Boise-bound for another bowl

Fresno State accepts bid to MPC Computers Bowl against No. 18 Virginia

By EDDIE HUGHES

Just call them the Bowldogs.

The Fresno State football team earned its sixth straight bowl berth after winning five straight games to close the regular season.

And—surprise—it’s not the Silicon Valley Football Classic this year.

Fresno State is headed to the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho. The Bulldogs played in San Jose’s Silicon Valley bowl the past four years, and were invited again this season, but declined the offer for the chance to play No. 18 Virginia in Boise.

“We said from Day 1 that the matchup was probably the most important thing we wanted to have, and we got that,” said Scott Johnson, Fresno State’s athletics director.

The Bulldogs played in the past four Silicon Valley bowls, winning the last two against UCLA and Georgia Tech. In 1999, Fresno State lost to Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl.

The Bulldogs are 1-0 all-time against teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference, with the 30-21 win against Georgia Tech in the 2002 Silicon Valley bowl.

Virginia (8-3) finished in fourth place in the ACC, with its only losses coming in league play to No. 9 Miami, No. 10 Virginia Tech and No. 16 Florida State.

“We’re going to get tested in this one,” Bulldogs coach Pat Hill said. “This is going to be a really tough assignment.”

This is the third straight bowl game for Virginia under coach Al Groh, the former head coach of the NFL’s New York Jets. The Cavaliers beat West Virginia and Pittsburgh in their past two postseason games.

The Bulldogs are also 8-3, with losses coming against No. 11 Boise State, Texas-El Paso (which just fell out of the top 25) and Louisiana Tech. Fresno State finished tied for third in the Western Athletic Conference.

The Bulldogs lost 33-16 to Boise State on its blue turf earlier this season.

“I don’t have anything against Boise,” Bulldogs tight end Stephen Spach said. “It just brings back memories of losses.

“I’m just excited to play a top-20 team and see if we can win.”

The downside for the Bulldogs is that they won’t be home for Christmas. The bowl game is Dec. 27 at 11 a.m. Fresno State leaves for Boise on Dec. 23.

Missing Christmas was no big concern to Spach or first-team all-WAC left tackle Logan Mankins, who, as seniors, will both be playing their final game for the Bulldogs.

“Missing Christmas doesn’t bother me,” Mankins said. “I’m a college student. I don’t have money to buy gifts anyway.”

Hill doesn’t want the team to go without any Christmas spirit.

“We’re going to do as good a job as we can to make sure the young men have a Christmas-type day,” he said.

A nice holiday gift for the Bulldogs would be a re-entry into the national rankings.

The Bulldogs, who are 28th in the coaches poll and 30th in the media poll, might be able to jump back in to the top 25 with a win against Virginia.

“It’s my last year,” Mankins said. “I want to leave the team with us in the top 25.”

Fresno State was ranked as high as 17th earlier this season before a loss at Louisiana Tech cost the team a shot at making a Bowl Championship Series game.

But the Bulldogs, who own the nation’s fifth highest-scoring offense, have recovered nicely since losing three consecutive WAC games in October. In its last five games, Fresno State has averaged 56 points per game while allowing just 16.

“We’re playing as well as anybody in the country, and I think we’re getting rewarded for that,” Johnson said. “And this bowl offers us the opportunity, as Pat likes to say, to get great exposure or be exposed.”

Fresno State has a history of beating college football’s traditional big boys, winning at Washington and at Kansas State earlier this season. The Bulldogs have won nine games against BCS-conference opponents since 2000.