Watch out Edwards Cinema — the hottest ticket in town might as well be labeled as this Friday’s match-up between Fresno State and the Boise State Broncos.
The stars have aligned for these two teams to be in this situation. Both are undefeated in the conference, playing on a national stage on ESPN on a Friday night.
What more could Fresno State ask for?
How about a win?
The Broncos have won 42 of their past 43 conference games. The last time the Broncos visited Fresno was the last time they lost a conference game.
“Boise State is a good football team they are coming in 6-1 and we’ll be 5-2,â€Â coach Pat Hill said. “It will be great for our community, our university and great for all the people that follow Fresno State football.â€Â
This Friday is an opportunity for many nationally unknown Bulldogs to put on a display. This includes Mackey Award candidate Bear Pascoe. He has garnered much attention as one of the nation̢۪s best tight ends but isn̢۪t affected by playing in front of a national audience.
“You got everybody watching you and that’s about it,â€Â Pascoe said. “You can’t let the lights and glints and glamour get in the way of what you have to do.â€Â
Friday will also mark true freshman Ryan Mathews̢۪ first appearance on national television. Besides being an absolute beast, he is the top scorer among true freshman in the nation.
“I’m just going to go out there. I’m not going to act like [ESPN] is there,â€Â Mathews said. “I’m just going to act like it’s a regular game, and just go out there and have fun with it.â€Â
Mathews will be pitted against Boise State̢۪s stud running back Ian Johnson, arguably the best running back in the conference.
“We’re just going to take [Johnson] as another running back that we play and we’re just going to find the best game plan possible to stop him,â€Â linebacker Ben Jacobs said.
The consensus among of the Bulldogs is to ignore the cameras and concentrate on playing the game, but you can bet the fans will have other ideas.
Plan on seeing at least the first four rows of the student section garnished in body paint, billboard-sized posters and a sea of black throughout the stadium in honor of the theme “Blackout Boise State.â€Â
“Playing underneath the lights, a nationally televised game and we are showing everybody that the ‘Dogs are back and here to stay,â€Â Pascoe said. “We get a chance to change what happened last year against Boise.â€Â
Now playing: “The Dethroning of the five-time conference champions.â€Â Rating pending.