2008 Fresno State Bulldogs football team

The 2008 Fresno State football team (variously "Fresno State" or "the 'Dogs") represent California State University, Fresno

California State University, Fresno

California State University, Fresno, often referred to as Fresno State University and synonymously known in athletics as Fresno State , is one of the leading campuses of the California State University system, located at the northeast edge of Fresno, California, USA.The campus sits at the foot of...

and the Central Valley in the 2008

2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season

The 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season, or the college football season, began on August 28, 2008, progressing through the regular season and bowl season, and concluded with the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game in Miami Gardens, Florida on January 8, 2009, where the #2...

college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

season. The team is coached by 12th-year head coach Pat Hill

Pat Hill

Pat Hill is a college football coach. He is currently the head coach at Fresno State.-Early positions:Pat Hill attended Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead, California, graduating in 1970...

, who has a contract lasting though the 2010 season. This season is the Bulldogs' 28th in their current home of Bulldog Stadium

Bulldog Stadium

Bulldog Stadium at Jim Sweeney Field is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of California State University, Fresno in Fresno, California. It is the home field of the Fresno State Bulldogs of the Western Athletic Conference. The stadium opened in 1980 with a capacity of 30,000 and has a...

in Fresno, California

Fresno, California

Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...

Pre-Season

The Bulldogs have enjoyed success as one of the most highly regarded Mid-Major

Mid-major

Mid-major is a term used in American Division I college sports, to refer to athletic conferences that are not among the major six conferences...

schools in the country in the past decade. The 2007 team

2007 Fresno State Bulldogs football team

The 2007 Fresno State football team represent California State University, Fresno in the 2007 college football season. This season will be the Bulldogs' 27th in their current home of Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California, and their 11th with Pat Hill as head coach.-Pre-Season:At the end of the 2006...

finished with 9 wins, 4 losses, including a victory in the 2007 Humanitarian Bowl

2007 Humanitarian Bowl

The 2007 Roady's Humanitarian Bowl, part of the 2007-08 NCAA football bowl games season, was played on December 31, 2007 at Bronco Stadium on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho....

. The annual spring game for the 2008 season took place on April 18, and the Bulldogs concluded spring drills on April 21.

Going into the summer, the Bulldogs already begun to draw attention to their team in the post-spring preseason polls released by sports pundits, drawn to the large number of returning starters, along with the impressive finish, beating Georgia Tech in the Humanitarian Bowl to finish the season with a record of 9-4. Athlon

Athlon

Athlon is the brand name applied to a series of x86-compatible microprocessors designed and manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices . The original Athlon was the first seventh-generation x86 processor and, in a first, retained the initial performance lead it had over Intel's competing processors...

has released their preseason 25 poll with the Bulldogs listed ranked #25; Dennis Dodd of CBS Sportsline has ranked the team at #24; and Mark Schalabach of ESPN placed the Bulldogs in the #21 spot.

Coaches

At the end of the 2007 season

2007 Fresno State Bulldogs football team

, former offensive coordinator Jim McElwain

Jim McElwain

Jim McElwain is an American football coach. He currently serves as offensive coordinator of the Alabama Crimson Tide. McElwain was hired on January 30, 2008, to succeed Major Applewhite.-Early life:...

resigned to accept the coaching position of offensive coordinator at Alabama

Alabama Crimson Tide football

, replacing former Texas Longhorn Major Applewhite. On February 28, 2008, Fresno State announced the hire of Doug Nussmeier

Doug Nussmeier

Douglas Keith "Doug" Nussmeier is a college football coach, currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Washington under head coach Steve Sarkisian....

as the Offensive Coordinator at Fresno State.

Schedule

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

First ever meeting

Wisconsin Badgers

1-1 all time. Last meeting 2002 (21-23 in Madison)

Toledo Rockets

1-0 all time. Last meeting 2005 (44-14 in Fresno)

UCLA Bruins

1-6 all time. Last meeting 2003 (17-9 in San Jose in the Silicon Valley Bowl)

A Derrick Coleman fumble in the redzone in the fourth quarter took away the Bruins' hope of keeping the Bulldogs from winning a game in the Rose Bowl stadium. Fresno State won its first game there by five points, taking control of the final 8 minutes and 55 seconds and not allowing a UCLA comeback.

Hawaii Warriors

20-19-1 all time, 7-9 as WAC members. Last year 30-37 in Honolulu

Idaho Vandals

6-4 all time, 3-0 as WAC members. Last year 37-24 in Moscow

Utah State Aggies

12-10-1 all time, 2-1 as WAC members. Last year 38-27 in Fresno

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

7-2 all time, 5-2 as WAC members. Last year 17-6 in Fresno

Nevada Wolf Pack

24-14-1 all time, 7-1 as WAC members. Last year 49-41 in Reno

New Mexico State Aggies

14-0 all time, 3-0 as WAC members. Last year 30-23 in Las Cruces

San Jose State Spartans

36-33-3 all time, 12-1 as WAC members. Last year 30-0 in Fresno

Boise State Broncos

4-6 all time, 1-6 as WAC members. Last year 21-34 in Fresno

Players

EWLINE

FS Defensive back In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...
Marvin Haynes
Jake Jorde

WLB Linebacker A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...	MLB Linebacker A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...	SLB Linebacker A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
Qaadir Brown	Ben Jacobs	Nico Herron
Ricky Pemasa	Nico Herron	Nick Bates

SS Defensive back In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...
Mosses Harris
Lorne Bell

CB Cornerback A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...
Damion Owens
Will Harding

DE Defensive end Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...	DT	DT	DE Defensive end Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...
Wilson Ramos, Jr	Cornell Banks	Jon Monga	Ikenna Ike
Chris Carter	Bryce Harris	Mark Roberts	Chris Lewis

CB Cornerback A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...
A.J. Jefferson
Sharrod Davis

WR Wide receiver A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
Chastin West
Jason Crawley

LT	LG Guard (American football) In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....	C Center (American football) Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...	RG Guard (American football) In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....	RT
Bobby Lepori	Cole Popovich	Joe Bernardi	Andrew Jackson	Kenny Avon
Kenny Wiggins	Pierce Masse	Richard Pacheco	Adam McDowell	Devan Cunningham

TE Tight end The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
Bear Pascoe
Isaac Kitner

WR Wide receiver A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
Marlon Moore
Seyi Ajirotutu

QB Quarterback Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Tom Brandstater Tom Brandstater Thomas "Tom" Brandstater is an unrestricted free agent American football quarterback in the National Football League. He played college football for the Fresno State Bulldogs...
Ryan Colburn

FB Fullback (American football) A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
Anthony Harding
Reynard Camp

RB Running back A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
Ryan Mathews
Lonyae Miller

Second Team All WAC

Bear Pascoe- Sr. TE- 2007 1st team

Chris Carter- So. LB

Ben Jacobs-So. LB

Moses Harris- Jr. DB

Coaching staff

Pat Hill
Pat Hill
Pat Hill is a college football coach. He is currently the head coach at Fresno State.-Early positions:Pat Hill attended Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead, California, graduating in 1970...

- Head Coach
Doug Nussmeier
Doug Nussmeier
Douglas Keith "Doug" Nussmeier is a college football coach, currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Washington under head coach Steve Sarkisian....

- Offensive Coordinator
Dan Brown - Defensive Coordinator
Jeff Grady - Tight Ends
John Baxter - Special Teams/Wide Receivers
Will Plemons- Linebackers
Kerry Locklin
Kerry Locklin
Kerry Barth Locklin is an American football coach, most recently the defensive line coach for the New York Jets in the National Football League....

- Defensive Line
Tim Skipper - Running Backs
Randy Stewart – Secondary
Derek Frazier – Offensive Line
Mike Kelly - Graduate Assistant
Mike Schepers Graduate Assistant

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