Fresno State Bulldogs: Is There Really a QB Battle Between Derek Carr and Kelly O'Brien?

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When the 2011 Fresno State football season opens there will be no drama or question who the man under center will be for the Bulldogs.

Young quarterback Derek Carr, the young brother of another Fresno State star, David Carr, has already been hyped up as one of the best young quarterbacks to come through Fresno State since, well, his brother. But that doesn't mean there aren't a few other guys behind him who will try to challenge him just a little bit when the team begins practices again.


Photo Courtesy: The Fresno Bee

Standing 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, Carr is probably one of the most highly touted quarterbacks coming out of high school. He was ranked as the 12th best quarterback in the nation out of Bakersfield Christian High School and was named the Private School National Player of the Year in 2008.

During his senior year Carr broke 20 school records, threw for 4,067 yards and 46 touchdowns and chose Fresno State over LSU, Alabama, USC and Notre Dame just to name a few.

Kelly O'Brien, a 6-foot-7 205 pound junior college transfer from Foothill Junior College played backup to 2010 starter, Ryan Colburn, and should play the role of the backup again in 2011. His size allows him to see his receivers over the line of scrimmage and he has enough speed to get outside of the pocket and throw on the run. He's not your prototypical Division-I quarterback but Fresno State head coach Pat Hill still liked what he saw in O'Brien to bring him on board.

"Kelly has the tools to be an excellent quarterback," said Hill back in February of 2010. "I like his size and arm strength and especially his accuracy. He hasn't played a lot of football in his life, but he has a lot of intangibles that could make him a big part of our team. He is a raw talent with a huge upside. His development will be a key for the growth of our team."

Another young quarterback who could see time with the Bulldogs in 2011 is sophomore Greg Watson. Though undersized at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, Hill says he could be used more out of the wildcat formation. "Greg will be used as a quarterback and I see him more like an Ebahn Feathers, however he has played in a pro-style system which I like."

Watson did get some playing time in the team's final scrimmage back in April, completing six of his 13 pass attempts for 54 yards and a touchdown.

While O'Brien and Watson look to possibly getting some playing time in 2011, it may only come with the game is well in hand, or maybe even out of hand.

Derek Carr is the shoe-in to be the starter for Fresno State when they open the season on September 3rd in San Francisco, California against the University of California.

Is It Time For Fresno State and Pat Hill to Part Ways?

With one last season in the Western Athletic Conference, the Fresno State Bulldogs will have their best chance to win an outright conference championship since the Boise State Broncos jumped on to the scene.

But it will not be just a walk in the park for head coach Pat Hill and his team. They will still need to deal with the likes of the Nevada Wolfpack and the Hawaii Warriors, neither of whom will allow Fresno State to walk out of the WAC holding the trophy high over their heads.

 

Before the Bulldogs go after their first, and only, outright conference championship since Hill took over, they will need to deal with one of their toughest non-conference schedules in recent memory.

They will take on the likes of Nebraska, Boise State, Cal, and Ole Miss as well as rekindling an old rivalry against an upstart San Diego State team in the final game of the 2011 season.

Though this team has a lot to look forward to and an uphill battle to climb, the biggest question will surround their head coach and how long he will and should remain with the program.

Since Pat Hill took over as the head coach at Fresno State prior to the 1997 season, the Bulldogs have a single WAC title which was shared with both TCU and Hawaii.

They had a legitimate chance at their first outright title under Hill in 2001. It was the same season the Bulldogs were ranked in the top 10 in the nation and featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. That was until a small school came out of nowhere to upset the Bulldogs at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno. That small school was in fact, Boise State.

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Since then it has been season after season where the Bulldogs have under-achieved or really never got off to a good start, finishing just the same way.

Disappointing bowl losses to a 6-6 Wyoming team or getting blown out by the Broncos year in and year out just led to even more questions from fans in California's central valley.

So, as the 2011 season draws closer with each passing day, so do the questions as to how this team needs to finish in order for it's head coach to keep his job.

Well, it depends on who you ask.

Hill has had more than enough chances to prove himself and to turn this program in to a conference powerhouse. If you read Fresno State's official athletic website, it says "when Hill was hired, he promised to win games and championships. He has done that."

All do respect to gobulldogs.com, Hill has not done "that." While Hill's teams over the years have won their fair share of games, they have not won "championships."

The 2011 season shapes up to be one of the more difficult in recent memory. They were blown out by Ole Miss last season and face a Nebraska team who could be one of the best in the nation. Next to those games there is the continued rivalry with Boise State and a game against San Diego State who is fast becoming a team to be reckoned with.

While 8-4 or 8-5 has become the norm for the Bulldogs, they may be hard pressed to even reach that mark this season. If they do not, the hot seat Hill is sitting on will be turned up that much higher.

The football program at Fresno State is stuck in a rut. When was the last time this team could boast about a "huge win?" Maybe their 53-52 win on the road against Illinois back in 2009 or their 24-7 win on the road against Rutgers in their 2008 season opener?

We can argue about Hill's ability to show that his players can succeed both on the field and in the classroom. But when push comes to shove, will this university continue to be okay with average or mediocre seasons?

It is time for Fresno State to move on from a head coach who, though he has done a tremendous job with the program, has failed to bring the second part of his promise when he was hired.

If this team fails to win a conference championship in 2011, the university needs to look in to bringing in new leadership, especially with the move into a stronger Mountain West Conference in 2012.


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Should the New Mexico State Aggies and New Mexico Lobos Ditch Their Football Programs?



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When you happen to be in a big football state, recruiting and winning seem to come easy. But in New Mexico, football is not the top sport in town and recruiting definitely does not come easy. So is there an argument to be made to ditch the sport altogether?

For New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico, two football programs in two different conferences try to recruit against the top dogs in each of those conferences.

For the New Mexico Lobos, they have to compete against TCU, BYU and BYU while the New Mexico State Aggies have to deal with Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii. Both schools aren't going to get the top recruits even in their own state. They are not big football schools and high school players know it.

In 2010, the Lobos became the running joke in college football. It seemed no matter who they were up against, they were getting blown out and embarrassed.

Through the first four weeks of the season, New Mexico had been outscored 225-41 including a 72-0 throttling at the hands of the Oregon Ducks in the very first game of the season.

Their offensive would score more than 20 points just four times all season and their defense gave up 40 or more points six times including two lopsided blowouts at the hands of Oregon, 72-0, and TCU, 66-17.

“We didn’t play well today,” New Mexico coach Mike Locksley said after their loss to TCU. “We didn’t execute on offense, defense, and special plays, and that all starts with me as a head coach.” Locksley could have put that quote on a recorder and played it after each loss during the 2010 season. It would have saved him from answering the same questions week in and week out.

They were outmatched from the first game to the last and it showed as the Lobos were staring at a 1-11 record when the season mercifully came to an end.

For the Aggies, 2010 did not have any better of an experience as their in-state rivals. They finished the season with a 2-10 record and gave up 40 or more points seven times including each of their first four games.

The top teams in the Western Athletic Conference were dominating them from start to finish. They lost games to Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii by an average of 51-10 including lopsided losses to Boise State, 59-0, and Nevada, 52-6.

Both the Lobos and the Aggies had the worst offenses in their respective conferences. New Mexico averaged 15.8 points per game while the Aggies averaging 15.7 points per game. On defense, neither were much better, giving up 44.3 and 39.5 points per game respectively.

The fan bases on both sides have to be wondering if or when they will ever see a winning season from one or both of these programs.

With Boise State joining the Mountain West Conference for the 2011 season and the resurgence of San Diego State, the New Mexico Lobos may see more of the same especially with Fresno State, Nevada, and Hawaii due to join the conference for the 2012 season.

As for New Mexico State, as I wrote about San Jose State possibly ditching their football program, the Aggies may in fact benefit from the four top teams in the conference heading for greener pastures after the conclusion of the 2011 season.

Maybe, just maybe, New Mexico State could see some improvement but is it enough for them to keep football around?

If things do not change and both the Aggies and Lobos continue to struggle in their respective conferences, maybe they need to re-think even having a football team.


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Did Conference Expansion Actually Save San Jose State?

 It has been a long time since the San Jose State Spartans were even a legitimate part of the conversation when it came to their football program in the Western Athletic Conference. Sure there are brought up in certain circles, but those particular conversations are whether or not their football program will continue to operate.

If you follow the WAC you have heard the rumors about the university's athletic department being short on funds. So much so that most believed the football program would not survive much longer.

But with every season that comes around, the Spartans are always able to run a competitive team on the field. Not only that, but second year head coach Mike McIntyre continues to recruit players who want to come to San Jose State and play for him.

Alex Baranda/Examiner

The question now is, how long will San Jose State continue to run out a program that gets little to no support from it's student body and it doesn't help when the school is in a fan base usually reserved for Stanford and Cal.

Popular opinion would lead you to believe there is no reason the football team should continue to operate. They will never be able to battle the likes of Fresno State, Nevada, Hawaii and even Utah State. Even the popular "if you build it, they will come" phrase would hold true for just about every other university except for the one near the heart of Silicon Valley.

Could their fortunes be changing in the coming years? We know Fresno State, along with Nevada and Hawaii will be joining Boise State in the Mountain West Conference after the 2011 season, which will make San Jose State one of the more talented programs in the WAC.

They will have a bigger budget, most of it being used on a substantially larger travel costs according to Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News.

In an article Wilner wrote in November of last year, he correctly sites the addition of new teams such as the University of Texas-San Antonio, Texas State, and Denver to the WAC coming for the start of the 2012 college football season.

When Hawaii departs, San Jose State will be the school who has the best chance of being one of the top programs in the conference. Had it not been for conference expansion this past off season, we may be seeing the end of a football program that used to be rich in tradition.

Coach McIntyre and the Spartans' football program will undoubtedly face one more tough season in the WAC, especially having to deal with rival Fresno State along Nevada, the defending WAC champion coming into 2011, and Hawaii who has always been a tough team to deal with.

So while we used to wonder when SJSU was going away, the question now may become how much can they improve the program and can they be the WAC's next version of Boise State?

The tide could be turning and just in the nick of time. San Jose State needed a miracle to be able to keep the football offices open. They might want to send a 'Thank You' card to BYU because it's quite possible SJSU will get a large pay day for playing a road game up in Provo, UT

While the WAC did not want to lose four of their top programs, SJSU was silently celebrating because the conference's loss will ultimately be their gain.


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Pittsburgh Steelers: Getting to Know Defensive End Chris Carter

 From the first moment you talk to former Fresno State defensive end Chris Carter you realize just how excited he is just to be able to play at the next level. He's up front, honest, and candid about his workouts prior to the draft as well as the emotional roller coaster he and his family went through on draft day.



Ric Tapia/Icon SMI



I talked to Carter about where some of the scouts, who saw him on his pro day, thought he might land. "Some told me late second round, others said some time in the third round," Carter told me. So you can imagine his heart beginning to drop and his frustrations growing when the second round, then the third, then the fourth came and went.

"I didn't know what to think," Carter said. "I started to wonder if my name would be called at all."

When the phone rang and Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was on the other end, Carter did something he didn't expect himself to do. "The tears just started flowing," he told me with a laugh. "I'm a defensive end, I'm supposed to hit people and make them cry but here I was with tears running down my face."

But before Steeler fans begin to think he's a softy, you might want to think again. Carter is explosive off the ball and was a huge playmaker for Pat Hill and the Bulldogs at the defensive end position. His quickness allowed him to be one of the fastest at his position in Fresno State football history.

I asked Carter to describe himself to Steeler fans who have never seen or heard of him before. He used words like 'explosive,' 'tough,' and 'hard worker.' Those who know Carter or who have had the chance to play alongside him know those words sum him up nicely.

He's not the biggest lineman in the draft and he may not even be the best, but this is an athlete who Tomlin is going to be able to put to good use.

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Is this Fresno State's Best Chance to Finally Win a Conference Championship?

Fresno State is itching for an outright conference championship and with Boise State out of the mix, maybe the 2011 season is finally going to be their year. Or is it?

When head coach Pat Hill was hired, his goal at Fresno State was going to be turning them into a conference powerhouse. A team who could win conference championships and be a team the city could be proud of.

More than a decade and one shared conference title later, Bulldog fans are wondering what happened to that promise. They are wondering what happened to the teams they were promised and what happened to the team they could be proud of?

Seems the last time they were able to watch, and be excited about, a Fresno State team was 10 years ago when the team was ranked in the top 10 thanks to now NFL quarterback, David Carr. He was arguably the nation's best quarterback and he was breaking school records with every pass and every touchdown he threw.

Since then, Bulldog Stadium has grown quiet and the fans more restless with every year gone by. Some want Hill out as the head coach and for a new era to begin, others will defend him tooth and nail because of the academic success of his players.

While Hill and his coaching staff continue to scratch their heads and wonder how things could have gone so wrong since he took over the program, they may have their best chance at an outright conference championship coming in to the 2011 season.

Boise State, the team who no one can seem to beat, is now a member of the Mountain West Conference and the Bulldogs no longer have to worry about looking up at the boys in blue, hoping for a loss here or there to give them a chance. They can finally make their own destiny.

Make no mistake about it, this isn't going to be a walk in the park. This isn't going to be a year where the team can glide to the end of the season and expect to hold up the Western Athletic Conference trophy. There are still two other schools who will do everything they can to make sure they are the ones celebrating a conference championship at year's end.

The Nevada Wolfpack and Hawaii Warriors have been two teams who have always challenged Fresno State and they have made for some of the best rivalry games the conference has ever seen.

The Wolfpack, however, will be without Colin Kaepernick, their star quarterback who will always be remembered as the one who finally broke through Boise State's iron grip.

As for the Warriors they have one of the best young quarterbacks in college football, Bryant Moniz, who threw for over 5000 yards in 2010 (5,040) to go along with 39 touchdown passes to just 15 interceptions. It didn't hurt that the Warriors had two wide receivers, Greg Salas and Kealoha Pilares, who both finished with more than a thousand yards receiving last season.

The Bulldogs have never had an easy time with either Nevada or Hawaii. While they had their success against them over the years, it's never been enough to get to the top. With one last season remaining for these three schools join the Broncos in the Mountain West, you can bet on all three battling it out for the top spot all year long.

For the Bulldogs, they will usher in a new era under young quarterback Derek Carr. He comes with a ton of hype not only from the media but also from the school itself. He was a highly touted prospect coming out of high school and a player everyone in California's central valley has been looking forward to for quite some time.

Their offense has never been the biggest problem for Fresno State. It's been their defense or lack thereof.

They have struggled mightily against the run over the years, something opposing teams know exactly how to take advantage of. Though they have had their own share of talent in the backfield with former running back, Ryan Mathews, and current running back, Robbie Rouse, the amount of points they can put up just seems to make little difference sometimes.

Pat Hill will have one last chance to prove he can really be the top dog in this conference because once the Bulldogs make the jump to the Mountain West, they will no longer be one of the top dogs. They might be, at best, just another middle of the road team in a mid-major conference.

This is Hill's last chance to deliver on his promise. Though, in the eyes of some especially in Boise, it may come with an asterisk because his program did it without Boise State being in the conference. It would like like a prize fighter retiring and the boxer who could never beat the champ, finally wins the big prize. Yet it doesn't mean quite the same.

The Bulldogs are a talented team and while they may finally put it all together in 2011, they will need to deal with another tough non-conference schedule. In five of their first six weeks of the season, Fresno State will have Cal, Nebraska, Ole Miss, and Boise State. Only one of those, Nebraska, coming on the road.

The big question might be, will the team be too banged up to face their conference schedule or will the be so fired up for the big games they'll forget how to get ready for the small ones?

Though we may not get answers to those questions for several months, Hill continues to show year in and year out that he never backs down from a fight.


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Former Texas Longhorns Assistant Rodney Terry Lands a Head Coaching Gig

According to 580 AM KMJ in Fresno, California, former Texas Longhorns' assistant basketball coach Rodney Terry has been named as the new head coach at Fresno State.

The details of a contract has not been released but university assistant athletic director made the announcement this morning.

There is a press conference scheduled for late Thursday afternoon where Terry will be introduced at the new head coach at Fresno State.

This ends a long search after former head coach, Steve Cleveland, stepped down over a month ago.


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Rich Rodriguez: Where and When Will the Former Michigan Head Coach Surface?

Ever since the Rich Rodriguez era came to an end in Ann Arbor, I've wondered where he could land next. Where will his next head coaching job be and who he might open to?

After coaching at two BCS schools, Michigan and West Virginia, it would only seem logical he would return to coach another BCS school. But what if a non-BCS came calling?

Let's assume for a minute a coach like Chris Petersen at Boise State, Gary Patterson at TCU, or Kyle Whittingham at Utah were to get offers they couldn't turn down. And let's assume all three of these schools were to have interest in bringing Rodriguez in as their new head coach. Which job would he take? Would he take any of them?

Of course his name is going to bring with him the stigma of failing at Michigan. There are going to be fans who want no part of having him be the next head coach of a team they root for, especially teams who are so used to success year in and year out.

As for me, I would give Rodriguez a chance at a school that needs a shot in the arm. A school who's been desperate to become what the three aforementioned schools have become.

Since we're looking at this as a debate how about I mention a school I grew up rooting for. A team who needs that shot in the arm I talked about before. A team who seems to be stuck in neutral and a school who's university seems to be ok with it.

I'm talking about Fresno State.

The Bulldogs are finishing their final season in the Western Athletic Conference before they move to the Mountain West Conference to join former rival Boise State along with Nevada and Hawaii who are also making the jump.

Since the Bulldogs hired Pat Hill prior to the 1999 season, the football program is still yet to win an outright conference championship. Not only that, but in the 11 seasons under Hill, Fresno State has won just four of their 11 bowl appearances.

While a losing record got their head basketball coach, Steve Cleveland, fired it landed Hill a three-year contract extension.

If you talk to some of the media who cover the team and they'll tell you that while it seems mediocrity has become a habit in the central valley, the fans will continue to come out because of the hype surrounding quarterback Derek Carr. He's the younger brother of another former Fresno State star, David Carr.

But there's one thing the Bulldogs are missing. It's the one thing that will keep them from even being in the middle of the pack once they move to their new conference.

That one thing is recruiting.

There's a change that needs to be made and the program needs a name players can relate to and a name they recognize.

For the last few years the Bulldogs haven't been able to recruit the players they need to be able to turn their football team into a conference champion and BCS buster year in and year out.

Before we mention money, let's not forget Boise State has a smaller recruiting budget and has somehow been able to to bring players in who have kept them not only at the top of the WAC, but also on the national scene.

They've been a team who have been talked about before, during, and after each college football season. They're hated by just about every BCS fan because they continue to hang around.

There's no doubt Petersen has been the right head coach to bring out the best in his players, but Rich Rodriguez is a guy who can do the exact same thing to a school who desperately needs his experience.

Fresno State won't have the luxury of playing conference cupcakes like San Jose State and New Mexico State. They'll have to face off against not only Boise State, Nevada, and Hawaii, but they'll deal with an upstart San Diego State program along with Air Force and a Colorado State team that can never be taken lightly.

Why not bring in a name that automatically makes recruits think twice about signing with rival schools?

Michigan fans couldn't wait to ship him out of town and West Virginia fans couldn't have celebrated more when he failed in Ann Arbor. Miserably.

But when Rodriguez comes up for air and he makes it known he's ready to get back into coaching, there won't be a shortage of teams willing to pay him what he wants to be their next head coach.

For Fresno State, they need to be on that bandwagon. If for no other reason than to let their fans know they're committed to doing more than they've done to this point.

Put the rules violations and things said about Rodriguez aside. He's still a name that attracts attention and a name that brings instant notoriety.

Say what you want about his coaching styles or the way he handled himself at Michigan, but with that kind of pressure from not only the athletic department but the boosters as well, it tends to change people and not for the better.

Given another opportunity could turn this coach from a villain to a success story.

All it takes is the right program and the right players. Whether it's Fresno State or another school who could be looking for a new head coach, the name Rich Rodriguez is going to be mentioned more than once.

When he finally does return, all eyes will be on him and the program he takes over.


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Former Texas Tech Head Coach Pat Knight Interested in Fresno State Job

After head coach Steve Cleveland stepped down, the Fresno State basketball program began a search for who their next head coach would be.

A few names have surfaced like Mike Dunlap from St. John's, Bob Thomason from Pacific, ESPN's Andy Katz brought up Wayne Tinkle from Montana.

But there's one name that came up this morning which could be even more intriguing than any of the names we've already talked about.

According to reports, former Texas Tech head coach Pat Knight apparently told Alexan Balekian of KMJ Radio in Fresno "if Fresno State offered me the job over the phone I would take it."

Knight went on to say, "I think Fresno State would be a great opportunity, I can recruit within the state and start something special."

Though this would be a great hire for the university and a name that would bring in the kinds of recruits the program needs to rebuild itself into a national power, athletic director Thomas Boeh has yet to contact Knight and there's no indication there is mutual interest from Fresno State.


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College Basketball: Steve Cleveland Steps Down at Fresno State Among Mis-Guided Expectations

On Thursday night, Steve Cleveland stepped down as the head coach of the men's basketball team at Fresno State University.

For the past week, or maybe more, rumors were flying about the university wanting to go in another direction. Wanting a new face and hopefully change in a program that has had it's struggles since Jerry Tarkanian left the program.

But this wasn't all Cleveland's fault. Sure the team wasn't winning like most wanted them to but this was a coach who came in after his predecessor was cited for recruiting violations which kept the new head coach from bringing in the kind of players who could turn this program around.

In 2006, just his second season at Fresno State, it looked like the Bulldogs were finally getting back to where they needed to be. The team finished with an astounding 22-10 record after a 15-13 record in Cleveland's first season, but they were bounced in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament.

But, over the next three seasons, the program couldn't seem to pick itself up off the floor, struggling to a 41-58 record from 2007-2010.

The university wanted more and they made that clear to Cleveland after the Bulldogs lost in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament a little over a week ago.

Cleveland stayed behind in Las Vegas and had conversations with athletic director Thomas Boeh. Conversations that led to the head coach deciding to step down and taking a new position within the athletic department at least until his contract runs out next year.

Boeh told the media last night the former Bulldogs' head coach would assist in the search for his replacement and a short list had already been compiled.

The more I listened to the press conference the more my mind began to wonder why Fresno State handled their basketball program differently than they've handled their football program?

Why would they run off a basketball coach who really had the deck stacked against him from the very start? Boeh said this move was about wins and attendance, but how many wins did Boeh expect out of his head coach? What were his expectations for a program which, after two different head coaches blamed for NCAA violations against the university, couldn't have been that attractive to young players?

It was this exact thought which led me to wonder why Pat Hill, the head football coach at Fresno State, was being treated differently? What was I missing?

Under Pat Hill, the football program is 4-7 in 11 bowl appearances and has yet to win an outright conference championship. You'd think it would be enough for the university to go in a different direction.

Instead, it got Hill a three-year contract extension.

When I asked a local beat writer about it his only response was, "fans will come out to see Derek Carr fling the bean around the field." Really? I thought this was about wins not about seeing a young quarterback throw the football around?

There are apparently a lot of things I don't understand about how Fresno State is handling these two programs. They want more wins in one of them but seem happy with 8-5 and 8-4 seasons, year in and year out, from another.

The next head coach for the men's basketball team will need to be a name they can flaunt and a name that will bring in the kind of recruits that will allow them to rebuild this program into a contender once again.

Maybe moving into the Mountain West Conference in 2011 will enable them to start the process. Until then, apparently all I can do is sit back and watch it unfold.

Fresno State: Can Derek Carr Fill the Big Shoes of His Brother?

For young Derek Carr, trying to do what your brother did in the same uniform almost a decade ago is something that a lot of young quarterbacks would have a hard time living up to. Especially the kind of legacy David Carr left behind.

WAC: Four Teams Jumping Off an Already Sinking Ship

Karl Benson, you had your chance to save your small insignificant conference. Instead, you came out looking like a fool and it cost you your top four teams. The only reason anyone knew who the Western Athletic Conference actually was.