Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Hit The Road To Face Washington
9/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 11, 2006
Fresno, Calif. -
Complete Football Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Fresno State (1-1, 1-0) vs. Washington (1-1, 0-0)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 16
Kickoff: 3:30 p.m. PT
Site: Husky Stadium (72,500); Seattle, Wash.
Radio: KMJ (AM 580); Dog Talk at 1 p.m.; Countdown to Kickoff (3 p.m.)
Play-by-Play: Bill Woodward; Analyst: Mark Barsotti; Sideline: Guy Haberman
KGST ESPN Deportes (1600 AM) in Spanish
Play-by-Play: Jess Gonzales; Analysts: Sam Sosa, Doug Kessler
Television: Bulldog Sports Network (KFRE CW 59)
Play-by-Play: Ralph Wood; Analysts: Randy Rosenbloom; Sideline: Bob Akanian
Dogs Hit the Road
Fresno State takes to the road for the first time in the 2006 season with a tough road trip at the University of Washington and famous Husky Stadium, which seats more than 72,000. The Dogs are coming off a 31-24 home loss to No. 20 Oregon while the Huskies lost at No. 10 Oklahoma 37-20.
BSN Debut
Saturday's broadcast is the first of the season for the Bulldog Sports Network, which televises Fresno State football and men's basketball games locally. BSN will broadcast the next four games of the season. The BSN broadcasts are shown locally on KFRE CW 59 (Comcast cable channel 5). Veteran sportscaster Ralph Wood returns to provide the play-by-play and Randy Rosenbloom is the analyst.
vs. Washington
This battle of dog breeds has only happened twice before, with each team winning one game. Both the previous games were played in Husky Stadium. Washington beat the Bulldogs 49-14 in Seattle on Sept. 29, 1979. Fresno State evened the series with a convincing 35-16 win in the 2004 season opener for both teams.
Last Meeting with the Huskies
It counts as one of the most significant road wins in Bulldog history as Fresno State beat Washington 35-16 on Sept. 5, 2004. It was the largest margin of victory by a nonconference opponent in Husky Stadium since 1954. Fresno State's defense scored three touchdowns, led by interceptions from James Sanders and Richard Marshall, and a fumble return by Brian Morris, to seal the win. Dwayne Wright opened the season with 109 rushing yards and scored on a 28 yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. It was the first of three wins the Bulldogs had over BSC conference opponents in 2004.
Attack the Pac
The Bulldogs have had pretty good success against the teams from the Pac-10 in recent years. Fresno State is 5-5 in its last 10 games against Pac-10 opponents. Since 1980, Fresno State owns a respectable record of 18-19 against teams from the Pac-10. That's impressive considering only nine of those 37 games were played in Fresno.
About Washington
The Huskies enter this week with a 1-1 record, having beaten WAC foe San Jose State 35-29 at home and losing at No. 10 Oklahoma 37-20 last weekend. The ground game has been a strength of the Huskies, who are averaging better than 250 yards per game and as a team, averaging 6.2 yards per carry. Louis Rankin averages 9.5 yards per carry and has 257 yards through the first two games. Quarterback Isaiah Stanback is completing better than 52 percent of his passes for 307 yards and one touchdown. Punter Sean Douglas is leading the nation with an average of 52.1 yards per punt. He had an 82 yarder against Oklahoma and has downed half of his eight punts inside the 20 yard line. Ty Willingham is in his second season as the head coach at Washington and owns a 3-10 record at the school and a career 68-61-1 with coaching stops at Stanford, Notre Dame and Washington.
Series History
Fresno State and Washington have each won one game in this short series, which begin in 1979. Both games were played in Seattle.
Hill vs. Willingham
While the two coaches in this week's game have not faced each other on the gridiron in a regular season game, the two faced off as opposing head coaches in an all-star game. In 2003, Fresno State head coach Pat Hill coached the West team and then Notre Dame head coach Tyrone Willingham was the East coach in the East-West Shrine game played in San Francisco. Willingham's East squad defeated the West 20-17.
Williams Watch
This game has a significant meaning for both the Williams family of Fresno State and Washington. Washington secondary coach J.D. Williams, a former Bulldog standout and coach, will have to devise a plan to stop his youngest brother, Fresno State's outstanding receiver Paul Williams. The late Curtis Williams, brother of J.D. and Paul, played for the Huskies until the 2000 season.
