Fresno State Athletics
On the 10th Day of Christmas
12/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 23, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - On the 10th day of Christmas Timeout brought the Red Wave the 10th bowl game in 11 years for the Fresno State football team.
Since 1999 the Fresno State football team, under head coach Pat, had made 10 bowl games, their most recent against Wyoming in last Saturday's New Mexico Bowl. The `Dogs have won four out of their last seven bowl games.
In those 10 bowl appearances, the `Dogs have been ranked once, No. 20 in 2001. They even posted a three-game bowl winning streak from 2003-05.
In just his third year as head coach at Fresno State, Hill led the `Dogs to their first bowl game since 1993 to the EA Sports Las Vegas Bowl against Utah.
Hill was named Bowl Coach of the Year for one of the gutsiest play calls in Fresno State history in a dramatic comeback that barely fell short against Air Force in the Silicon Valley Football Classic in San Jose, Calif. The `Dogs were down 34-7 at halftime and rallied to get within three.
David Carr threw for 531 yards in Fresno State's second-consecutive trip to the Silicon Valley Classic in 2001 vs. Michigan State, but the Spartans took the game 44-35.
The first win for Hill at Fresno State came in 2002 at the Silicon Valley football Classic III. The `Dogs were down 7-3 in the first quarter to Georgia Tech, but rallied for a 30-21 victory. Rodney Davis was the MVP of the game as he rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
The `Dogs second-straight bowl win came in 2003 with a 17-9 victory over UCLA in the Silicon Valley Football Classic IV. The `Dogs took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and rolled to the win. Davis was MVP for the second-straight bowl game. It was the first-ever win for Fresno State over UCLA and its second bowl win in a row over a BCS team.
In an overtime thriller in 2004 at the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho, the `Dogs defeated a ranked team for the first time in the post season with a 37-34 victory over No. 18 Virginia Tech. Paul Pinegar was the game's MVP as he threw a career-high five touchdowns.
In 2005 the `Dogs headed east to Memphis, Tenn., to the Autozone Liberty Bowl. The `Dogs dropped the game by a touchdown and finished the season 8-5.
The `Dogs made a statement in the 2007 Roady's Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho with a 40-28 victory over Georgia Tech. Quarterback Tom Brandstater was the game's MVP as he threw for a touchdown and ran for another.
The last two bowl appearances for the `Dogs were in Albuquerque, N.M., as Fresno State took on Colorado State in the 2008 New Mexico Bowl and then faced Wyoming in 2009.
On the 10th day of Christmas Timeout brought the Red Wave the 10th bowl game in 11 years, nine Bulldog facilities, eight women's tennis WAC championships, seven years of Joe Kearny Award winners, six years in the save Mart Center, five years of Cleveland, volleyball a fourth place finish, their best finish in five years, three-pointers from women's basketball, two national championships and the No. 1 women's tennis doubles team.
