"Anytime Anywhere" Fresno State 16 - Oregon State 14

[thirdandlong]

Hehe NOW all the surprising games have a thread.

I was extremely happy with the outcome, as you might have guessed. I admit that I didn't believe it was possible. After our dismal showing against Tennessee, I figured we'd be lucky to beat the spread against the Beavers. I didn't even bet on the game. Some fair weather fan I am.

I am realistic though. The Beavers completely self destructed, so all this game serves to do is narrow the spread for the game against Oklahoma. It is kinda funny, Steven Jackson, the OSU tailback, had a monster game 116 rushing, 128 receiving, and I feel like the Bulldogs contained him. For those folks who think Clarrett will be the number one pick if he manages to come out this year, I am just not so sure I don't like Jackson better.

For those of you who didn't watch the game last night, Fresno States QB was pretty banged up(bad shoulder), he was in lots of pain, but he made a number of passes to move the team into field goal range. THe dogs went ahead with 31 seconds or so remaining. It was really a gutsy performance, especially from a guy who was booed soundly in the first half. He may not be much of a quarterback, but he really shined as a team leader.

The real turning point of hte game, I think, was in the 4th quarter OSU had the ball first and goal on the 4. Three rushing plays later it was 4th and goal on the one. Field goal team comes out, and Fresno blocks the kick(sort of a local specialty). BUT with the ball rolling around behind the line of scrimmage one of our players attempts to bat the ball away from the sideline toward another Bulldog. PENALTY---PLAY FOURTH DOWN OVER. Well Damn! BUT we are saved by Mike Riley who decides to go for it on fourth down. He sends the offense back on the field, and FSU(FSU of the west =) stuffs the play. After the game Riley was quoted as saying "In Retrospect, that was a mistake". That was right after saying they were "beaten on Offense, Defense, and Special Teams".

Watch out Sooners. Here come the Dogs!

Well I have no Illusions about the outcome of that game. I just hope we perform better than we did against Tennessee.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I figured to only watch a little of this game and ended up watching all the way through.

Considering how bad Fresno looked last week against UT (who I really don't believe is much more than "good"), I was surprised to see the Bulldogs not only compete but outplay what I thought was supposed to be a pretty good OSU team.

"Gutty performance" probably doesn't do the final FSU drive justice. I doubt the QB can lift his arm over his head today, but he sure found a way to get the job done under pressure last night. Good call by Pat Hill to give the 5th yr senior a chance instead of going to a healthier reserve (I know they were both Freshmen but at least they were healthy).

As for containing Jackson though, I think a lot of the credit for that belongs to the OSU coaching staff who (for some bewildering reason) decided to throw & throw & throw in the first half instead of banging away with Jackson. He's a hoss & a half, and looks like a sure-fire first-rounder IMO. If there's a bunch of RB's better than him out there this year I'd be very surprised.

[thirdandlong]

Originally posted by JonInMiddleGA


Considering how bad Fresno looked last week against UT (who I really don't believe is much more than "good")

I'd agree with your assessment of Tennessee. Their QB is well, not good. Their running backs weren't in the same class as Steven Jackson. Their defense on the other hand, I thought they were very impressive...speed speed and more speed. And a great pass rush as well. The secondary seemed to be their only "soft" spot, but it wasn't like Fresno got anything brewing against them. Had a few guys WIDE open, but got nothing for it.

Originally posted by JonInMiddleGA

"Gutty performance" probably doesn't do the final FSU drive justice. I doubt the QB can lift his arm over his head today, but he sure found a way to get the job done under pressure last night. Good call by Pat Hill to give the 5th yr senior a chance instead of going to a healthier reserve (I know they were both Freshmen but at least they were healthy).

A Tennessee fan posting on Fresno's ESPN message board called it "Montanaesque". I didn't want to build it up too much. If not for the general ineffectiveness for large portions of the game I would probably agree. He was inconsistent, but he came up huge on the last drive of each half. Those were really the only two drives Fresno mustered, on them he looked pretty good. I hated it when the fans booed him, I hate that in general. I feel like it takes a real moron who really doesn't have a CLUE about football to boo their home team players for not performing well.

Originally posted by JonInMiddleGA

As for containing Jackson though, I think a lot of the credit for that belongs to the OSU coaching staff who (for some bewildering reason) decided to throw & throw & throw in the first half instead of banging away with Jackson.

The guys on ESPN mentioned that too. I thought they were wrong. He had 78 yards in the first half on 16 carries. 10 in the first quarter for 68. 6 in the second quarter for 10. After the first quarter, Fresno was STACKING the box. Oregon was trying to take what they were given. Too bad Mr. Anderson, as I have taken to calling him, threw 3 picks in the second quarter trying to take advantage. Jackson finished the game with 36 carries and 128 yards. I don't think you can expect a guy to carry the ball much more than that in a game. Especially when you figure that if you exclude the first quarter he was averaging 2.3 a carry.

[JeeberD]

Go WAC!!!

[vex]

I think the Sooners are absolutely scared to death.

[tucker342]

Good win by Frenso State.



Don't you think this thread should be in the COLLEGE FOOTBALL FORUM, knowing that it's about College football? Just wondering....

[MrBug708]

Old Leadfoots tried running the option

Dorrell looked scared in the loss to CU, but at least he didn't cost them the game with his coaching