East Coast meets West Coast on Monday
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
December 26, 2004

BOISE, Idaho - On the West Coast, Fresno State is a known, college football commodity.

They have been to six straight bowl games, the longest active streak among western schools in the country.

On the East Coast, they are known for playing into the wee hours of the night on Friday’s on ESPN.

Fresno State is also known for producing NFL quarterbacks like Trent Dilfer, Billy Volek and David Carr, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft.

They have a coach - Pat Hill - that sports a trademark moustache and a red helmet that dons a green ‘V’ on the back of it that stands for the San Joaquin Valley, where the campus of Fresno State is nestled.

Despite the different impressions, one known characteristic remains from the Atlantic to the Pacific about Fresno State. The Bulldogs embrace the opportunity to be known as “giant killers.”

Pick a school from a BCS Conference and Fresno State will not only play them, they will play them any time and any place.

In the past five years, the Bulldogs have beaten nine BCS Conference schools, the most for any non-BCS team.

They get another shot to play the role of David against Goliath on Monday when they square off with No. 18 Virginia in the MPC Computers Bowl at 2 p.m. Both teams are 8-3 on the season.

It is a role that Fresno State relishes. It is something that opponents fear.

Just ask this year’s Kansas State team or the respective teams from Colorado, Oregon State and Wisconsin during the 2001 season.

All those teams scheduled Fresno State. All were ranked at game time. All lost to Fresno State.

Will Virginia fall into that trap and become the latest victim for Fresno State?

That remains to be seen.

What is known is that Hill is using the game against Virginia as a chance to get a head start on the 2005 season, namely the 2005 bowl season.

Hill knows that for a program to receive an at-large berth into the BCS, they need to start the season ranked. With a win over Virginia on Monday, Hill’s squad would likely finish ranked, something that has not happened since the program went 11-0-1 in 1985.

“It would be nice to do that and get inside the top 25 again,” Hill said. “It’d be important for the program.”

Finishing ranked will be an uphill battle for Fresno State, a five-point underdog.

Virginia provides Hill with the toughest bowl matchup since he took the reigns of a declining program in 1997.

“[Virginia] is a very good opponent,” Hill said. “This is really a team that has no true weakness. This is a football team that has a lot of strengths on both sides of the ball. Personnel-wise, on paper, they have three players that are All-Americans.”

Fresno State’s biggest challenge, according to Hill, may be in containing UVa quarterback Marques Hagans, who averaged 28 yards on the ground per game, close to 26 yards more than the average compiled by Fresno State’s QB Paul Pinegar.

“[Hagans] has great mobility. He is another running back in the backfield that can throw it,” Hill said. “He’s thrown for as many yards as Paul. He can throw it if he has too, but he’s a great run threat.”

Fresno State will attack Hagans and Virginia’s potent rushing attack of Alvin Pearman, Wali Lundy and Jason Snelling with an undersized 4-3 defense that relies on speed.

The Bulldogs regular season starting lineup on defense boasted only one player that weighed more than 250 pounds - nose tackle Donyell Booker (6-foot-2, 305 pounds).

Booker was an academic casualty at the end of the first semester, likely forcing Jason Shirley (6-5, 295 pounds), a redshirt freshman, into the starting lineup.

“Size isn’t a factor. I’ve never worried about size,” Hill said. “I just think teams look really good when teams have these pro-caliber athletes. We have never been a big team since I’ve been here. Size is not that important to me, speed is. Speed is the most important factor in football. What makes Virginia such a good measuring stick is that they have big people that run really well. That’s a great combination.”

Hill said he is relying on the speed of his offensive line to help his own team match Virginia yard-for-yard on the ground.

“We have really good speed. And we have great quickness and agility in the offensive line,” Hill said. “[Our offensive line is] very strong, very quick, very athletic. And they’ll be matched up with, well, linebackers as big as our guards. It’ll be an interesting matchup. But our kids have held up well against Washington, Kansas State and other people throughout the year.

“I’ve got no doubts that we’ll hang in again. Speed, quickness and athletic ability will always beat out just size. Now if you have size with quickness and athletic ability, then the playing field becomes a little unbalanced. It’ll be interesting to see how we match up, but you never know until you play.”

Cavaliers' run defense to be tested
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
December 26, 2004

BOISE, Idaho

The key matchup in Monday’s MPC Computers Bowl clash in Boise will be Virginia’s run defense against Fresno State’s running game.

On paper, score it a win for the Wahoos.

But they’re playing on a Smurf-blue field. Blue, that is, if it doesn’t snow and turn the place into a winter wonderland. Still, Fresno State has to be concerned with the quality of Virginia’s 3-4 defense, ranked 18th nationally against the rush.

“The concern isn’t the scheme,” said Fresno State offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti. “The concern is how good are those guys. What I’m looking at more than anything on film are physical matchups. In my years here, it’s Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia ... those are the best [defenses] we’ve faced.”

Brute force wins

This bowl game is going to boil down to who wins the physical part of the game. Gone are the days when Fresno was rolling up massive yardage via the airways. David Carr’s address is in Houston.

Instead, the Bulldogs’ bread and butter is a physical, right-at-you running game, the kind that Virginia’s defense faces every day in practice.

“I think they’re going to try to dominate and try to run the ball at us and come at us hard,” said Cavaliers senior outside linebacker Dennis Haley. “A lot of defenses don’t really like it when teams try to run the ball, but we call it the inside run drill. If you want to run the ball on us, we’ll play that game all day. We look forward to it.”

Fresno has used the run effectively all season, well with one exception. The Bulldogs have rushed for 2,508 yards and have averaged 228 yards per game on the ground.

In their last four games of the season, both of their star running backs - Bryson Sumlin and Wendell Mathis - each rushed for more than 100 yards each.

When you look at Fresno’s yardage and the staggering amount of points the Bulldogs put up, one would get the impression that they’re a high-flying, spread offense, featuring the passing game.

Not so

“That’s what I first thought when I heard we were playing Fresno State,” said UVa redshirt freshman defensive end Chris Johnson, a product of Charlottesville High School. “Back when David Carr played there, they aired it out.

“But from watching the tape, they’re kind of similar to us in trying to run it down your throat. I know that personally and defensive-wise, we’re happy for the challenge because we think that’s the key matchup to the game is our run defense versus their run offense,” Johnson said.

That could weigh in Virginia’s favor because of the quality of the Cavaliers’ defense against the run. The Wahoos are giving up 109 yards a game on the ground and have surrendered only 10 rushing TDs all season.

The last time Fresno State ran into a quality rush defense, the Bulldogs lost and ironically it was on the same field they’ll face Virginia on come Monday. When Fresno played at Boise State, the Bulldogs’ rushing game was completely shut down.

Don’t think that defensive coordinator Al Golden hasn’t taken a long look at that tape.

In fact, Boise State’s run defense was so strong that it held Fresno to 17 yards rushing. In fact, Fresno only attempted 17 running plays.

Boise forced Bulldogs quarterback Paul Pinegar to beat them with his arm and he couldn’t do it. In that game, Pinegar was 17 of 30 for 170 yards and a TD. He was picked off twice and sacked several times.

Boise played much of that game with nine defenders in the box, daring Pinegar to prove he could beat them with the pass.

Haley said that he compares Fresno to Maryland, while fellow outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock said that the Bulldogs’ running game reminds him a lot of Miami, but from different formations.

Blackstock leads a sack-happy Cavalier defense that hopes to add Pinegar to the list of victims.

“I like [Pinegar],” Blackstock said. “We’ve played against better, but I like how he plays. He seems comfortable, has a touch on the ball. He also seems to have a feel for the game. He’s a big guy, though, not too mobile, but strong.”

Johnson said that Fresno’s backs are downhill runners, meaning there’s no dancing around, just straight-ahead, power stuff.

“I like the way they play,” Johnson said. “They don’t try to make you miss, they run right through arm tackles. They really bring it and so, we need to bring it too.”

The emphasis in bowl practice has been to not take a snap off. Because Fresno has outscored its opponents 186-31 in the first half of games this season, the Cavalier coaches have been preaching that no defensive player can afford to take a snap off, particularly in the first half.

“From the first snap of the game, we have to be ready to play,” Johnson said.

Fresno’s All-American offensive left tackle Logan Mankins, who may face Blackstock in the showdown, is well aware of the challenge Virginia’s defense presents.

“They’ve got big, strong guys, who run well and [Virginia’s] linebackers are bigger than anyone we’ve faced,” said Mankins, who hasn’t allowed a sack this season. “We just have to block the right people and get after them.”

If this bunch of Cavaliers are to become the first team in Virginia history to win three straight bowl games, then they’re going to have to make sure that Mankins and his teammates have a long, long afternoon.

Haley unafraid of adversity
Going to UVa presented plenty of challenges both on and off the field for the former Salem standout.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Nobody was more surprised than Salem High School football coach Willis White when Dennis Haley announced in 1999 that he had accepted a scholarship offer from Virginia.

An even bigger shock came when Haley walked into White's office last spring and said he was preparing to graduate. "I about had a heart attack," said White, now in his first year of retirement. "I mean, here's a kid who almost didn't project out of high school."

Nobody gave any odds five years ago that Haley would be a quality college football player, much less a respectable student, but he has been a model of persistence during a career that will end Monday in Boise, Idaho, at the MPC Computers Bowl.

Haley, competing as a graduate student, will make his 12th consecutive start at outside linebacker for 18th-ranked Virginia (8-3).

Haley still has the charming personality that enabled him to waltz through Salem High School, but, when it came time to play college football, there were plenty of skeptics. The knock against Haley, who had been bigger and faster than opponents from an early age, was that he didn't have the drive to compete at the next level.

"I was definitely aware of it," Haley said. "I acted like I wasn't aware of it, but I was aware of it. Of course it bothered me. It would be crazy to say it didn't bother me."

Haley had a license to fail and he almost did. After starting the opening game of the 2002 season, Haley was on the way to the locker room one week later at Florida State when he learned that he was academically ineligible.

"He showed a lot of character at that point," White said. "A lot of guys would have tucked tail and said, 'Heck with it.'"

Haley always had a lot of support from his family, which is loaded with college graduates, including his older brother, Darren, a Washington and Lee law graduate. His "team" also included his fiance, Kim Bishop, a Christiansburg native whom he met at the Salem Fair.

"When you're the kind of person who does not complain or gripe or point fingers and you've always got a smile on your face, people think you've lived a charmed life," Haley's mother, Andrea, said. "Everything hasn't been peachy keen for Dennis."

If there is one message the Haleys imparted to their younger son, it was not to point fingers. Even when there were suggestions that his ineligibility was the result of an incorrect interpretation by an academic advisor, Haley kept his mouth shut.

After thinking that his suspension might end after 1-2 weeks, Haley sat out the entire 2002 season and was unable to play in the opening game of the 2003 season. He never had a starting job to call his own until this year but realized that he had to perform to play. Again, he had to prove himself.

"Coming into this season, I knew there were doubts," he said.

Haley hasn't been an all-American, nor has he been a weak link. He has been good enough to rank fifth in tackles (57) for a team that has been in and out of the top 10 and only cornerback Tony Franklin has been on the field for more plays than Haley's 681.

"He did a very clear job in the spring of establishing credibility as a starter and never lost any steam," said head coach Al Groh, who never deserted Haley during the dark days in 2002. "It was a matter of consistency early on. He grew into that mind-set of being the same person every play and every day, and it was much the same way academically."

Even dating back to 2000, when Haley was redshirted by then-UVa coach George Welsh, coaches would gush over spectacular plays Haley would make in practice. Talent was never his problem, but he wasn't as physical as his size (6-foot-1, 250 pounds) would suggest.

"I just learned how to practice," Haley said. "If you're physical in practice, you're physical in games. Coaches are going to go off what they see in practice. If they don't see it in practice, you're not going to be in games."

White said he never questioned Haley's toughness at Salem and considered him a "gamer," but getting him to an emotional peak was another matter.

"Nobody enjoys life more than Dennis," White said. "I'd get so mad at him that I'd want to wring his neck; then, he'd give you that look of his and you'd want to hug him."

When word got out that Virginia was recruiting Haley, it confused rival recruiters because White had been reluctant to recommend him. White just thought he was being realistic.

"His mother is going to kill me for saying this," White said, "but, heck, I didn't know if he was going to graduate from high school.

"He told me once, 'I've got a B in math.' I told him, 'You've never made a B in math in your life,' but, doggone, I turned around and he'd signed with Virginia."

White said he couldn't be prouder of Haley now and faithfully watches Virginia whenever the Cavaliers are on television. He thinks Haley has the chance to play professionally.

So does Haley, although he will be in a chapel on the first day of the NFL Draft, April 23. That's the day on which he and Bishop will be married in Christiansburg.

Chances are that Haley won't go the first day, "but don't think I'm not counting on it," he said.

He's surprised people before.

1 Cavs fan says give Boise a shot
Commentary by Aaron McFarling
The Roanoke Times

Franklin County resident Scott Martin has a message for the University of Virginia football team and its fans.

You're going to love Boise. Yes, really.

Honest.

Relax. Martin isn't some Virginia Tech graduate trying to sucker you in just so he can ambush you with Smurf Turf jokes. He's on your side. A Hopewell native, he grew up going to UVa football games. His family's had season tickets at Scott Stadium for years.

And when it comes to Boise, Idaho, Martin knows his stuff.

For four years, Martin was the media committee chair of the Humanitarian Bowl, which is now called the MPC Computers Bowl. His duty was to convince people - print media, teams, fans, television officials - that the bowl game in Boise was worthy of their attention.

Popsicle salesmen in Alaska probably have an easier job than that.

"It was just like what we're seeing this year - every year we took a beating in the press," Martin said. "But regardless, every year we heard from the NCAA that the bowl has the highest rating of almost any bowl as far as spectators and the teams rating it as a positive experience, just because it's so different."

Martin, now the director of commerce and leisure services for Franklin County, was there in 1997 when the Boise bowl was launched. Organizers pulled the event together in a few quick months.

Martin was working for the city of Boise and was assigned the job of media committee chairman.

"I don't know if it's because I said 'Y'all' and was from the South or not," Martin said. "I knew how to translate; I guess that's what it came down to."

His family back home in Virginia was perplexed. You're putting on a bowl game in frigid Boise? Good luck, Scott.

And, of course, there were the jokes in the national press. The "Snow Bowl," they called it. The "We're Gonna Freeze Bowl." The "Potato Bowl."

"Oh, gosh, we heard 'em all," Martin said. "That the birds crash into the [blue] turf is the No.1 most frequently used joke. At some level it's become accepted as Gospel now."

Martin says those crashing-birds rumors are totally false, but the Boise State coaches are notoriously cryptic when asked about it. And that's been the spirit of the Boise bowl organizers - let's identify what makes us different and use it to our advantage.

Bowl organizers jokingly dubbed it the "anti-Bubba bowl," embracing everything that sets Boise apart from the traditional Sun Belt cities. They took teams snowmobiling, elk hunting and skiing. They directed fans to the plentiful microbreweries in the city.

In short, they gave people experiences they'd never find in Fort Worth or Shreveport.

"Boise produces more microchips than potato chips," said Martin, who moved back to Virginia in 2001. "But it doesn't stop the potato jokes from coming. And I understand you don't help yourself when you put 'Famous Potatoes' on your license plates, but it's a lot more than that."

As for the game itself, Martin says the Cavaliers are by far the best team ever to play in this bowl. But he adds a word of caution as they get set to play Fresno State.

"The important lesson from the Boise bowl is, no matter which team is better or worse on the field, the team that wants to be there always wins," Martin said. "There's always a team there that is treating it like, 'Oh, man, we're in Idaho and I'm cold.' But then there's always a team that's happy to be there.

"Invariably, the team that wants to be there always seems to win."

So, UVa fans, enjoy it for what it is - a chance for something different. It can't be that bad. After all, the bowl's been around for eight years.

"It's the bowl that won't go away," Martin said with a laugh. "As many people there are who wish it would go away, the damn thing just keeps on humming. I know that's not the biggest booster statement in the world, but you just can't kill it."
 

Brooks dealing with the boos
By Mary Foster
The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — Aaron Brooks knows how tough it can be to read defenses and make the right play. The New Orleans Saints' quarterback also knows what happens when a pass goes astray or a drive stalls — the booing starts.

"I was defensive about it for a while, but not anymore," Brooks said. "You have to develop a good sense of who you are and a thick skin to survive at this position. You have to learn to get some perspective."

Brooks has gotten that, all right. He's also passed for 3,367 yards and 19 touchdowns this year, much of it while dodging opponents and searching for receivers. Since becoming the starter late in 2000, Brooks has engineered 16 comeback drives, including four this season. Brooks has 30 games in which he's had 250 or more passing yards.

In fact, Brooks is moving up on Archie Manning in most passing categories in the team's record book. And Manning, who played for the Saints for 11 years, also was no stranger to unhappy crowds.

"I certainly got my share of boos," Manning, the former Ole Miss star, said. "Fans can get on you when things aren't going right."

He said learning to deal with that is critical.

"It's hard enough to play quarterback," Manning said. "If you let that affect you, you're in big trouble."

Things looked so bright for Brooks his first year in New Orleans. He stepped in for an injured Jeff Blake in the 11th game and led the Saints to their first playoff victory. Since then, the Saints have gone 7-9, 9-7 and 8-8. This season, New Orleans is 6-8. There have been no return trips to the playoffs.

With ex-Ole Miss star Deuce McAllister hampered by a sprained ankle and the Saints often falling behind early, Brooks has been forced to throw 494 times. He has thrown 14 interceptions and has been sacked 34 times, including seven times last week by Tampa Bay.

Until Aaron Stecker returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown last week against the Buccaneers, New Orleans had not scored in the first quarter in its last 11 games and had scored only 10 points in the opening quarter all year.

"I can understand why they are frustrated," Brooks said. "I'm frustrated."

Consider that Brooks is not even the best quarterback in his family. His younger cousin is Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons. Vick was the No. 1 pick overall in the 2001 draft; Brooks was drafted in the fourth round in 1999. Vick became a big star at 22; Brooks hasn't even made hometown hero at 28.

"I've been overshadowed all my life," Brooks said. "I take it as a challenge. It makes me work harder, try harder."

Vick said he has never been booed but knows what Brooks is going through.

"I watch the games and I hear them booing Aaron," he said. "But they're not booing Aaron the way I look at it. If you look at his stats, he's doing his job. You really can't put all the pressure on him. It's not a one-man show and that's what people have got to understand."

Brooks, who graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in anthropology, has learned not to bedevil himself over the losses, the interceptions, the scorn from the crowd. He no longer replays things over and over in his mind, thinking what if, why not.

"At this level you're in such a national spotlight it makes problems hard to deal with when you're not winning," Brooks said. "I think my foundation and the things I do off the field have helped me learn not to beat myself up."

The Aaron Brooks Family Foundation has collected and distributed more than 5,000 children's books. Over the past three years, Brooks visited New Orleans public libraries to promote his "Read to Pass" program.

As part of his literacy platform, Brooks has written an autobiography geared toward children called, "Rise Above."

"I think illiteracy is a huge problem," Brooks said. "I really want to spark an interest in reading in kids. I want them to know that a book can take them anywhere, let them do anything."

Manning, now beloved in the town where he was once booed, said Brooks might take comfort in remembering that booing catches up with almost everyone.

"We were playing the Packers and the fans booed Bart Starr," Manning said. "It was late in his career and he was pretty beat up. I said to myself, 'Well, it can happen to anybody."

Are you ready for some spudball?
BY DAVE JOHNSON
247-4649
Published December 26, 2004

Fifty-seven of the nation's Division I-A teams finished the regular season with a record of .500 or better, which is all that is required for postseason eligibility. Yet with 56 bowl positions, somebody was going to be left out.

Akron was that somebody. The Zips were so desperate to make their first postseason appearance that, in the words of record-setting quarterback Charlie Frye, "I would have gone to the Boise game." He didn't say, "I would have even gone," but he might as well have.

The Boise game has a name - it's the MPC Computers Bowl after a seven-year run as the Humanitarian. It has strong community support, a corporate sponsor and a contract with ESPN. It also has a 30,000-seat stadium, the second-lowest payout among the 28 bowls, a remote location in the middle of potato-land and a brutal winter. And, at least with some, the reputation of being the last resort.

Few aspire to play there. Not Fresno State, which was ranked as high as 17th this season. Certainly not Virginia, which was atop the ACC in November. The Cavaliers, in fact, tried to arrange a deal through the ACC office that would have rerouted them to the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. Once that fell through, there was nowhere else to go, so they will play today.

"We're looking forward to it," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "Your educational experience in college isn't all about what happens on the classroom, and one thing I think everybody should know a lot about is their own country. Therefore, we're going to have a great opportunity to see an area of the country that I'm sure most of them are unfamiliar with."

So why Boise, Idaho - a.k.a., the Jewel of the West? How did this scenic but out-of-the-way city, which has an average high of 37 degrees this time of year, get a bowl game? It's quite simple. Boise State used to be a member of the Big West Conference, which had no bowl tie-in. Looking to find the Big West champion a home, organizers arranged a $1.5 million letter of credit and filed an application with the NCAA.

The inaugural Humanitarian Bowl was played in 1997, with Cincinnati beating Utah State 35-19. When Boise State joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2001, the Humanitarian changed its affiliation to the WAC. The Broncos played in three of the seven Humanitarian Bowls, winning in 1999, 2000 and '02.

The bowl has lost money each year - even in 2002, when a record crowd of 30,446 saw Boise State defeat Iowa State. The WAC underwrites the game, which has allowed it to stay afloat. But with last spring's announcement that Idaho-based MPC Computers would become the title sponsor, the game expects to at least break even for the first time.

"The one thing we have in Boise is a very supportive market and corporate sponsors," said Gary Beck, the game's executive director. "I'd say, on the average, 80 to 85 percent of the fans are local. So we don't rely that much on whether the team travels or not."

Teams rarely do. Georgia Tech took fewer than 500 fans to last year's game, which the Yellow Jackets won 52-10. Virginia expects at least 1,000 of its fans in Bronco Stadium, but the MPC Computers Bowl has been a hard sell. For one, Boise is nearly 2,400 miles from Charlottesville. For two, kickoff comes two days after Christmas. And for three, U.Va. expected far better.

"There seemed to be some disappointment early on that we were not going to be playing closer to home," Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage said. "The approach we've taken is that this is a chance for a nine-win season and a third straight bowl win, (which) moves the program closer to its goals."

It won't be a moneymaker, not with a payout of $750,000 per team. But with help from the conference office, which provides $950,000 to help cover expenses, Virginia expects to at least break even.

"Our staff has worked hard to come up with a reasonable budget for the bowl," Littlepage said. "The idea is that we should not have to spend out of pocket to make it a good experience."

The ACC is in the second year of an agreement that sends its sixth team to Boise. If you wonder how much logistical sense that makes, consider that in years past the conference had contracts with the Seattle Bowl and the Oahu Bowl in Honolulu.

"There are a lot of bowls that are a lot further than Boise," ACC associate commissioner Mike Finn said. "Conferences have deals with bowls all over the place. It's a different experience for the kids and the fans. Kids from our region don't get a chance to go on ski slopes. And Boise is a beautiful town, a clean city that has a lot of things going for it."

Former Hampton University men's basketball coach Steve Merfeld seconds that. He remembers that Selection Sunday in 2001 when the Pirates flashed on the TV screen as Iowa State's first-round opponent in the NCAA tournament. Then he saw where the game was being played - Boise, Idaho.

"Everybody was like, 'Why are we going to Boise, Idaho?' " said Merfeld, now the coach at Evansville. "I never thought about the NCAA tournament being in Boise, Idaho. But it's a great sports city. They love sports there."

In all sorts of weather, which is rarely pleasant this time of year. In last year's game, for example, the temperature at kickoff was 20 degrees. The year before, it was in the low 40s with a steady rain. In 2001, light snow fell well into the third quarter.

The forecast for Monday? Looks like they're going to catch a break this year: Temperatures are supposed to hit 42 degrees by game time. Bronco Stadium is one of the few places where your extremities match the playing surface (which, in case you didn't know, is blue).

Weather aside, people in Boise do their absolute best to provide a good time. How many other bowls take the players snow-mobiling? Who else provides hats and gloves as gifts? Both Clemson, which went to Boise in 2001, and Georgia Tech came back with glowing reports. In fact, one of the reasons the ACC entered into an agreement with the game is because of the Tigers' good experience.

"Everybody wants to go to the BCS or a New Year's Day game," Beck said. "But the one thing I can tell you is that when they get here, they'll have a great time. Boise State has gone to a couple of bowls outside, and the players still say that even though it's in town and they'd like to get out of town, the events we have here are better than anything they've been to."

Cavs facing opponent with a similar style
By Andy Bitter / Lynchburg News & Advance
December 25, 2004

The more the Virginia Cavaliers look at the Fresno State Bulldogs, the more they see themselves.

It will be a game of mirror images when Virginia and Fresno State meet in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise on Dec. 27 (2 p.m. EST), and it’s not because both teams enter with 8-3 records.

The most striking similarity is in the running game. Fresno State, more renown for producing current NFL quarterbacks like Houston’s David Carr, Tennessee’s Billy Volek and Seattle’s Trent Dilfer, does not fit the mold of your typical air-it-out WAC offense.

In fact, their offensive philosophy is so similar to Virginia’s it’s eerie. After starting tailback Dwayne Wright suffered a season-ending knee injury at Kansas State, junior Bryson Sumlin and sophomore Wendell Mathis filled in and are the Bulldogs’ answer to UVa’s Alvin Pearman and Wali Lundy.

“I think (some UVa players) were surprised to find out Fresno is so run-oriented,” Virginia head coach Al Groh said.

Each of Fresno State’s backs topped the 100-yard mark in each of the team’s last three games. It showed on the scoreboard. The Bulldogs, winners of their last five, scored over 50 points in each of the last four games.

Sumlin finished with 1,008 rushing yards (34th in the nation) and Mathis finished with 869 (34th). Fresno State as a team averages 228.0 yards per game (15th nationally), in the neighborhood with Virginia’s ACC-best 241.3 yards per game (12th).

The similarities don’t stop there. The teams are about even when it comes to passing offense per game (Virginia is 87th nationally at 182.3, Fresno State 97th at 171.7) and both are in the top third of Division I-A in scoring offense (Virginia is 32nd at 29.9 ppg, Fresno State is fifth at 40.5 ppg). They are also about even in passing efficiency, turnover margin and total offense.

The similarities end when it comes to the personalities of the teams’ coaches, despite the fact that they were together for a year with the Cleveland Browns in 1992 (Groh was Bill Belichick’s linebackers coach, Fresno State’s Pat Hill was a quality control assistant).

Groh is the stoic, straight-laced type, never really one to want the spotlight. Hill is the exact opposite.

The mustachioed Hill has a bravado about him that one would expect from someone sporting a Fu Man Chu. Want proof? In the 2000 Silicon Valley Bowl, Hill watched his team rally from a 34-7 deficit against Air Force, eventually pulling within 37-34. Instead of taking the safe route and kicking a 33-yard field goal with 14 seconds left to tie the game, he called for a fake kick. The pass fell incomplete, but in his second bowl appearance Hill proved he’s willing to take some chances.

That philosophy carries over to the team’s scheduling.

In the last five years, Fresno State has played 15 BCS conference schools, and it has won nine of those contests, including wins against ranked opponents like Colorado, Oregon State, Wisconsin and, this season, Kansas State.

Affirming the program’s “anybody, anytime, anyplace” maxim, of those 15 games, only three have been Fresno State home games. The team has traveled to such historic and hallowed college venues as Ohio State’s Horseshoe and Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium.

Virginia is just the latest on Fresno State’s BCS hit list. Just the opportunity to go against the 18th-ranked team in the country, the highest ranked bowl opponent the Bulldogs have ever faced, was worth it for a school on the outside of the BCS fraternity looking in.

Plus, it’s a chance to play in a bowl game other than the Silicon Valley Classic, where they’ve finished their last four seasons.

“The opponent is very different,” Hill said, comparing past bowl trips. “The opponent is a lot tougher than any we’ve had in a bowl game since I’ve been here. … This is a team that has no true weaknesses.”

Flip the script and he may very well be talking about his own team.
 

MPC COMPUTERS BOWL NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Dec 26, 2004

BACK ON TRACK: Sophomore fullback Jason Snelling started Virginia's first five games this season, then missed the next five with a high ankle sprain. The former L.C. Bird High star played only briefly in the regular-season finale at Virginia Tech but has impressed in practices for the MPC Computers Bowl.
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The 18th-ranked Cavaliers (8-3) take on Fresno State (8-3) tomorrow afternoon at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. If he remains healthy, Snelling is likely to start, Virginia coach Al Groh said Thursday.

"He's done real well and seems to be fully healed," Groh said.

An impact player as a true freshman in 2002, Snelling redshirted last season while dealing with an undisclosed medical condition. After getting that situation under control, he had to face more adversity when he severely sprained his ankle on the first play Oct. 7 against Clemson.

"I'm sure there's a strong element of disappointment," Groh said. "He's a football player, and a good one, and he likes to play in games."

Nonetheless, Groh said, Snelling "stayed very upbeat and did what he had to do, and he seems to be in a very good frame of mind."

Snelling has carried 21 times for 143 yards - an average of 6.8 - and one touchdown this season. He's caught three passes for 29 yards.

HO, HO, HO: Elton Brown is as jolly as ever, but the Cavaliers had a new Santa Claus at their Christmas party last night. Brian Barthelmes, a 6-6, 288-pound junior, was chosen to don the Santa suit and entertain the children of U.Va. coaches and staffers in Boise.

"It's a big task, especially getting this after Elton," Barthelmes told the Idaho Statesman newspaper Friday. "He did a great job. Hopefully I can fill Elton's shoes."

Brown played Santa - and, from all accounts, did so exceptionally well - during the team's stays in Charlotte, N.C., for the Continental Tire Bowl in 2002 and '03. Barthelmes starts at left offensive guard; Brown at right guard.

Before heading to Boise, Barthelmes and offensive tackle Davon Robb, a graduate of Hopewell High, helped the team raise more than $800 to donate to a Christmas fund in the Charlottesville area, Groh said.

EASY AS 1, 2, 3: In balloting for the all-ACC football team, the top three vote-getters were from U.Va., which tied for third in the conference. Brown totaled 196 out of a possible 200 points, junior tight end Heath Miller had 186 and senior tailback Alvin Pearman had 181.

TWO OF A KIND: U.Va. and Fresno State have more in common than 8-3 records. Each emphasizes the running game and has two excellent tailbacks. Each has benefited from a positive turnover margin and ranks among the nation's leaders in scoring defense. Neither has a high-powered passing game.

"It's intriguing the amount of things that are very similar between the two teams in how they put 8-3 seasons together," Groh said.

BLOCK PARTY: It doesn't get as much national attention for blocking kicks as the Virginia Tech Hokies do, but Fresno State excels in that phase of the game, too.

The Bulldogs have blocked five kicks, including three punts, this season. They blocked six punts in 2003, plus three extra-point or field goal attempts. Since the start of the 1997 season, Pat Hill's first as coach, Fresno State has blocked 54 kicks.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: In 1992, then-Cleveland Browns coach Bill Belichick's staff included Groh and Hill. Groh coached the Browns' linebackers, and Hill was a quality-control assistant.

"Pat's team plays like he worked that year: purposefully, diligently, aggressively," Groh said. "They play like they like football, and Pat really likes football."

Until this week, Groh and Hill hadn't spoken to each other in person since '92.

HAPPY CAMPERS: Outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock was among the Cavaliers who were ecstatic to learn this month that defensive coordinator Al Golden wasn't leaving for Notre Dame, as the Boston Globe had reported.

"That would hurt," said Blackstock, a junior who leads the ACC in sacks. "He brings a lot of energy, man, a lot of heart. Sometimes I think he's about to suit up. I don't say that a lot about a lot of coaches. It would be a big part of our family gone if we didn't have him."

SPARSE TURNOUT: Each school was allotted 3,000 tickets for tomorrow's game. Don't expect to see a lot of U.Va. fans at 30,000-seat Bronco Stadium. About half of Virginia's allotment has been donated to military families near Boise, the Idaho Statesman reported. - Jeff White

Cavaliers' Brown puts the mass in destruction
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Dec 26, 2004

Well, we're going to miss the big lug - the "we" in this case surely not to include those poor saps Elton Brown demolished during his four seasons of blowing up rival defenses for Virginia's Cavaliers.
Old

The rest of us - a discerning group that appreciates a warm smile and train wrecks - will mourn his departure for Sunday football.

To watch Elton Brown was to see legalized assault and battery at work. There's always been something chillingly fascinating about zeroing in on U.Va.'s offensive right guard and becoming an eyewitness to obliteration as Brown unplugs his 6-6, 338-pound self from a three-point stance, wheels left or right, leads a grateful runner into space and turns a linebacker or safety into scattered limbs and protoplasm.

This singular act of brute force on roller blades was repeated over and over this season - never more impressively than last Oct. 23 at Duke. That's when Brown vaporized Blue Devils linebacker DeAndre White - to categorize what Brown performed as "a block" would in no way do it justice - as U.Va. tailback Alvin Pearman waltzed into the end zone.

Pearman called Brown's effort "the most beautiful block I've ever seen." White was unavailable for comment pending repairs at Joe's Body Shop. It's a condition to which others can relate.

"I've experienced what it feels like to be hit by Elton Brown," Cavs defensive end Chris Canty said awhile back. "Sometimes I've seen him coming. Sometimes I haven't see him coming. You ever been in front of a freight train? That's what it's like. He's very aggressive. He hits people with bad intentions, very bad intentions."

He'll pancake his last opponent tomorrow as a college kid. The occasion is the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise against Fresno State, and the only shame of is that Brown deserves a grander stage before they drop the curtain. He's that good. The Cavs have rushed for 2,654 yards this season, and sometimes you'd swear Elton Brown paved the way for every centimeter of them. He's a first-team All-American and NFL draftee to be. He's done himself proud.

He's always been large - 9 pounds, 13½ ounces at birth in Hampton, too heavy for age-group youth leagues, a total-eclipse-of-the-defensive-line type of player when he put his mind to it. That was his problem early on - his want-to. He was walking by 8 months, always had athletic ability and good feet ("He moved so quickly when he was a baby," said his mother, Robin) - but there wasn't a mean-spirited bone in his body. Or much commitment to pulverizing his peer group.

True story. The first time Brown finally went out for football, he came home and informed his mother he'd been cut. She looked at her son and told him the coach had promised her no one would be cut. Elton confessed: The players were hitting too hard, so he'd quit. Over my uncompromising body, his mother replied.

"I said to him, 'You go back out and hit them or I'm going to hit you harder,'" Robin recalled the other day. "He went back out, and he's been there ever since."

Robin Brown-Miller is no roughneck. She has three college degrees, is working on a fourth - Elton is due to graduate next May with a B.A. in anthropology, by the way - and she's long preached schoolwork and diligence to Elton and his brother.

Mostly, she preached potential. If that meant blasting the kid lined up across from you, so be it. Now she and Brown's teammates marvel at the sweet-tempered giant who no longer is a relucant wrecking ball.

"The kids at Virginia, they call me Ma E.," Robin said. "They'll say to me, 'Ma E., we don't understand E.' It's like he transforms when he steps on the field. He takes the job seriously."

Yeah, but there's still that part of him that fancies himself a dancer. He has the agility, the deftness, the nimble feet. What he doesn't have is the calling he yearned for in his younger days - the days kids in the neighborhood teased him and called him "fat boy." Little did they know they'd soon be human blocking sleds.

"In sandlot, I still wanted to be the quarterback," Brown said. "In basketball, I still wanted to be the point guard. I guess that's where I get my athletic ability from. Sometimes I go home, and people say, 'You did this and you did that.' I didn't know people watch the offensive line."

He made them notice. That line won't be nearly as much fun to look at when he's not around.

 

For Fresno State, Playing U-Va. Is All About Exposure
By Mark Schlabach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 26, 2004; Page E01

Fresno State wasn't supposed to spend the Christmas holidays on the blue field of Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho, where the Bulldogs are preparing to play No. 18 Virginia in Monday's MPC Computers Bowl. In the minds of many Bulldogs, they -- and not No. 5 Utah -- were supposed to be the mid-major team that crashed the Bowl Championship Series for the first time.

But after a 3-0 start, including upset victories at Washington and No. 13 Kansas State, Fresno State lost its next three games in October -- at Louisiana Tech, against upstart Texas-El Paso and at Boise State. The Bulldogs (8-3) rebounded to win their last five games, scoring 50 points or more in each of the past four, becoming only the sixth Division I-A team to accomplish that feat.

"This is a chance for exposure -- or to be exposed," Fresno State Coach Pat Hill says of playing Virginia. (Thomas Ovalle -- AP)

"You lose one game, you're done if you're a non-BCS team," Fresno State Coach Pat Hill said. "College football is very unforgiving. You can rebound from one loss in most sports, but not in college football. It was really just six weeks of totally feeling negative about yourself. It was devastating."

While Utah finished undefeated and will play Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., on New Year's Day, Fresno State is still looking for its first $14.6 million payday from a BCS game. A victory over the Cavaliers (8-3), who were ranked as high as No. 6 this season, could afford the Bulldogs a jump-start in doing that next season.

"You've got to get enough people out there in the AP poll and coaches' poll that know about you so you can get a head start," Hill said. "And then you've got to win them all."

The Bulldogs certainly aren't one-year wonders. Fresno State is playing in a bowl game for the sixth consecutive season, and defeated teams from BCS conferences in the Silicon Valley Football Classic in each of the past two seasons -- Georgia Tech, 30-21, in 2002 and UCLA, 17-9, last year. Since 2001, the Bulldogs have won 36 games -- only six other Division I-A teams have won more games during that span.

"We want to make one of those undefeated runs," Hill said. "We haven't done it yet. I'm really happy for Utah. It proves it can be done. Three of the top 10 teams in the BCS [No. 9 Boise State and No. 10 Louisville are the others] are mid-majors. I like to see that."

Only twice has Fresno State finished a regular season ranked in either the AP or coaches' poll. After beating Southern California, 24-7, in the 1992 Freedom Bowl, the Bulldogs were ranked 24th in the AP top 25 and 22nd in the coaches' poll. In 1985, Fresno State finished 11-0-1 and was ranked No. 16 in the coaches' top 20.

Fresno State quarterback Paul Pinegar said a chance at playing a nationally ranked program such as Virginia eased the Bulldogs' anxiety about playing in Boise for the second time this season. Fresno State lost to Boise State, 33-16, on Oct. 23.

"When they said Virginia, number 18, that was the bowl I wanted to go to," Pinegar said. "You come to Fresno State to play the big guns, and Virginia was the best team that was available. As soon as they signed with Boise, that is where I wanted to go."

For a program that has a postseason history dating from the 1947 Little All-American Bowl to, most recently, four consecutive trips to the Silicon Valley Football Classic in San Jose, the Bulldogs are just happy to be playing anywhere.

"We want to play in big games against the best teams and we've played a lot of them," Hill said. "We want to play in as many big games as we can. We're going through growing pains. This is a chance for exposure -- or to be exposed."