Loss to Ducks now tests moxie of 'Dogs for rest of year

Fresno State fans will say the Bulldogs were the better team.

Oregon fans will say the Ducks were the better team.

Fact of the matter is, Oregon was the one with the higher point total at the end of the night, defeating the Bulldogs 31-24 in front of a raucous Bulldog Stadium crowd.

But as we all know, there is more to the story then just the score.

Saturday night’s storyline was a little thicker than your average collegiate football game, however.

To start with the basics, the Bulldogs were out-gained in total yards by the Ducks, 379-356, but for the purposes of this column, numbers won’t always tell the whole story.

The fact that the Ducks run the high-octane, high scoring spread offense with incredibly original play calling automatically skews the stats, as the Ducks will almost always out-gain their opponents, win or lose.

Fact of the matter is, the two teams are actually quite even, but in Saturday’s game, it was the direction of the breaks that decided the outcome. Nope, no referees to blame in this one.

Instead, it was the Bulldogs lack of experience, not talent, that inevitably led to their first loss of the season.
Oregon fans will no doubt dispute, but anyone in the green and yellow will find it hard to dispose of those Dan Fouts homer goggles.

Regardless, this is without a doubt the make-it or break-it point in the Bulldogs’ season — it’s just a little earlier in the year this time.

Fresno State must now move on, realizing its dreams of a Bowl Championship Series game are still well within reach, as are its Western Athletic Conference title hopes.

Most importantly, based on precedent from previous years, Fresno State is now expected to lose. Last year, it was a USC and onward losing streak that puzzled the voters as to where to place the Bulldogs.

Bulldogs players, it’s respect time, and nobody wants you to have it.

Instead, you have to want to take it.

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