Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2008

Fresno State football jelling thanks to Toledo

By DANIEL LYGHT
The Fresno Bee

FRESNO -- Adversity draws people together, and that is why Fresno State quarterback Tom Brandstater said Saturday's 55-54 victory at Toledo was a positive for the Bulldogs.

The double-overtime win not only gave the Bulldogs (2-1) momentum going into this weekend's game at UCLA (1-2), but it brought the team together.

"I'm glad we won in this fashion because if we would have blew them out it might not have allowed us to come together like we are now," Brandstater said after the game.

"We're playing as a team and are really cohesive right now. It's good to win hard-fought games because sometime in the season we'll have to do it again and play with our backs against the wall, and we did that Saturday. It's a good experience."

The Bulldogs could have their backs against the wall as soon as Saturday. They are 1-6 against the Bruins and have never won in the Rose Bowl.

Still, UCLA has not shown much punch in its past two games. The Bruins opened the season with a 27-24 upset at home against a ranked Tennessee team, but after that have fallen embarrassingly, losing 59-0 at Brigham Young and falling 31-10 at home against Arizona.

The Bruins have 153 yards rushing this season.

Fresno State coach Pat Hill said UCLA is at a point offensively where it needs to establish a run game.

And with the Bulldogs' defensive front in bandages, this might be a good time for the Bruins to try -- two Toledo backs rushed for more than 100 yards.

Said Hill: "It's going to be a heck of a challenge."