Fresno State Athletics
Dogs Dominate Academic Team
11/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 5, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - The academic reputation of the Bulldog football team continues to grow. With the announcement today of the 2009 CoSIDA Academic All-District teams, Fresno State produced more scholar-athletes than any school in the country.
The Dogs had five student-athletes selected to the All-District 8 team, which encompasses schools in the west. BYU and Washington State trailed Fresno State, each had three on the team, while Stanford and Cal had two.
All of the student-athletes who made the eight All-District teams will go on the national ballot to be considered for the Academic All-America team.
Penn State, which resides in District 2, was second to Fresno State with four players honored for most of any program in the nation.
Senior safety Moses Harris, who just last week was selected a finalist for the National Football Foundation Campbell Award and received an $18,000 post graduate scholarship, was one of the five Bulldogs selected.
He joins senior punter Robert Malone, junior tight end Vince Pascoe, junior offensive guard Andrew Jackson and sophomore kicker Kevin Goessling on the All-District team. Pascoe is on the team for the second straight year and he maintains a perfect 4.0 GPA in Mechanical Engineering.
Malone and Goessling are among the national leaders for punting and kicking, respectively and Jackson is Fresno State's top offensive lineman.
The Bulldog offense ranks in the top 10 nationally in scoring, rushing and total offense and has the nation's leading rusher in Ryan Mathews.
This is the most number of Fresno State players ever selected for the Academic All-District team.
Under Pat Hill, the academic progress of the Bulldog football program has grown tremendously. The Dogs have set records with high numbers of Academic All-WAC players, including this decade with more than 100. No school in WAC history has produced as many in a decade.
In addition, Fresno State's NCAA Academic Progress Rate score has steadily been one of the highest among programs on the West Coast.
"We are proud of the accomplishment of these guys," said Pat Hill. "They are all worthy of being considered Academic All-Americans. They are good players, they work hard in the class room and represent our program with class. It has taken some time for our program to get the recognition it deserves academically, but this is a sign that people recognize and respect what we are doing. It's great to see.
"We Are Your Team" The Bulldog football team will be spending the next two weekends on the road when they head to Idaho and Nevada. They will be taking on the Idaho Vandals on Saturday, November 7, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU. Then they will head to Nevada to tame the Wolf Pack on Saturday, November 14th. Be sure to catch this intense match-up on the Bulldog Sports Network, KAIL MY53 (Comcast Cable, Channel 13). The Dogs will return home on November 21 for their final home game of the season when they host the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. For more information and tickets visit GoBulldogs.com.
