Monday, Sept. 15, 2003 | 9:35 a.m.
From the decals on its travel bags and the size of the lumps of its backside, it's apparent that Fresno State will play anybody, anytime, anywhere.
Everybody knows it.
What everybody may not know is that the toughest schedule this side of Continental Trailways is one born of necessity, rather than design.
In that the Bulldogs were paid $525,000 for losing 56-28 at No. 1 Oklahoma Saturday, at least the bumps and bruises went to a worthy cause. But Fresno would rather play somebody like Baylor or SMU for free, if only somebody like Baylor or SMU was willing.
"I don't know how many times I've gotta explain that," Fresno coach Pat Hill told the Daily Oklahoman last week as Fresno patched itself up following a 23-0 loss at No. 11 Tennessee and a 16-14 victory against Oregon State, only to get beat up all over again at Norman. "We're not playing it for the money.
"It's not like we plan on playing what you call a suicide schedule. That's the only schedule available to us unless we play (Division) I-AA opponents."
Basically, the Bulldogs' problem is that they are too good for their own good. A couple of years ago, with David Carr at quarterback, they briefly flirted with a BCS berth when they crested at No. 8 midway through the season. Under Hill, they've become one of the nation's best mid-major programs.
That's a good thing when it comes to recruiting, but a bad thing when you're trying to schedule non-conference opponents. Everybody with the exception of the mega-powers are afraid to play the Bulldogs for the simple reason they could get beat.
"We can't get home games, and we have a very difficult time getting away games," Hill said.
Like this year, when San Diego State and Oklahoma State reneged on games, forcing Fresno to go to Tennessee and Oklahoma instead.
Oklahoma State isn't that far from being a power itself. But the reason San Diego State and other I-A also-rans won't play the Bulldogs at Fresno is that they can make more money being cannon fodder for one of the BCS heavyweights (although nobody will charge the Aztecs with rolling over at Ohio State two weeks ago).
The Bulldogs' list of impressive non-schedule opponents is longer than Hill's fu Manchu mustache. They've played UCLA, Colorado, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Oregon, Oregon State, BYU and Colorado State. In 2004 and 2006, they'll play Washington, probably because Marquis de Sade State couldn't fit them in.
UNLV took a page from Fresno's book this weekend when it won at No. 14 Wisconsin and impressively at that, 23-5.
But based on a recent informal conversation I had with Rebels new athletic director Mike Hamrick, the Rebels probably won't make a habit of playing traditional BCS powers.
Better bets are BCS weaklings such as Northwestern and Kansas and any former members of the Southwest Conference that the Big 12 didn't want. (My thoughts, not Hamrick's.)
Unless, of course, the Rebels keep beating the Wisconsins of the college football world. They then may find themselves in Fresno's shoes.
Or playing in its stadium.
The starting 11
Ohio State 44, N.C. State 38 (3 OT): Craig Krenzel's passing statistics are about as impressive as Roseanne Barr's vital ones, but nobody moves an offense better with the clock standing still than the Ohio State quarterback. The reigning national champions blew a 17-point fourth quarter lead but prevailed in the longest game in OSU history as Krenzel threw three touchdown passes in overtime. It was the third time in the past six games that the Buckeyes have gone to overtime to prolong a 17-game winning streak. North Carolina State held OSU to 44 yards rushing on 32 attempts, prompting Buckeyes tight end Ben Hartsock to say "I'm sure Woody (Hayes) is not looking down and smiling."
Michigan 38, Notre Dame 0: Two hours before kickoff, one of the Michigan team buses rolled into the parking lot and plowed into a fence at Michigan Stadium. So much for what went wrong against Notre Dame. In the days before the game, Wolverines offensive tackle Tony Pape said he had a vision. "One second left on the 1-yard line, (we) run into the end zone for a touchdown." Well, he was half right. Chris Perry did, indeed, score on a 1-yard run -- only it came with 13:26 to play and gave Michigan a 31-0 lead. Perry's touchdown plunge capped the longest drive in Wolverines history, as it lasted 10 minutes, 25 seconds.
Southern Cal 61, Hawaii 32: To illustrate how misleading statistics can be, the Warriors outgained the Trojans 462-418. After USC took command by scoring 49 consecutive points, Trojans quarterback Matt Lienart said USC needed such an effort with this week's bye followed by a "brutal stretch" of games against Cal, Arizona State, Notre Dame and Washington. Let's see ... Cal lost to Utah to fall to 1-3, it probably would have taken Notre Dame three plays to score had the Michigan defense walked off the field Saturday and Arizona State struggled against woeful Utah State. Sorry, Matt, I'm not buying it.
Purdue 16, Wake Forest 10: Well, I hope the Wake Forest players had somebody take a picture of last week's Top 25, because it will last longer than the Demon Deacons did in the polls. Wake's early season fame ended when an inside handoff was stuffed on fourth-and-1 at the Purdue 16 late in the fourth quarter. The Boilermakers dared the run-committed Deacons to pass by putting eight or nine men on the line of scrimmage on virtually every play. But Wake chose not to pass pass, and managed only 56 rushing yards, less than half of its previous low under coach Jim Grobe. "To throw the ball 50-60 times, that's not us," Grobe said. "If we can't gain a yard, we don't deserve to win."
Arkansas 38, Texas 28: The last time these old rivals met, in the 2000 Cotton Bowl, the Razorbacks won 27-6 and coach Houston Nutt flashed an upside down "Hook 'em' Horns" sign, a photo of which was posted in a prominent place in the Texas locker room last week. Maybe Mack Brown would have been better off tacking up a poster of Anna Kournikova, because the photo of that Nutt messin' with Texas apparently did little to inspire his players. Arkansas scored more points in Austin than any other opponent since Brown arrived there en route to its biggest road win since 1992, when the Hogs beat No. 4 Tennessee 25-24.
Georgia 31, South Carolina 7: All week long, Gamecocks coach Lou Holtz said his team had little chance against the Bulldogs. Of course, Holtz says that regardless of the opponent, but this time he was right. Georgia, which has allowed only three points this season, immediately began to look ahead to this week's showdown against LSU, one the nation's top offensive teams. "I don't want to think about it right now," Georgia defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder said right after the game. "I want to go home, eat with my family and relax. I'll start thinking about LSU Sunday morning ... well, maybe a little bit tonight."
Louisiana Tech 20, Michigan State 19: Remember what I said about statistics being misleading in the Hawaii-Southern Cal game? You can add turnovers to that category. Louisiana Tech committed five of them on the road at Michigan State. The Spartans didn't commit any. Yet the Bulldogs won by scoring two touchdowns in the final 1:09 to erase a 19-7 deficit. Tech quarterback Luke McCown threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Curry with two seconds remaining after Tech had recovered an onside kick. Fortunately for the MSU faithful, most were in their cars listening to Bob Seger on the radio by the time the Spartans gave it away.
Washington State 47, Colorado 26: Gary Barnett probably makes Fresno State's Pat Hill laugh. Even before the Buffaloes were buffaloed by Wazzu, Barnett may have been setting his team up for a loss by complaining about its rugged early season schedule. "Would I like to get up on Sunday morning and say, 'Oh, boy, I've got Wofford this week?' Yeah. I'd like to do that a couple of times," Barnett said. Wonder how many Colorado fans would show up for that one? Although Folsom Field was recently expanded to a modest capacity of 53,750, only four of Colorado's past 30 home dates have sold out.
Nebraska 18, Penn State 10: It wasn't that long ago when this would have been a national TV game around which college football fans planned their day. This year, only the Cornhuskers were ranked coming into the game, and then at only No. 18. Nebraska beat writers have labeled this year's team "The Scoring Implosion," a takeoff on the 1983 juggernaut that featured Turner Gill, Mike Rozier and Irving Fryar. That team, known as "The Scoring Explosion," beat Penn State in the Kickoff Classic 44-6. On Saturday, the Huskers were booed by their normally mild-mannered fans when they left the field at halftime trailing 10-9.
Florida State 14, Georgia Tech 13: Remember what I said about statistics (USC-Hawaii) and turnovers (Michigan State-Louisiana Tech)? Well, you can add ball control to the list of college football victory fallacies. The Seminoles had a grand total of 15 offensive snaps in the first half but still won, thanks to two late scoring drives in the fourth quarter.
Toledo 24, Marshall 17: In a marquee matchup of BCS outsiders, the Rockets rallied to beat the Thundering Herd for the third time in four years. Toledo is the only team to beat Marshall more than once since the latter returned to the Mid-American Conference in 1997. The Herd lost for just the second time in 52 home games since Bob Pruett became coach and took a chance on Randy Moss.
Big men on campus
Craig Krenzel, Ohio State, had 273 yards and four touchdowns passes as No. 3 Ohio State beat No. 24 North Carolina State 44-38 in triple overtime.
Jamaal Brimmer, UNLV, returned a fumble for a touchdown and had two interceptions and two sacks as the Rebels stunned No. 14 Wisconsin 23-8.
Chris Perry, Michigan, gained 177 total yards, running for three touchdowns and catching another as the No. 5 Wolverines blanked No. 15 Notre Dame 38-0.
Jason White, Oklahoma, threw for 338 yards and four touchdowns as the top-ranked Sooners beat Fresno State 52-28.
Ryan Schneider, Central Florida, passed for a school-record 497 yards in Central Florida's 33-29 win over Florida Atlantic.
Stats enough
Since late in the 1999 season, Penn State is only 21-21. ... Forget the Gatorade, how about some Velcro: Cincinnati and West Virginia combined for 14 fumbles in the Bearcats' 15-13 win. ... Pittsburgh improved to 21-0 against the Mid-American Conference with a 42-21 win against David Letterman U. -- er, Ball State. ... Just like old times: Nebraska attempted only six passes in its 18-10 win against Penn State.
Couch Potato Bowl
After the game, as Nixon shook hands with the Texas players in the locker room, one of them yelled 'Thank you, Mr. President."
"No," said the President. "You boys deserve it."
The player shouted back: "No, I'm thanking you for my high lottery number."
Division I-A Lite
How about trimming the Big Ten to the Big Seven or Eight? With Wisconsin losing to UNLV, Michigan State to Louisiana Tech and Northwestern to Miami, Ohio, the Big Ten plus Penn State should be thankful the BCS doesn't consider the conferences from top to bottom before issuing a membership card. This week's highly unofficial Division I-A rankings:
1. UNLV: Badgers quarterback Jim Sorgi lets out a Rebel yell after UNLV sacks him nine times.
2. Bowling Green: Give the Falcons Liberty ... and an easy win (62-3) before Ohio State this week.
3. Colorado State: Rams whip Weber State and in an upset, Bradlee Van Pelt keeps his mouth shut (as far as we know).
4. TCU: Frogs under the Gunn without quarterback Tye (injured shoulder).
5. Louisville: Cards 2-0 against BCS teams (Kentucky, Syracuse).
6. BYU: Cougars repel winds of change (35 mph) and Lobos in 10-7 win at New Mexico.
7. Utah: Urban renewal: New coach Meyer leads Utes to win against Pac-10's Cal.
8. Boise State: Broncos get a chance to show they're legit vs. Oregon State this week.
9. Northern Illinois: Huskies hoping to turn the Tide at Alabama.
10. Louisiana Tech: The football gospel according to Luke (QB McCown): Bulldogs are for real.
Games we'd like to see
In this space each week the Sun will present a dream college football matchup, with statistics and highlights provided by Lance Haffner Games' 3-in-1 computer simulation. Readers who would like to propose future matchups can do so by contacting the Sun via e-mail ([email protected]).
1969 Texas vs. 1969 Arkansas: We'll call this week's offering a game we'd like to see again: 1969 Arkansas vs. 1969 Texas, with President Nixon in the stands, commemorative 100-year college football decals on the helmets and a national championship riding on the outcome.
Remember, in 1969, the national champion was crowned before the bowl games, so this was the equivalent of a national championship game long before the advent of the BCS. Only the teams didn't split a $40 million bonanza, and TV still showed the marching bands perform at halftime.
In a game remarkably similar to its real life counterpart, Texas used a surprise pass to repel Arkansas 16-7 in our computer rematch.
In real life, the Horns hooked the Hogs 15-14 when Wishbone quarterback James Street threw a gutsy long pass on 4th-and-short to tight end Randy Peschel, setting up the winning touchdown.
In the computer replay, with Street able to hit only 1 of 6 pass attempts, Texas coach Darrell Royal turned to backup Donnie Wigginton, who threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Cotton Speyrer with 4:16 to play after Arkansas had closed to 9-7 on a 47-yard run by George Burnett on the last play of the third quarter.
Texas outgained Arkansas 349-209 in the computer rematch that was marred by 11 fumbles. The Longhorns, whose option offense was susceptible to fumbles, put the ball on the ground seven times but lost only two. The Razorbacks, meanwhile, fumbled four times and lost them all.
Wooo, pig, fumble.
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