Bulldogs to play Kansas State and Portland State in 2004

By Zack Walton

After a struggle to complete a schedule for the 2004 Fresno State football season, Kansas State and Portland State have been added, athletic director Scott Johnson said.

The two programs join a non-conference schedule for the Bulldogs that features a date against Washington on Sept. 5.

The announcement comes after months of scrambling to fill a hole that was left in the schedule because of Colorado State’s decision to postpone its trip to Bulldog Stadium until the 2006 season.

“ It has been a long process, which has taken several moths,” Johnson said. “It has been an age-old problem here at Fresno State, big-name schools are hesitant to come here when they know we have a good track record against [Bowl Championship Series] schools. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of leverage in getting schools to come here and we are very happy to be playing Kansas State.”

With the announcement, Johnson said Fresno State has entered a three-game series with Kansas State—last season’s Big 12 champions. The Bulldogs travel to Kansas State this season, while the Wildcats come to Bulldog Stadium in 2007 and Fresno State returns in 2008 to finish the series in Manhattan, Kan.

Johnson said that playing the big schools—like last season when Fresno State traveled to Tennessee and Oklahoma—is what needs to happen for the Bulldogs to get national exposure.

This will be the fifth consecutive season in which Fresno State opens the season on the road against a BSC opponent. After traveling to Washington, the Bulldogs face Kansas State on the road Sept. 11 before returning for the home opener on Sept. 18 against Portland State.

The Bulldogs host four Western Athletic Conference games—against Texas-El Paso, Southern Methodist, Hawaii and Nevada—in their regular season schedule.

Colorado State is not the only team to back out of playing at Fresno State in recent years, as Texas Tech and Oklahoma State have done so as well.

“ Here at Fresno State we are hurt by our own success,” Johnson said. “Bulldog Stadium is a tough place to play and other schools know that.”

Fresno State still has contracts for home games against Kansas, Oregon, San Diego State and Wisconsin before the end of the decade, as well as the game in Bulldog Stadium against Colorado State in 2006.