Fresno State Athletics
No. 8 Fresno State Eyes BCS
10/12/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 12, 2001
By AARON J. LOPEZ
AP Sports Writer
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - In Fresno State's campaign to disrupt the Bowl Championship Series format, Colorado is proving to be a crucial stumping state.
Seven weeks after the No. 8 Bulldogs began their national push with a two-point victory over Colorado, they return to the Front Range on Saturday to face Colorado State in a game that could prove more difficult than it looks.
The game will be the first in two weeks for the Bulldogs (5-0), who have not won four road games in a season since 1991. Fresno State has three road victories this year, but coach Pat Hill has not forgotten the team's 38-point loss in Fort Collins four years ago.
"They just pounded us," he said. "They were so much better than us. It was a dose of reality. It was where we needed to get our program in a hurry."
By playing quality opponents on their turf, Hill has revived a program that was a picture of mediocrity for the latter half of the '90s.
Fresno State began the season unranked but has put together an impressive first half behind a sack-happy, turnover-inducing defense and lemonade-cool quarterback David Carr, who has thrown 18 touchdown passes and three interceptions.
"Probably the real strength of their football team is their defense," Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick said. "Carr, of course, is an excellent player, a good quarterback, but defensively they can be dominant at times."
The last thing Colorado State (2-3) needs is another date with a strong defense.
The Rams managed two points against Louisville last Thursday as they continued an elevator season. They have alternated wins and losses each week, while putting up scores that read like a Lotto drawing (14, 35, 7, 42, 2).
Colorado State will have to return to power ball if it hopes to avoid losing back-to-back home games for the first time since 1993.
The Rams forced four turnovers but managed only 148 total yards against Louisville after gaining 302 yards rushing in a rout of Wyoming five days earlier.
With first-year starting quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt still finding his way around the offense, the running game should prove pivotal against Fresno State.
"If we can't do that, we certainly are not going to be able to drop back and throw the football," Lubick said. "We still have to have some balance."
The Bulldogs have a different kind of balancing act as they charge up the national rankings. One loss would immediately end any chance of gaining an at-large berth in a BCS game in January.
Colorado State and Rice present the toughest tests over remainder of a schedule that includes lower-tier Western Athletic Conference teams such as Boise State, Nevada and San Jose State.
"The game provides us with incentive and motivation," Lubick said. "We will talk about their ranking and I am sure it will give us some motivation to play better and play harder."
Knowing the stakes, Hill is doing everything possible to keep his team on the rise. He plans to practice in Colorado on Friday and has warned his team of pitfalls that range from a 10 p.m. EST start to a cold front moving into Colorado.
"I've told our team to prepare for the worst," Hill said. "Prepare for bad weather and prepare for wind. Prepare for everything else."
