Monday, May. 12, 2008

Steve Cameron: Dogs grab ranking ... any big surprise?

FRESNO -- Pat Hill has two speeches that he sells relentlessly in an effort to keep his football program at full boil.

The Bulldog boss delivers them with force and gusto, too, like an old-fashioned preacher leading a revival.

Sometimes you think Hill would be right at home in a tent outside of town, with straw on the floor and his audience perched on hay bales.

There isn't an inch of doubt Pat that believes his gospel, either.

Never question that, brothers and sisters, because it's fairly terrifying when Hill turns on non-believers.

The only problem that Pat encounters from time to time is that, well...

His two speeches contradict each other.

The first is his explanation of Fresno State's disadvantages in the big, bad world of college football.

You know...

"We don't have the money for recruiting they can spend in BCS conferences, we can't get any big-time teams to come and play us at home, we lose terrific assistant coaches because of salary issues, we're always fighting uphill against the depth of bigger programs, yada, yada."

I'm paraphrasing, but it's close. You know that because you've heard the sermon.

Pat launches into that tirade when he wants to point out Fresno State's battle is just this side of David and Goliath -- that "they" have all the resources and he's left with only a few kids who want to play a little ball.

Pat uses that battle cry to put a chip on his players' shoulders, to imply that while he knows they're tough and talented, the rest of the world can't even remember their names.

Expect to hear that speech, or a version of it, sometime before Fresno State journeys south to face UCLA on the third weekend of the 2008 season.

At some point during the build-up to that game, you'll start believing UCLA has 400 players on scholarship and Hill is taking his own team to the Rose Bowl in a couple of vans -- and that all they could afford were leather helmets.

That chip-on-the-shoulder, let's-show-the-world mentality has done Hill plenty of good in famous victories at Wisconsin, Kansas State, Colorado -- and in bowl match-ups with the likes of USC and Virginia.

Pat wore out that us-against-them theme last year, when he coaxed a young, beat-up, out-of-position bunch of kids to play spectacular football -- basically saving the program following a 4-8 debacle the previous year.

And his exciting group of youngsters pulled it off.

They went 9-4 -- really 10-3 if you ignore a official's phony decision to "replay a replay" in overtime at Texas A&M -- and then pounded Georgia Tech 40-29 in the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl.

So Hill has the natives howling again.

Which brings us to his other speech -- the one that, um, contradicts his sad tale of the little guy giving it a brave shot against all the big boys.

Fact is, the world has noticed Fresno State.

The Dogs might still be in the WAC, but they are considered big guys by anyone who knows college football.

ESPN's first preseason ranking lists Fresno State at 21st in the nation.

Which is no surprise, by the way.

The Dogs lost just one full-time starter from an offense that averaged 33 points and was the most balanced in the country -- 210 yards per game rushing and 209 passing.

Quarterback Tom Brandstater is back after zipping 15 TDs with just 5 picks, and so are an army of skill players -- led by future pros like running back Ryan Mathews and tight end Bear Pascoe.

Fresno State has its usual tortuous schedule -- Rutgers, UCLA and Toledo on the road, No. 18 Wisconsin at home in addition to the conference grind.

But make no mistake: As long as Brandstater stays healthy -- and maybe even if he doesn't -- these Dogs can score on anybody.

The defense will be young again, but a third straight outstanding recruiting class has provided Hill's staff with some amazing athletes to fill the gaps.

The Dogs will be fast and extremely hostile.

And that brings us to Hill's "sermon" problem.

See, it's OK to keep playing the little guy when you're trying to get off the floor following a rough season, but there's a certain point where Hill wants his team -- and you -- to think of the Bulldogs as bona fide contenders in the national picture.

In other words, now.

So he has to bring out that "other" speech.

Something like...

"Maybe the pollsters don't pay any attention to the WAC, and people must assume our guys only came to Fresno because UCLA didn't want them. They're supposed to be cannon fodder for the Big 10 and the Pac-10 -- but they're not and they'll prove it.

"I've never gone into a football game I didn't intend to win -- and didn't believe we could win. My team believes we can beat anybody."

Hill normally does a great job balancing his two mantras -- and he can alternate them as needed this year, provided Fresno State doesn't come flying out of the gate against those non-conference foes.

But if the Dogs are good enough to do that -- and it's not impossible -- then to use a poker term, Pat will have to forget the "poor little us" speech, reach for his chips and go...

All in.

Steve Cameron is sports editor of the Sun-Star. He can be reached via e-mail at scameron@mercedsunstar.com.