Fresno State Athletics
Dogs and Pokes Meet in New Mexico
12/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 10, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Fresno State's head coach Pat Hill had never met first-year Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen until Thursday. Both coaches attended a function at the Four Hill Country Club in Albuquerque, N.M. in preparation for the Dec. 19 bowl game between the two teams.
Christensen has long admired Hill for the way his teams play, as he told a luncheon of the bowl's corporate partners and members of the media.
"It's hard to stand up here and follow a true coaching legend in Coach Hill," said Christensen. "When you play Fresno State you know you are going against a very well coached team and a team that plays very physical. We are looking forward to the challenge."
This is the second straight years the Dogs have been invited to the New Mexico Bowl. Fresno State is making its 10th bowl game appearance in the last 11 seasons.
Wyoming is making its first appearance since the 2004 Las Vegas Bowl. As Christensen said, none of his players have ever played in a bowl game.
Hill greeted the group with thanks and praise for the citizens of New Mexico for hosting a first class bowl event. No stranger to bowl games, Hill will bring a relatively young team to the New Mexico Bowl but admits there is a different feeling surrounding this bowl for his team than the one year ago.
"We are a much different team, a more confident team than when we came to New Mexico a year ago," said Hill. "We were not a strong team at the end of last season and the fourth quarter against Colorado State showed that."
But coming in this year, he's pleased with the character his team has shown in winning seven of the last eight games after a 1-3 start to the season.
"After three tough games against Wisconsin, Boise State and Cincinnati, we had to go to Hawaii," said Hill. "And you could tell by the chemistry in the locker room they were not going to let the season get away from them. I'm very proud of this team. We are looking forward to coming back to New Mexico. Last year, the people of New Mexico embraced our team and really treated our players like royalty."
Tickets for the bowl game are still available by clicking the tickets link at the top of this page.
Wyoming officials expect nearly 5,000 fans to attend the game.
The Dogs will return to practices over the weekend to prepare for the game. The Bulldogs and the Cowboys will arrive in Albuquerque on Wednesday for three days of bowl festivities prior to the game, which will be on Dec. 19 at 1:30 p.m. PT on ESPN. ESPN announced today that Terry Gannon and David Norrie will be the announcers for the telecast.
The Bulldog team will be honored at the Dec. 12 men's basketball game vs. BYU. New Mexico Bowl Executive Director Jeff Siembieda will be in Fresno to meet the team and attend the basketball game.
The Bulldogs and Cougars are playing the "Conquer the Mountain" series at the Save Mart Center at 7 p.m. Tickets for the basketball game are still available by clicking the tickets icon at the top of this page.
"We Are Your Team!" -- Fans are encouraged to check the bowl game central page on gobulldogs.com for information regarding the New Mexico Bowl, including ticket and team information.
