Fresno State Athletics
Trip to Paradise Anything But for Bulldogs
11/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 9, 2007
HONOLULU - On a day when three Fresno State football players were honored for their academic excellence, the Bulldog football team was spending more than 12 hours to get to the destination for its next game, Saturday's much-anticipated match-up against No. 12 Hawaii.
The Dogs left campus at 8:45 a.m. PT and didn't reach their hotel until 9:15 p.m. PT, 7:15 p.m. local time. Included in that was a 90 minute practice at Aloha Stadium. Fresno State's team equipment, which left a day ahead of the team, hadn't arrived on schedule by the time the team got to the Hawaii for practice. According to equipment manager Mark Younger, the gear arrived at 6:45 p.m. HT on Thursday evening.
"It was a long day," said head coach Pat Hill. "I'm thankful we were able to charter from Fresno to Honolulu or this trip would have been even longer. All in all, things went relatively smooth, but it's still a long day for the players. When you have to move more than100 people such a long distance, you can expect some challenges. We are here now and ready to get focused on the target and that's Hawaii."
Of the 64 players making this trip to Hawaii, only nine have been to Hawaii previously.
Senior running back Clifton Smith has been to Hawaii once previously, but never played against UH. His only visit to Aloha Stadium was over a decade ago when as a youngster he came to the Pro Bowl to watch his uncle, Tim McDonald of the San Francisco 49ers, play in the game.
"I'm real excited for this game," said Smith. "I was hurt in 2005 and didn't get to come here. I have friends on the team, like DeVone Bess, and I really want to play. I'm looking forward to this, you could say."
Three Dogs Earn Academic All-District Honors
Fresno State got some special news on Thursday, as three players were selected to the ESPN the Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-District Eight Team. The teams were selected by a panel of university sports information directors. District Eight includes the schools from the western United States, including the Pac-10 Conference, the Big Sky Conference, and most schools from the WAC and Mountain West Conferences.
Two players, senior kicker Clint Stitser and sophomore defensive back Moses Harris, were named to the first team, and senior running back Nate Adams was named to the second team. Stitser, a graduate student, has a 4.0 cumulative GPA and made the all-district team for the third time in his career. Harris owns a 3.61 GPA in Business Administration, while Adams maintains a 3.41 GPA in Construction Management.
No WAC school had more players on the first team than Fresno State. All players selected to they first team in each of the eight national districts are eligible for Academic All-America consideration.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - Bulldog Football heads to the island to face Hawaii on Saturday, November 10th at 8 p.m. PST. The game can be seen locally on the Bulldog Sports Network (KFRE CW 59) in Fresno and nationally on ESPN2. Tune in at 7:30 pm for the Bulldog Blitz pre game show on BSN. The game can also be heard on the radio on KMJ 580, the flagship station of Bulldog Football, and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes 1600. The Bulldogs return to Bulldog Stadium for their final home game of the season on Saturday, November 24 against Kansas State. For tickets, go to the ticket page at www.gobulldogs.com, call 559-278-DOGS or stop by the Bulldog Ticket Office.
