Ezra Romero / The Collegian
The Fresno State football team will be heading into this season with a lot of promise, and possibly even more pressure with a high-profile quarterback, a plethora of returning weapons and a sleek new uniform look.
Now, fans can feast their eyes on one more new feature to the Bulldog football program: brand new state-of-the-art field turf.
The athletic department gathered around $1.2 million dollars to turn coach Pat Hill’s dream of an ideal playing surface into a reality.
Since breaking ground in mid-June, the new field turf saw its first action Friday evening when the Bulldogs held practice inside the revamped Bulldog Stadium.
Fans, however, will not be able to see their Bulldogs in action on the new field turf until the first home game against North Dakota on Sept. 17th.
With the completion of the field turf, Fresno State will now only have two games on the 2011 schedule played on natural grass, when Hill and company travel to New Mexico State and San Diego State.
Head coach Pat Hill gave some thoughts on the new field turf at Bulldog Stadium.
“The turf is something that’s very special to us as a program because it now gives us a field to practice on year around and I know our players will really take advantage of that.” Hill said. “That’s something we were lacking here for a long time. So much of college football now is voluntary work. Now, these young men have a field to come to that has lines, numbers and hashes. For our fans, it will always be in great shape. Rain won’t be a dilemma. For our opponents, I think it will make a big difference for them coming in here and knowing they’ll have a playing surface that is going to be consistent. Our kids love playing on field turf. They know exactly what they’re going to get on every cut.”
Now, players will not have to worry about problems with the field in terms of weather during the sloppy late-season home games because of the new surface. Last year, poor field conditions presented problems for the football team towards the end of the season.
“It’s going to be exciting,” said Logan Harrell, who is the top returning defensive lineman. “We had two games last year where it was raining here and the field conditions were horrible. I think it’s going make a big impact for our team.”
The field turf is mainly going to help with the weather, but it will also help the skill players cut more precisely in the open field. One coach who is familiar with the skill players talked about the impact of the turf.
“I think it’s a big deal for the skill positions,” said Joe Wade who is the running backs coach. “It’s a blessing to have the turf because late in the year there were times against Illinois and Idaho where the field was a little tore up. If you’re an athletic team with people that can change directions like a Robbie Rouse, like an A.J. Ellis and other guys we have that field is very important. Now, we’re guaranteed to have good footing for every game that’s played at Bulldog Stadium and that’s a big deal. I think we have some outstanding skill players that we’d like to get matched up in situations where they could really use their athleticism.”