Let’s talk about Fresno State football.
All right, don’t get upset. Don’t think this is another column from another sports columnist who doesn’t have anything else to write about other than Fresno State football during the offseason. Don’t think there isn’t anything else on his mind, reminding everyone the high school football season is coming up, too.
But this is Fresno State football.
The Fresno State season opener isn’t until Sept. 5, but it’s hard to ignore what’s coming up. It’s going to be an interesting season with a number of questions waiting to be answered.
Is this the year the Bulldogs finally break into a Bowl Championship Series, after many disappointing seasons?
Who’s going to hold down the starting quarterback position?
Well, those are perhaps the two biggest questions Bulldog fans want to have answered, the kind of inquires that blow up blogs and message boards in cyberspace. They also take up a lot of people’s break time, or column space.
Over the years, coach Pat Hill converted the Bulldogs into one of the most feared non-BCS teams. And it seems like every season Fresno State is one of the teams that are projected to be a BCS-buster team. Could it happen this season? Sure. Why not? The Bulldogs got the goods, the talent. They’ve got the skills, the running backs, the receivers. It’s up to them not to mess it up.
And Hill has to make a huge decision in 2009 — to name a starting quarterback when the Bulldogs face UC Davis in the season opener, replacing Turlock High graduate Tom Brandstater, who’s now in the NFL. According to numerous reports, it’s between Derek Carr, the freshman and kid brother of Fresno State legend David Carr, and Ryan Colburn, who’s been with the program for four years.
The obvious choice is Colburn, mostly because he’s been there the longest and knows the offense well.
But Derek Carr is special. He’s barely old enough to direct a collegiate offense, but he has a lot of confidence. And he might be that one guy the Bulldogs have been looking for in order to bust into the BCS.
Recently, former Pitman High star Anthony Harding was in town volunteering at the Westside Ministries Sports Camp. He was teaching youths his workouts, but he just couldn’t escape talk about Fresno State, thanks in part to him leading the Bulldogs in rushing yards last season.
He was asked about the quarterback situation.
He didn’t say much.
He just said it wouldn’t matter if it was Colburn or Carr. Either one, Harding said, would complement an offense that includes one of the best backfields in the nation in Harding, Ryan Mathew and Lonyae Miller. At least we know, for now, that it’s mainly between Colburn and Carr, with freshman Ebahn Feathers as the third option.
Whoever gets it has the expectation of guiding the Bulldogs into the BCS, however.
Be prepared.
To contact Chhun Sun, e-mail csun@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.
All right, don’t get upset. Don’t think this is another column from another sports columnist who doesn’t have anything else to write about other than Fresno State football during the offseason. Don’t think there isn’t anything else on his mind, reminding everyone the high school football season is coming up, too.
But this is Fresno State football.
The Fresno State season opener isn’t until Sept. 5, but it’s hard to ignore what’s coming up. It’s going to be an interesting season with a number of questions waiting to be answered.
Is this the year the Bulldogs finally break into a Bowl Championship Series, after many disappointing seasons?
Who’s going to hold down the starting quarterback position?
Well, those are perhaps the two biggest questions Bulldog fans want to have answered, the kind of inquires that blow up blogs and message boards in cyberspace. They also take up a lot of people’s break time, or column space.
Over the years, coach Pat Hill converted the Bulldogs into one of the most feared non-BCS teams. And it seems like every season Fresno State is one of the teams that are projected to be a BCS-buster team. Could it happen this season? Sure. Why not? The Bulldogs got the goods, the talent. They’ve got the skills, the running backs, the receivers. It’s up to them not to mess it up.
And Hill has to make a huge decision in 2009 — to name a starting quarterback when the Bulldogs face UC Davis in the season opener, replacing Turlock High graduate Tom Brandstater, who’s now in the NFL. According to numerous reports, it’s between Derek Carr, the freshman and kid brother of Fresno State legend David Carr, and Ryan Colburn, who’s been with the program for four years.
The obvious choice is Colburn, mostly because he’s been there the longest and knows the offense well.
But Derek Carr is special. He’s barely old enough to direct a collegiate offense, but he has a lot of confidence. And he might be that one guy the Bulldogs have been looking for in order to bust into the BCS.
Recently, former Pitman High star Anthony Harding was in town volunteering at the Westside Ministries Sports Camp. He was teaching youths his workouts, but he just couldn’t escape talk about Fresno State, thanks in part to him leading the Bulldogs in rushing yards last season.
He was asked about the quarterback situation.
He didn’t say much.
He just said it wouldn’t matter if it was Colburn or Carr. Either one, Harding said, would complement an offense that includes one of the best backfields in the nation in Harding, Ryan Mathew and Lonyae Miller. At least we know, for now, that it’s mainly between Colburn and Carr, with freshman Ebahn Feathers as the third option.
Whoever gets it has the expectation of guiding the Bulldogs into the BCS, however.
Be prepared.
To contact Chhun Sun, e-mail csun@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.
