Just a heads up. Read yesterday that 6 FSU players (5 starters) were suspended for this game. Unfortunately I threw the paper away and don't remember the names so please check it out if you plan to play this one. GL today. Let's knock em dead.
Fresno State players suspended
- Thread starter Brick
- Start date
i heard a report that fresno is working hard to have at least some of those players reinstated, don't know which ones. fwiw, tech is also riddled with injuries. i think the bulldogs may be the play.
...would have to agree withn ya, loop. i see this as a 24-21 type ballgame.... should be close either way.
Line went from -4 to -8 back to -6 over last two days. I nderstand two of the 5 players back on team. I have no names or postion info was on the TV and off before I could catch exact what was said.
Ineligable players are:
DE Burley
LB Williams
WR Davis
CB Reneau
LG Tu'ua
LB Adamo
All starters except for Adamo.
DE Burley
LB Williams
WR Davis
CB Reneau
LG Tu'ua
LB Adamo
All starters except for Adamo.
SAN JOSE -- First, star wide receiver Bernard Berrian was lost.
Then quarterback Jeff Grady, the heir apparent to David Carr. Then Kendall Edwards, the best cover corner, and two starting defensive linemen. Then all three starting linebackers.
Throughout the 2002 season, much of the focus surrounding Fresno State has centered on players who either were injured or no longer on the team.
The rest soldiered on, carving out an 8-5 record and a berth in today's Silicon Valley Football Classic opposite Georgia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. at Spartan Stadium.
So when word started to spread Friday afternoon that Fresno State would be without seven players, including five starters, for the bowl game it so desperately wants to win, the reaction wasn't one of panic.
More like steely resolve.
"When we win this game, it's going to show the character of this football team," senior right tackle Joe Schey said. "We're going to surprise a lot of people."
It could be an afternoon full of surprises.
According to coach Pat Hill, two of the players who failed to satisfy the new Western Athletic Conference rule requiring six units to be eligible for a bowl could be in uniform today. Wide receiver Marque Davis and cornerback Awan Diles, who was sent home Monday, still are waiting for professors to post their fall-semester grades.
Hill said if their grades can be certified by midnight Monday, academic adviser Eric Sanders has a car ready.
"I told them to drive out here," Hill said. "The game starts at 12:30. I'd love to see [Davis] return the opening kickoff."
Reached at his Fresno home Monday afternoon, Davis said he was trying not to get his hopes too high. So far, his sociology professor has been unreachable by phone or e-mail.
"It's been pretty stressful," Davis said. "Basically, I'm just sitting around the house and waiting right now."
The return of their leading wide receiver certainly would be a welcome sight. Unfortunately, Davis doesn't line up on defense, where the Bulldogs lost three starters in end Nick Burley, linebacker Sam Williams and cornerback Demorieux Reneau, plus two key backups.
Their replacements -- freshman Garrett McIntyre, sophomore Todd Garcia and redshirt freshman Raymond Washington -- have combined for three career starts.
"I can handle it," said McInytre, a walk-on who has not played since Nov. 16 because of a knee injury. "I know I've got big shoes to fill, but this isn't anything we haven't faced before. When someone goes down around here, it's 'Who's next?'
"This time, it just happens to be my turn."
If anything, the personnel losses will cement a strategy Fresno State employed with much success during its current four-game winning streak.
Since squandering a 15-point, fourth-quarter lead against Hawaii on Oct. 25, the Bulldogs have gone out of their way to keep their defense off the field. That means a steady diet of clock-chewing drives behind one of college football's biggest offensive lines.
In a crucial 19-16 victory over San Jose State on the same soggy field as today, Fresno State kept the ball for 10 minutes, 22 seconds of the fourth quarter.
As a result, tailback Rodney Davis crept within 44 yards of Ron Rivers' 1993 single-season rushing record of 1,477 yards. Entering his 13th game, two more than Rivers played, Davis has 1,433.
"I'm going to do whatever I can to win the game," Hill said. "Whatever style it takes."
Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey, meanwhile, said his team would not be overconfident playing against a short-handed Fresno State squad.
"I explained to our players the guys who aren't playing on the other side are good players," Gailey said. "Guys respond. Guys who are backups line up and play. Adversity is a part of life. That's a lesson learned."
Schey, one of nine remaining seniors playing their final college game, has a different kind of lesson in mind. One intended for his ex-teammates watching today's game on television.
"I'm not really upset at anyone because their punishment's going to come when we win this game without them," Schey said. "The way I look at it, they're the ones missing out. Not us."
The reporter can be reached at marekw@fresnobee.com or 441-6218.
Then quarterback Jeff Grady, the heir apparent to David Carr. Then Kendall Edwards, the best cover corner, and two starting defensive linemen. Then all three starting linebackers.
Throughout the 2002 season, much of the focus surrounding Fresno State has centered on players who either were injured or no longer on the team.
The rest soldiered on, carving out an 8-5 record and a berth in today's Silicon Valley Football Classic opposite Georgia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. at Spartan Stadium.
So when word started to spread Friday afternoon that Fresno State would be without seven players, including five starters, for the bowl game it so desperately wants to win, the reaction wasn't one of panic.
More like steely resolve.
"When we win this game, it's going to show the character of this football team," senior right tackle Joe Schey said. "We're going to surprise a lot of people."
It could be an afternoon full of surprises.
According to coach Pat Hill, two of the players who failed to satisfy the new Western Athletic Conference rule requiring six units to be eligible for a bowl could be in uniform today. Wide receiver Marque Davis and cornerback Awan Diles, who was sent home Monday, still are waiting for professors to post their fall-semester grades.
Hill said if their grades can be certified by midnight Monday, academic adviser Eric Sanders has a car ready.
"I told them to drive out here," Hill said. "The game starts at 12:30. I'd love to see [Davis] return the opening kickoff."
Reached at his Fresno home Monday afternoon, Davis said he was trying not to get his hopes too high. So far, his sociology professor has been unreachable by phone or e-mail.
"It's been pretty stressful," Davis said. "Basically, I'm just sitting around the house and waiting right now."
The return of their leading wide receiver certainly would be a welcome sight. Unfortunately, Davis doesn't line up on defense, where the Bulldogs lost three starters in end Nick Burley, linebacker Sam Williams and cornerback Demorieux Reneau, plus two key backups.
Their replacements -- freshman Garrett McIntyre, sophomore Todd Garcia and redshirt freshman Raymond Washington -- have combined for three career starts.
"I can handle it," said McInytre, a walk-on who has not played since Nov. 16 because of a knee injury. "I know I've got big shoes to fill, but this isn't anything we haven't faced before. When someone goes down around here, it's 'Who's next?'
"This time, it just happens to be my turn."
If anything, the personnel losses will cement a strategy Fresno State employed with much success during its current four-game winning streak.
Since squandering a 15-point, fourth-quarter lead against Hawaii on Oct. 25, the Bulldogs have gone out of their way to keep their defense off the field. That means a steady diet of clock-chewing drives behind one of college football's biggest offensive lines.
In a crucial 19-16 victory over San Jose State on the same soggy field as today, Fresno State kept the ball for 10 minutes, 22 seconds of the fourth quarter.
As a result, tailback Rodney Davis crept within 44 yards of Ron Rivers' 1993 single-season rushing record of 1,477 yards. Entering his 13th game, two more than Rivers played, Davis has 1,433.
"I'm going to do whatever I can to win the game," Hill said. "Whatever style it takes."
Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey, meanwhile, said his team would not be overconfident playing against a short-handed Fresno State squad.
"I explained to our players the guys who aren't playing on the other side are good players," Gailey said. "Guys respond. Guys who are backups line up and play. Adversity is a part of life. That's a lesson learned."
Schey, one of nine remaining seniors playing their final college game, has a different kind of lesson in mind. One intended for his ex-teammates watching today's game on television.
"I'm not really upset at anyone because their punishment's going to come when we win this game without them," Schey said. "The way I look at it, they're the ones missing out. Not us."
The reporter can be reached at marekw@fresnobee.com or 441-6218.
