There’s a Hill in the valley
Richard Linde, 11 September 2006

With his fu Manchu and wraparound sunglasses, coach Pat Hill of Fresno State University looks the part of a valley guy – California’s San Joaquin Valley, that is. Add a pair of Levis, cowboy boots, two six guns, a certain swagger and Hill might pass for an avant-garde cowboy in town, an updated version of the cowboy cattle ranchers used to hire to drive sheepherders off their land. Nowadays, however, valley guys drive SUVs, not cattle.

During the recruiting season in the fall and winter months, the flat floor of the San Joaquin valley is desolate, cold and foggy, a place where a recruiting coordinator would rather face a pack of hostile boosters than drive through a Tule to get to some kid’s house. In the summer, it’s too hot for frying eggs on anyone’s sidewalk, and the buzzards are circling Fresno, which is in a closely fought contest with its southern-cousin Bakersfield for being the "armpit of California." A savvy, summer’s traveler never stops in Bakersfield for gas, nor will admit to it. For those reasons, most recruiters from the southland throw the Bulldogs a bone, leaving them to hunt the valley, along with rivals to the north.

And that’s well and good with Fresno State fans.

It matters little to them that no crooner has left his heart in Fresno; fans’ hearts belong to the Bulldogs and that’s what counts. 

Wielding the creative alchemy of one’s imagination and dreams to transform a pedestrian place like Fresno into a cherished home requires the wit of an Isaac Newton, who some say transmuted lead to gold.

Think of alchemy that turns sun-baked dirt into food. "You should write this," Pat Hill once told P-I reporter Ted Miller: “The San Joaquin Valley (which surrounds Fresno) provides 80 percent of the nation's food. It's a very strong area as far as the United States is concerned. We're a region that is very important for the economy of this country."

Hill (73-44), who is in his tenth season of coaching and who has a contract extension that runs through 2010, says “We have played in hostile environments and our players won't be intimidated.”

His Bulldogs (1-1), who match up against coach Tyrone Willingham (68-61-1) and the Washington Huskies (1-1) this Saturday at Husky Stadium, return 5 starters on offense and 9 on defense.

Although the Bulldogs are 3 1/2 point favorites initially, the Huskies have a statistical edge in the table below. 

Losing Paul Pinegar to graduation, the Bulldogs are led by 6-foot-5, 220-pound Tom Brandstater, who is a redshirt sophomore out of Turlock. In his debut as a starter in their 38-19 win against Nevada, Brandstater was 16-24 passing, with 183 yards and no interceptions. Last week against Oregon, Brandstater went 16-33-2 for 150 yards.

Brandstater is agile, rugged, nimble, quick-witted and has all the throws. Against Oregon, the young quarterback ran 8 times for 35 yards. Despite his youth, he looked more polished against Oregon than Washington's senior quarterback Isaiah Stanback, who had a bad day, did against Oklahoma.

Against Nevada, tailback Dwane Wright (6-foot-1, 220 pounds) ran for 158 yards and 3 touchdowns on 26 carries; he posted 154 yards on 29 carries against Oregon. He is the nation's third leading rusher at this point in the season. In the 2003 season, Wright accumulated a 1000-yard season rushing mark but missed most of the next two seasons because of a torn left patellar tendon.

Listed at 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, WR Joe Fernandez is a small-possession target, who runs meticulous routes; he was the leading receiver the last two seasons. Paul Williams's  4.5 speed will test the strength of Brandsater’s arm on deep throws. Playmaker Chastin West has tackle-breaking ability and Jaron Fairman (6-foot-1, 195) can stretch the field when needed.

Paul Williams is the brother of Curtis Williams, who died as a result of an injury suffered in Washington's game with Stanford on October 28, 2000.

The Bulldogs would like to setup their running game with their passing game to make life easier for new offensive coordinator Steve Hagen, who had similar jobs at California and San Jose State.

Four returnees on the offensive line, joined by Juco transfer James Paulk who was the state’s top-rated offensive lineman at the JC level, should give Hagen the offensive line and rotation he will need to accomplish his mission. The Bulldogs ran for 212 yards against Nevada and 206 yards against Oregon. At 6-foot-5, 330 pounds, Kyle Young, who is headed for the next level, provides a unique stud at center.  

Losing three all-WAC defensive backs makes the task of leading the WAC in total defense and pass efficiency defense more difficult this year.  At cornerback, Richard Marshall has been lost to the NFL. CB Raymond Washington, SS Awan Diles and FS Tyrone Culver have also departed. Young, speedy cornerbacks Elgin Simmons and Damon Jenkins look to replace Marshall. Fresno State’s speedy front seven must bear the load in the early part of the season to give its young defensive secondary a chance to gain some experience. Look for a lot of nickel and dime coverage in the early season, with more blitzing to follow.

Although the Bulldogs have lost WAC Defensive Player of the Year Garrett McIntyre at defensive tackle, Jason Shirley (6-foot-five, 330 pounds) at NT adds some beef to augment the presence of 330-pound DT Louis Leonard. Injury plagued last season, the two of them need to stay healthy since the depth behind them is inexperienced and undersized. A deep rotation at defensive end, helped by Wazzu transfer Jason Roberts, hopes to duplicate last season’s sack numbers, which was second in the WAC and twenty-eighth nationally.

FSU has faced 20 BCS schools since 2000, winning ten of those contests, those victims being California, Colorado, Wisconsin, Oregon State (twice), Georgia Tech, Washington, Kansas State, Virginia, and UCLA. FSU is fast turning into an erstwhile "patsy" that no BCS biggie will want to schedule. The Bulldogs are a ferocious pack of renegade animals that are in each game, right up to the end.

The Huskies are 1-1 against the Bulldogs, losing 35-16 in 2004.

Outlook for the game:

Coming of losses last Saturday, both teams need a win.

Washington's pass defense efficiency (162.11) mirrors its woeful rating (150.7) from last season. The Bulldogs' strong running game should be even more formidable if Brandstater can pick apart UW's soft secondary in the early going.

Meanwhile UW should continue to focus its attention on running the ball, taking advantage of a rush defense that ranks 81st in the country. With a rushing average of 128.5 yards per game, RB Louis Rankin ranks eighth in the nation, no pun intended.

Stanback needs to have a better day running and passing the ball than he had at Norman the previous week. If Isaiah turns the ball over look for offensive coordinator Tim Lappano to pull the plug and replace him with Carl Bonnell. 

We think Washington will win, 35-28, and that the "duet-threat" Stanback will mimic the "carry-okie" that Paul Thompson and Adrian Peterson rendered at Norman last Saturday.