Juan Villa / The Collegian

During the height of March Madness, no one is talking about the Fresno State basketball teams. Instead, the buzz is about the 2008 football team.

The Bulldog football team held its first practice in preparation for the 2008 football season Wednesday afternoon. The team was practicing on the field for the first time since preparing for its Roady̢۪s Humanitarian Bowl victory over Georgia Tech on New Year̢۪s Eve.

After a winter filled with off-season conditioning and weight training workouts, the team is ready to get back on the field for spring practice.

“We are excited to get started,â€Â coach Pat Hill said. “Spring ball is a opportunity for us to build the personality of a team that will return in the fall.â€Â

The 9-4 record and bowl victory in the 2007 season have left many excited about the chance of even more success in the upcoming season, but drills started slowly on Wednesday.

“The coaches are just breaking us in right now, we are a little rusty,â€Â tailback Ryan Mathews said.

Spring football focuses on the basics and coaches prepare the team to learn the intricate plays and schemes later on during the summer camps. This spring the Bulldogs will try to build a strong foundation and generate good team chemistry.

One of the keys for a successful spring will be the transition to new offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier. Wednesday was his first practice and first chance to work with the offense.

“Timing is always going to be off on the first day; it takes a couple of practices to iron out the kinks,â€Â Nussmeier said. “The impressive thing is that our guys fought through. If we continue to do that, we’ll get better each day.â€Â

There is still plenty of work to be done if the Bulldog football team is going to live up to expectations in 2008, but Hill is already excited about his squad.

“We are coming off a great season of nine wins and have some great leadership returning,â€Â Hill said. “I’d expect this group will pick up where last season finished and be ready to make a run.â€Â

Spring football means that the 2008 football season is one step closer. Looking forward, the team has plenty they can count on.

But if they are going to make a serious run, the Bulldogs must fill the spots of the departing senior class and departing coaches.

Here are five things the 2008 Fresno State football team can count on for the upcoming season and five issues the team must address if they hope to win the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and reach the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

Five things the Bulldogs can count on in 2008

Juan Villa / The Collegian

Quarterback Tom Brandstater: Make no mistake about it; this is Tom Brandstater̢۪s football team. The senior quarterback will have the keys to the offense in 2008 and should be able to flourish in his third year under center.

In 2007 Brandstater had his strongest games down the final stretch of the season, including the strongest performance of his career as the MVP of the Roady̢۪s Humanitarian Bowl.

In the bowl game, Brandstater completed 76 percent of his passes for 285 yards and threw for a touchdown. By the end of the season, Brandstater threw for 15 touchdowns and five interceptions, improving drastically from the 2006 campaign.

In 2008, the quarterback will be a mature team leader and should be able to carry to offense.

Tight end Bear Pascoe: The senior tight end finished the 2007 season leading all tight ends in receptions, receiving yardage and touchdowns in the WAC with 44 catches for 540 yards and 4 touchdowns, despite missing considerable time due to injury.

In 2008 the Bulldogs can count on significant production from the starting tight end as a run-blocker and receiving threat, especially in the red zone.

On top of being a key player on offense and a favorite target of quarterback Tom Brandstater, Pascoe is a leader on special teams. In his career, Pascoe has blocked four field goals, including a block against Nevada that led to a 40-yard return for a touchdown last year by A.J. Jefferson.

Tailback Ryan Mathews: Coming into his second year with the Bulldogs, Mathews will look to take over the starting tailback position and improve on his already stellar numbers from the 2007 season. Last year as a true freshman Mathews piled up yards at an average of 5.97 yards per carry and ended 14 runs in the end zone.

Mathews is the best pure tailback on the team, but he will need to improve on his pass-blocking skills to be a complete player in 2008 and beyond. The Fall 2008 season should result in well over 1,000 yards rushing and 15 scores for Mathews.

Cornerback / kick returner A.J. Jefferson: Jefferson will be competing for a starting cornerback position in 2008, but his biggest impact will be as a kickoff return specialist.

In 2007, Jefferson returned 26 kickoffs for a total of 930 yards and led the nation with a 35.8-yard average.

Jefferson took two returns back for touchdowns, the longest being a 98-yard return against Hawaii. His performance as a special team player was recognized last December when Jefferson was named a First Team All-American as a kick returner, the only Bulldog named to the team in 2007.

Jefferson should be able to continue returning kicks for a huge average in 2008 and may be the player able to replace Clifton Smith as a punt returner.

This is the year for the BCS: Since Hill took over the program in 1997, it has been the goal of the team to win the WAC championship and bust into a BCS game against one of college football̢۪s premiere programs.

In his 11 years as coach, Hill has gotten the program on track and has been building for a real run at a conference title and BCS bowl game, but has never gotten either except for a share of the WAC title in 1999.

If the team is ever going to crash the BCS party like Boise State and Hawaii have done in the past few seasons, 2008 will have to be the year. The team will return 10 offensive starters and 6 defensive starters.

The 2008 schedule is strong enough to catapult the team into the top 25 rankings.

Five Question Marks for the Bulldogs in 2008

Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier: Nussmeier will have the tall task of replacing Jim McElwain, who left for Alabama, in 2008. The former quarterbacks coach of the St. Louis Rams will attempt to build on the offensive progress the Bulldogs showed in 2007, but he will be the fourth coordinator in four years.

Quarterback Tom Brandstater and the offense flourished and drastically improved under McElwain. The team will hope to keep things going with Nussmeier calling the plays in 2008.

Defensive leader in 2008: Marcus Riley was both a statistic and emotional leader for the Bulldog defense in 2007.

The outside linebacker led the team with 132 tackles, 51 more than the team̢۪s second leading tackler Ben Jacobs.

Riley also forced four fumbles, had one interception against Hawaii and seemed to be involved in every defensive play in one way or another.

Riley was a mature leader on the field and demanded respect from opposing offenses. Filling Riley̢۪s shoes will be tough, but the defense will need to find a hard-hitting leader before the 2008 season opener in the Rose Bowl.

Finding an impact player on offense: Clifton Smith was the most valuable player for the Bulldogs in 2007 because of his ability to do it all.

The tailback was a strong runner, threat as a receiver, was the most dangerous punt returner in Fresno State history and even lined up at the quarterback position. Smith was responsible for 1,367 yards of offense last season and was the wild card on the offensive side of the ball.

His versatility, speed and elusiveness caused many opposing coaches to lose sleep and took pressure off quarterback Tom Brandstater.

Replacing Smith will be near impossible, but a few players combined efforts may be able to account for his production.

Kicking Game: In 2008 Fresno State will be replacing three integral positions on the special teams. Kicker Clint Stitser, punter Kyle Zimmerman and long snapper Greg Titiriga all graduated following the 2007 season and the Bulldogs will be replacing them in 2008.

In 2007 Stitser was responsible for 95 of the team̢۪s points, Zimmerman averaged 41.0 yards per punt and Titiriga never botched a snap. Going into spring drills, redshirt freshman Kevin Goessling is first on the depth chart as place kicker, sophomore Robert Malone at punter and redshirt freshman Bobby Shepherd at long snapper.

K-St. in ̢۪08: The 2008 schedule has already been finalized, but speculations recently surfaced about the Sept. 6 match up between the Bulldogs and Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan.

The two teams met twice in 2004 and 2007, both games resulting in victories for Fresno State. According to Athletic Director Thomas Boeh, the Wildcats might back out of the game in 2008.

“Kansas State expressed interest in not playing,â€Â Boeh told the Fresno Bee. “Right now, we’re exploring options, but it’s very late in the process to find schools.â€Â

The 2008 schedule has seven road games and only five home games for the Bulldogs, so Kansas State dropping out would allow Fresno State to add a sixth home game and would force K-St. to pay a substantial fee for backing out. Having an extra home game will help the team if they hope to go undefeated and reach the BCS.

2008 Football Schedule
August 30 – at UCLA
September 6 – at Kansas State
September 13 – Wisconsin
September 20 – at Toledo
October 4 – Hawaii*
October 11 – Idaho*
October 25 – at Utah State*
November 1 – at Louisiana Tech*
November 7 – Nevada*
November 15 – New Mexico State*
November 21 – at San Jose State*
November 28 – at Boise State*

Home game are in bold
*Denotes Western Athletic Conference game