the idea guys and by the way now that we play a real team in two weeks I wll start the blog up for good for quite a while starting Tuesday.
I want everyone who reads this blog to sit back and think about something for a minute. Fresno State embarks upon its 2007 football season tomorrow night at seven p.m (On a side note for those of you who will not be there tomorrow shame on you, it's the season opener and you need to get out there and see what this team is all about). Although we open the season against Sacramento State this game is being viewed by fans in various different aspects. Some fans are not excited about the prospects of playing a Div. 1AA school to start the season. Some fans think it is great to play a Div. 1AA school because this team needs to build some confidence going into the following two weeks at A&M and Oregon. Some fans do not care who we play and are just happy there is a college football game for the first time in nine months in the city of Fresno (I am a part of this group). While we all have our differing opinions of what this game means to the Bulldogs the question I want to ask is: If we win does it really matter how we win the game?
Tomorrow night there is a possibility that Fresno State will run the ball continuously and still win the game by at least four td's. Sacramento State is starting over in a sense as they welcome in an entirely new offense to the team. The Hornets will not have much of a chance against the Bulldogs but do you as fans expect Fresno State to throw for 300 yards? Do you expect the Dogs to run for 200 yards on the ground? Do you expect Devon Wylie or Clifton Smith to return a kick for a td? Do you expect the defense to be stellar and shut down the Hornets? What happens if the Dogs play is less than stellar? What happens if in the fourth quarter the Bulldogs find themselves winning by a mere td and our QB falters once again? Will you as fans begin to turn on the Bulldogs? What happens if the final score is 24-17 and the Dogs leave with a hard fought win? Yes the Dogs will have won the game but isn't this win so much more than just a win? When all is said and done wouldn't a win such as this type leave the fans with much to ponder in the coming week?
We as fans want the Dogs to punish the Hornets much like Boise State manhandled Weber State last night. But does the style of win truly matter? I used to worry about stats. I used to feel like it was important if our QB threw for 4,000 yards and 35 td's in a season. Today I do not care. Today all that matters is that the Bulldogs finish with a higher score than the opponent. If Fresno State scored 24 points a game and went 12-0 all that would matter is that 12-0 finish. In the end a win is never just a win. A win is always so much more than just that. A win gives us implications that maybe this team will win again next week. Sometimes a win tells us that there is no way we are going to win the following game because of the style we won the game in. Sometimes teams win and have no business doing so. In 2007 I feel like Fresno State will break even. I think this is a .500 team talent and experience wise. However, if this team wins seven to ten games I wil not care how it is done. If Brandstater throws for 150 yards and does not make the big game mistakes that he made in 2006 I will think of him as a much better QB. If Our CB's turn around while running down the field I will think of them as far superior to what we had last year. If our d-line finds a way to get pressure on the QB often I will feel like the d-line outplayed the d-line from 2006.
In the end a win is never just a win. If the Dogs win in an ugly game so many will find a way to crucify this team for the way they played. However, just remember that it does not matter if the Bulldogs win games 55-10 or 42-39, both still go down in the win column and that is the one result that matters. I do not have as positive an outlook on the season as MDG does. I do not feel this team will make a bowl game, but as I said before if they do I do not care how it happens. I do not care what they will have done to accomplsih a bowl game, I only care that they got there. I hope that most of you Bulldog fans feel the same exact way when all is said and done.
Note - Zagfan is the one who threw this idea for a blog at me. He asked me to write about the way we perceive the wins that the Bulldogs experience. He said that Mario gave him an assist on this. Thanks for the idea guys and by the way now that we play a real team in two weeks I wll start the blog up for good for quite a while starting Tuesday.
4 comments:
A win any old way is not BullDog football. Hill has been around here long enough to expect more than just a win over a lower divisioned team. This team should dominate the way Hawaii or Boise do. They should already be at the level of Boise State, a team that out recruits Fresno State every year since Hill got here.Afterall, most recruits that leave this area go to other teams that are not
PAC 10 teams. ENOUGH with the excuses, if he can't move them to the next level, find someone who will.
If this team barely beats a lowly division I-AA cupcake then there are serious problems for Texas A&M as well as the season. PH doesn't believe in running up the score but he should know by now that once you get a comfortable lead in the game you need to keep it that way and not give the opposition any bit of confidence to get back in the game.
I agree somewhat with the poster above. I've said from the beginning that we need to completely crush Sac State to give our team momentum and encouragement. But more importantly give them AND the fans some confidence heading into our back to back BCS games.
Holy crap! It's 2:49...time to head out to the stadium!!
ZK686
I Can't believe some of you people,you're never happy.The defense as of right now is #1 in the nation.Did you really expect us to open up the offense so aTm could see.What is wrong with you people?Why would you need excuses after a win?I suppose if we win tommorrow you people will still find something to bitch about.aTm allowed over 400 yds offense from Montana state,so why don't you go to there board and bitch about them?When did we give the other team confidence?102 yds of total offense , HELLO!!the only disapointment I had was the three turnovers.If it wasn't for those the score would have been more like what some of you expected.Now for god sakes support your team.
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