Fresno State’s 41-day stretch is make-or-break for WAC title
With nearly the entire country begging to replace the Bowl Championship Series with a playoff system, Fresno State football is already in the semifinal of its self-imposed November playoff.
When the ‘Dogs were routed in Bulldog Stadium 32 days ago by Hawaii’s high-flying offense, the pursuit of Fresno State’s first ever outright Western Athletic Conference title virtually went out the window. Instead of hanging up their cleats and calling the season short, however, Pat Hill and his coaching staff circled the five-game stretch from Oct. 16 to Nov. 19 as Fresno State’s playoff in pursuit of a possible shared conference title.
The proverbial “first round” of the playoff included a pair of must-win and should-win games in New Mexico State and San Jose State. The two teams ranked second-to-last and dead last in the WAC respectively, and the ‘Dogs handled their counterparts by a combined score of 66-28.
The two-game, first-round playoff was in the books.
But the Aggies and Spartans were just a stepping-stone toward the ultimate goal. The two teams currently have a combined record of 3-15 and proved to be little competition for Fresno State.
The “semi-final” round of Fresno State’s month-long playoff comes Saturday in the form of the BCS-ranked Nevada Wolf Pack, who have blown out the ‘Dogs by an average margin of 25.5 points their past two meetings between the schools. But Hill has stressed to his team the November stretch’s importance and the potential rewards at stake.
“We’re off to a good start,” Hill said. “Now we’re in the meat of the schedule in November, just the way it’s supposed to be and we’ve got a big one [this weekend]. In round two there’s a lot on the line for this game. There’s a lot of good things that can come out of this game because the next week [at Boise State] we’re on national TV again against one of the top five teams in the country.”
Although the potential rewards for success in the mock playoff are great, just one loss down the stretch essentially means tournament elimination for the Bulldogs’ 2010 WAC season.
“It’s definitely [a playoff situation] for us,” standout linebacker Travis Brown said. “If we end up losing a game that pretty much means our WAC title goals are out of the picture. That’s what we’re striving for right now, to beat Nevada then we have a good shot at beating Boise the next week.”
As the standings currently sit, Boise State is atop the WAC as the lone unbeaten in conference play. Following Boise State are three schools with one conference loss: Hawaii (5-1), who was destroyed by the Broncos last Saturday, Fresno State (4-1) and Nevada (3-1). Fresno State, Nevada and Boise State control their own destiny, with the Broncos having the most realistic shot at an outright WAC championship. Because Hawaii has already played the conference’s top-three teams, they need a Boise State loss to happen for a shot at the WAC title.
The Broncos still have an important date at Nevada in three weeks, and can only have their WAC title quest derailed if the improbable happened: losing two of their final four conference matchups.
If Fresno State is able to take down the top-two ranked opponents the next two weeks, it would share the WAC title for the first time in 11 years, likely with Boise State and Hawaii, assuming those two schools win their other conference games.
Fresno State has never beat both Nevada and Boise State in the same season, but looking down the road could spell trouble for Hill’s squad as it tries to focus at the task at hand.
“We’re excited about this challenge and it’s going to be a great challenge for our football team,” Hill said. “Our players have been looking forward to the month of November. We just needed to get to the month of November in a position that meant something and right now this game means a lot.”
