Bulldoggin' It: Fresno State's Lack of Leadership Will Be Their Downfall

Before you Fresno State or WAC fans start coming down on me for being a hater, realize that I grew up in Fresno and remain a huge Bulldog fan. My grandfather was a rabid Fresno State supporter in just about every sport and I inherited the Bulldog blood from him.

That being said, I'm going to be real when it comes to this Fresno State team. If I had to sum up the last few years with one word it very well might be 'lackluster' or even 'underachiever.'

Oddly enough, that's the reason for this article, to talk about Fresno State and their continuing underachieving ways.

Fresno State has seen great players like Trent Dilfer, Lorenzo Neal, Ron Rivers, Ron Cox, Bernard Berrian, Dwayne Wright, David Dunn, David Carr, Ryan Mathews and Michael Pittman among a host of others.

Both Dilfer and Carr made a name for themselves at Fresno State by winning games they shouldn't be winning.

Dilfer's claim to fame was his leadership of a Jim Sweeney coached team that upset USC 24-7 in the 1992 Freedom Bowl. A game that was played in 'SC's backyard of Anaheim, CA and the sad part was, the stadium was filled with 75% Bulldog fans.

As for David Carr, he led the Bulldogs to their first ever top ten ranking and pulled off upsets of Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium, against the eventual Big XII champion Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder and then a 44-24 rout of Oregon State who was a pre-season number one pick of Sports Illustrated.

Since David Carr, the Bulldogs have had Paul Pinegar, Tom Brandstater and now Ryan Colburn, none of which finished the season better than a 9-3 finish in 2004, Paul Pinegar's final season with the Bulldogs.

What Pinegar has above Brandstater, Colburn and even David Carr is an unbeaten bowl record, going 3-0 in bowl games as the starter.

Since Pinegar's departure, the Bulldogs are a combined 36-28 and 1-3 in bowl games. Their lone win coming in a 40-28 win over Georgia Tech in the 2007 Humanitarian Bowl.

The 2010 season will begin Ryan Colburn's second season at Fresno State and unlike last spring, Pat Hill needs to make Colburn earn the job over sophomore Derek Carr. A player a lot of Bulldog fans believe is better than Colburn.

Leadership has been this team's down fall since the David Carr and Paul Pinegar eras and it continues to be the thorn in the Bulldogs' side.

Even though there's one Fresno State site that thinks I have a personal problem against Ryan Colburn, having an opinion for one player over another does not counts as having a "vendetta" against that player. If the truth angers you, don't expect an apology from me.

While I don't believe Ryan Colburn is the problem, at least not the entire problem, head coach Pat Hill deserves some of the blame as well. Whether it be not coaching Colburn enough or possibly coaching him too much, it's something that needs to be fixed and quick.

As it sits right now, the Bulldogs have three conference games against the likes of Cincinnati, Mississippi and Illinois with the game against Mississippi coming on the road.

If Fresno State hopes to come out of those three games with at least one win, they need leadership at quarterback and they need someone that's not going to give games away like they were last season.

Now that I'm done taking my shots at the offense, I'll give you Fresno State fans and that particular site time to stop crying because I'm being mean.

Ready? You may need more Kleenex, because I'm not done.

We all remember the famous saying, "Offense wins games, but defense wins championships." Well, if you're Fresno State that saying goes, "Fresno State defense: We watch as you run by."

Defensively this team was atrocious last season. The Bulldogs were fifth in the WAC defensively (411.7 ypg), seventh in rushing defense (212.4 ypg) and third in passing defense (199.3 ypg).

They've gotten worse from the 2008 season in all three of those categories. The Bulldogs are up 18.2 total yards per game from 2008, 15.1 rushing yards per game higher and 3.1 passing yards per game higher than the 2008 season.

If this trend continues, it won't matter if the Bulldog offense is putting up 30 or more points per game and almost 500 yards per game, they're not going to win games giving up numbers like they did last season.

Their three most critical conference games will come against rival Boise State and against Nevada and Idaho.

They're not beating a Boise State team that returns every starter but one and that includes quarterback Kellen Moore and running back Jeremy Avery. With Fresno State losing Ryan Mathews, don't think this game is going to be close, especially on the smurf turf.

If Fresno State can't fix their rushing defense, it won't stop Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick and running back Vai Taua from running all over them like they did in 2009 during a 52-14 blowout in Reno. No Ryan Mathews during that blowout, no Ryan Mathews in 2010. So how is this going to go any better for the Bulldogs, even at home? Answer: It's not.

The other three road games will be against Louisiana Tech, San Jose State and Utah State, teams that have scored an average of 25.3 points against the Bulldogs.

They came away with wins against all three teams with the easier one coming in a 41-21 win over San Jose State.

This season, however, don't look for Louisiana Tech and Utah State to be easy wins as the Bulldogs barely got wins against both squads last season.

They gave up 138 yards to Utah State running back Robert Turbin who could be one of the best backs in the conference this season. The Bulldogs needed a last second field goal to beat the Aggies in 2007 and needed 185 and two scores from Ryan Mathews to win in 2009. It may come down to who has the ball last again this season.

To finish this all up and put a pretty little red bow around it, if Fresno State finishes with the same record as 2009 (8-5) and a bowl win , I'll call that a successful season.

Ok, you can put your Kleenex boxes away, extinguish your torches and put the pitchforks back in the barn. This ogre has left the building.