The Other Dog Pound

The Other Dog Pound

The fans of the Cleveland Browns are some of the best fans in all of the NFL.  They stay loyal to their team even after many tough seasons.  The energy and the rowdy nature of the crowd has earned their stadium the title of "The Dog Pound."  With respect to that name, I believe there a collegiate team whose fans have earned their stadium the same title: the Fresno State Bulldogs.

Fresno State is a little known team that recently joined the Mountain West Conference, coming from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), which was disbanded due to conference realignment. Fresno State has produced some NFL caliber quarterbacks, most notably David Carr who played for the Houston Texans. The school has been blessed with having another member of the Carr family at quarterback, younger brother Derek. In the last 3 years, Derek has broke school records set by David. With Derek Carr at quarterback and a trio of receivers with potential NFL careers, Fresno State was set to make history this year.

The season started out in electric fashion in their first game at home against Rutgers.  Carr completed 4 touchdown passes in regulation and Rutgers missed a last-second 43 yard field goal to force overtime with both teams tied at 45.  On the first play of Fresno State's overtime possession, Derek threw a 25 yard TD pass to put the Bulldogs up by 7,with the extra point.  It was now up to the Bulldog defense to come up with a stop.  (The game wasn't over because in college football overtime rules, each team gets a chance to score starting from their opponents 25 yard line)  Rutgers scored a touchdown (score is 52-51) but instead of kicking an extra point elected to go for 2 to try and win it.  Rutgers quarterback Gary Nova dropped back and fired a pass to Brandon Coleman, but the ball bounced off his fingerprints.  The stadium echoes with the sound of thousands of shouts of joy. The Bulldogs escaped with a victory.  But an even tougher challenge against rival Boise State loomed on the horizon.

The Fresno State Bulldogs hadn't beaten the Boise State Broncos since 2005, suffering losses in 7 straights games against them.  However, in front of a packed home stadium and Friday night ESPN viewers, the Bulldogs' mouths watered for a victory.  Flash to late in the 4th quarter, Fresno State has the ball but is down 34-40 with just over 7 minutes remaining.  The Bulldogs need to score a touchdown on this drive and then somehow hold a resurgent Broncos offense to no points.  But Derek Carr is calm and collected as he leads his offense down the field, completing 8 passes and setting a 1 yd. touchdown scamper by running back Josh Quezada.  The scoreboard reads 41-40 Fresno with just over 2 minutes to play.  The fans holds their breath, hoping and praying for a victory.  Boise State completed 2 passes and got a first down.  However, on the next 3 plays, the Broncos only managed to gain 4 yards, setting up a last chance 4th and 6 opportunity. Boise State quarterback Joe Southwick threw the ball toward his reliable tight end Kirby Moore.  The pass looked like it would be completed for a first down.  But at the last moment senior defensive back Jonathan Norton rushed in and knocks the ball away from Moore, right in front of the Fresno State sideline.  As the ball hit the ground incomplete, the sideline and the entire stadium exploded with excitement, shaking the camera. The air is filled with happy screams and shouts.  A long deserved victory was achieved at last.

(above: Bulldogs hoist the "Milk Can" trophy which goes to the winner 

of the yearly contest.  Why a milk can?  Local dairy producers sponsor

each team)

Fresno State chewed and bit their way to victories through most of their Mountain West Conference schedule.  However, they did suffer a disappointing loss to San Jose State, a game in which the porous Bulldogs defense gave up 62 points and over 700 yards of total offense.  Fortunately, Fresno State had a opportunity to bounce back in the inaugural Mountain West Championship Game.  Why didn't the Mountain West Conference have a championship game sooner?  The answer is that in order to have a conference championship game a conference needs to have at least 12 teams which can be divided into 2 divisions of 6 teams each.  The Mountain West Conference was able to incorporate the remains of the Western American Conference (WAC) into their conference, bringing the total teams to 12.  Their mostly flawless conference record meant the Bulldogs would have home field advantage.  They managed to beat Utah State 24-17, a game in which the crowd noise was a major factor.  It was then a sign in the crowd caught the camera crew's eyes and was shown during the game.  It read "The Dog Pound."