When Pat Hill was introduced as the new football head coach at Fresno State in 1997, he promised to build a successful football program. Most people laughed at him.

After dropping No. 14 Kansas State from the polls Saturday in a 45-21 win, Hill and No. 19 Fresno State are the ones laughing. While the Bulldogs surprised many people, they didn’t surprise themselves.

‘We felt we had a special football team,’ Hill said. ‘I expected a 2-0 start. We felt we had the kind of team that could win. We’re all-in every week, and we just have to keep playing that way.’

Coming from the small Western Athletic Conference presents many obstacles for a Fresno State team with national aspirations. It is forced to play more away games, wasting practice time to travel across the country.

It is the task placed in front of FSU, and Hill thinks his players are ready for the adversity.

In preparation for the Kansas State game, the Fresno coaching staff woke the players up at 5 a.m. during the week to acclimate them to the time difference between California and Kansas. On Saturday, FSU’s plane did not arrive in Manhattan, Kan., until 3 a.m., only a few hours before the team had to be at the stadium. But despite being sleep-deprived, the Bulldogs blocked out all the distractions.

‘I feel very good about the mind-set of this team,’ Hill said. ‘I do not think that there will be any letdown. We need to be that way.’

Fresno State has much of the nation believing it, too. Although it lacks much football tradition, FSU is grabbing the same attention that perennial winners do.

‘They’ve played a lot of big games,’ Washington head coach Keith Gilbertson said. ‘Everywhere I look, I see a real quality football team. Pat’s come in and just taken off with that program. I’m not sure where (the media get) this mid-major stuff. These guys can play. They have good players. They have a very good coaching staff. They’re solid.’

Confidence is so high at Fresno State that instead of scheduling easy teams that might allow it to go undefeated, it will lure tougher teams that are looking for a supposedly easy opponent.

‘Our deal is to play anybody we can that is an upper-echelon program, understanding that you’re all in and, if you lose, you’re out of the race,’ Hill said. ‘If you win, you’re still in there and you have quality wins on the road.’

This was the case Saturday. While Kansas State spent most of the game trying to figure out Fresno State, the Bulldogs showed why they should be considered a Top 25 program.

‘We were embarrassed by a very, very good team,’ Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder said. ‘We got outcoached. Pat Hill has done a tremendous job. They have very talented young players.’

And while Hill is not shy about the success that he’s seen, he also knows that it can end in an instant.

In 2001, quarterback David Carr, now with the Houston Texans, led the Bulldogs to an undefeated start and a No. 8 national ranking. With half the season remaining, FSU was a serious contender for a Bowl Championship Series game but promptly lost two weeks in a row and finished 11-3.

‘We’ve got to keep our feet moving, but I think they’re very talented,’ Hill said. ‘We tried to build a football team here that plays Big XII, SEC-type football, where you can run the football, play good defense, keep your offense on a short field. I think this team has a lot of great potential if they keep their heads on right.’

While many teams from smaller conferences have taken a run at a BCS berth, Hill feels that the time has come for one team to actually make it in. And, if Hill has his way, all the people who laughed at him in 1997 will see him holding up a BCS trophy in January.

‘We haven’t had a football team push the envelope yet, and that’s got to happen,’ Hill said. ‘One of (our) ultimate goals is a BCS game. We’ve made that very clear since 2001. Sometimes it’s the less traveled path that has the greatest reward for you.’

Receiver in critical condition

Tennessee Tech receiver Drew Hixon was just doing his job.

In the second quarter of Saturday’s game between TTU and South Florida, Hixon ran a route across the middle of the field. As he caught the ball, he was immediately greeted by a USF defender. The two collided helmet-to-helmet, and the hit left Hixon unconscious on the field.

Once at the hospital, doctors at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa gave him drugs to induce a coma. Test results showed injury to the brain.

Hixon, who remains in the intensive care unit at St. Joseph’s, is still unconscious and is listed in critical condition.

Vick eludes jail time

While Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was dodging defenders this weekend in the National Football League, the only thing his brother, Marcus, a quarterback at Virginia Tech, dodged was an extended stay in prison.

Vick, a sophomore, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges Monday. He received a suspended 30-day jail sentence and was ordered to do 24 hours of community service and pay a $100 fine.

The charges were brought against Vick after he allegedly drank alcohol with underage girls at his Blacksburg, Va., apartment. The judge has barred Vick from any future contact with the girls.

Virginia Tech has already suspended Vick for this semester because of the misdemeanor charges and a separate incident this summer for which he was charged with reckless driving and possession of marijuana.

Published on September 15, 2004 at 12:00 pm