Well, Fresno State decided to take it to another level of disappointment in yesterdays double-overtime New Mexico Bowl loss to Wyoming. We all know for sure now that the Bulldogs' defense is one of the nation's worst -- and that's just plain hard to argue. And it basically cancels out the Bulldogs' ownership of one of the nation's finest offenses. Sad.
Now only if we could get Pat Hill to talk openly with the fans about it... If he'd just come out and admit the defense has been bad and needs a ton of work, and take some steps to address that problem, it would go a long way in making his critics feel better.
That said, give Wyoming credit. The Cowboys might be a below average team, and one that would have battled Utah State and Hawaii for sixth in the WAC, but they made key play after key play after key play.
--Wyoming forced a Ryan Mathews fumble -- and Ryan Mathews doesn't fumble. (It's happened just three times in his career, one of which was a bad call by the refs earlier this season at New Mexico State when replays proved it wasn't really a fumble.)
--Wyoming made a defensive stand on first and goal from the 1-yard line, stuffing Mathews three times and Colburn once. Tapa Tamopeau blew a blocking assingment on fourth down leading to the debacle.
--True freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels led clock-burning drives and converted third downs all day. (Fresno State's defense makes even the worst offenses look prolific.)
So there you go Wyoming Cowboys -- credit where it's due. You deserved to win because you were more clutch. But it doesn't make the loss any less embarrassing for this Fresno State program.
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Now only if we could get Pat Hill to talk openly with the fans about it... If he'd just come out and admit the defense has been bad and needs a ton of work, and take some steps to address that problem, it would go a long way in making his critics feel better.
That said, give Wyoming credit. The Cowboys might be a below average team, and one that would have battled Utah State and Hawaii for sixth in the WAC, but they made key play after key play after key play.
--Wyoming forced a Ryan Mathews fumble -- and Ryan Mathews doesn't fumble. (It's happened just three times in his career, one of which was a bad call by the refs earlier this season at New Mexico State when replays proved it wasn't really a fumble.)
--Wyoming made a defensive stand on first and goal from the 1-yard line, stuffing Mathews three times and Colburn once. Tapa Tamopeau blew a blocking assingment on fourth down leading to the debacle.
--True freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels led clock-burning drives and converted third downs all day. (Fresno State's defense makes even the worst offenses look prolific.)
So there you go Wyoming Cowboys -- credit where it's due. You deserved to win because you were more clutch. But it doesn't make the loss any less embarrassing for this Fresno State program.
