2008 Fresno State Bulldogs football team

The 2008 Fresno State football team (variously "Fresno State" or "the 'Dogs") represented California State University, Fresno in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by 12th-year head coach Pat Hill, who had a contract lasting through the 2010 season.^[1] This season was the Bulldogs' 28th in their current home of Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California.

2008 Fresno State Bulldogs football
New Mexico Bowl, L 35–40 vs. Colorado State
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Record	7–6 (4–4 WAC)
Head coach	Pat Hill (12th season)
Offensive coordinator	Doug Nussmeier (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Dan Brown (8th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Bulldog Stadium (Capacity: 41,031)
Seasons ← 2007 2009 →

2008 Western Athletic Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 11 Boise State $		8	–	0					12	–	1
Louisiana Tech		5	–	3					8	–	5
Nevada		5	–	3					7	–	6
Hawaii		5	–	3					7	–	7
Fresno State		4	–	4					7	–	6
San Jose State		4	–	4					6	–	6
Utah State		3	–	5					3	–	9
New Mexico State		1	–	7					3	–	9
Idaho		1	–	7					2	–	10
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Preseason

The Bulldogs has enjoyed success as one of the most highly regarded BCS non-AQ conference schools in the country in the previous decade. The 2007 team finished with 9 wins, 4 losses, including a victory in the 2007 Humanitarian Bowl. 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 began 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 the Georgia Tech in the 2007 Humanitarian Bowl to finish the season with a record of 9-4. Athlon has released their preseason 25 poll with the Bulldogs listed ranked #25;^[2] Dennis Dodd of CBS Sportsline has ranked the team at #24;^[3] and Mark Schlabach of ESPN placed the Bulldogs in the #21 spot.^[4]

At the end of the 2007 season, former offensive coordinator Jim McElwain resigned to accept the coaching position of offensive coordinator at Alabama, replacing former Texas Longhorn Major Applewhite. On February 28, 2008, Fresno State announced the hire of Doug Nussmeier as the Offensive Coordinator at Fresno State.^[5]

Personnel

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Seasons at Fresno State	Alma Mater
Pat Hill	Head coach	12th as HC; 18th overall	UC Riverside (1973)
Doug Nussmeier	Offensive coordinator	1st	Idaho (1994)
Dan Brown	Defensive coordinator	11th
Jeff Grady	Tight Ends	2nd
John Baxter	Special Teams/Wide Receivers/Assistant Head Coach	12th	Loras College
Will Plemons	Linebackers	1st
Kerry Locklin	Defensive line	9th	New Mexico State (1982)
Tim Skipper	Running backs	3rd	Fresno State (2001)
Randy Stewart	Secondary	2nd
Derek Frazier	Offensive line	2nd
Mike Kelly	Graduate Assistant	1st
Mike Schepers	Graduate Assistant	1st

Roster

Depth chart

Defensive starters FS Marvin Haynes Jake Jorde WLB MLB SLB Qaadir Brown Ben Jacobs Nico Herron Ricky Pemasa Nico Herron Nick Bates SS Mosses Harris Lorne Bell CB Damion Owens Will Harding DE DT DT DE Wilson Ramos, Jr Cornell Banks Jon Monga Ikenna Ike Chris Carter Bryce Harris Mark Roberts Chris Lewis CB A.J. Jefferson Sharrod Davis

Offensive starters WR Chastin West Jason Crawley LT LG C RG RT Bobby Lepori Cole Popovich Joe Bernardi Andrew Jackson Kenny Avon Kenny Wiggins Pierce Masse Richard Pacheco Adam McDowell Devan Cunningham TE Bear Pascoe Isaac Kitner WR Marlon Moore Seyi Ajirotutu QB Tom Brandstater Ryan Colburn FB Anthony Harding Reynard Camp RB Ryan Mathews Lonyae Miller

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	1:30 pm	at Rutgers*		Rutgers Stadium Piscataway, NJ	ESPN	W 24–7	42,508
September 13	7:30 p.m.	No. 10 Wisconsin*	No. 21	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA	ESPN2	L 10–13	42,387
September 20	5:15 pm	at Toledo*	No. 25	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	ESPNU	W 55–54 2OT	20,096
September 27	12:30 pm	at UCLA*	No. 22	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	ABC	W 36–31	73,963
October 4	7:00 pm	Hawaii	No. 22	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA (rivalry)		L 29–32 OT	40,572
October 11	7:00 pm	Idaho		Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA		W 45–32	37,015
October 25	12:00 pm	at Utah State		Romney Stadium Logan, UT		W 30–28	14,071
November 1	11:30 am	at Louisiana Tech		Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA		L 35–38	20,300
November 7	6:00 pm	Nevada		Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA	ESPN2	L 28–41	33,207
November 15	2:00 pm	New Mexico State		Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA		W 24–17	36,137
November 21	6:30 pm	at San Jose State		Spartan Stadium San José, CA (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 24–10	24,384
November 28	3:00 pm	at No. 9 Boise State		Bronco Stadium Boise, ID (rivalry)	ESPN2	L 10–61	32,412
December 20	11:30 am	vs. Colorado State		University Stadium Albuquerque, NM (New Mexico Bowl)	ESPN	L 35–40	24,735
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Game summaries

At Rutgers

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 25 Bulldogs	0	0	10	14	24
Scarlet Knights	0	0	0	7	7

See also: 2008 Rutgers Scarlet Knights football team

No. 10 Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Badgers	7	3	3	0	13
No. 21 Bulldogs	0	0	10	0	10

See also: 2008 Wisconsin Badgers football team

At Toledo

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Bulldogs	14	3	17	7	7	7	55
Rockets	7	14	3	17	7	6	54

See also: 2008 Toledo Rockets football team

At UCLA

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 24 Bulldogs	7	13	16	0	36
Bruins	7	12	5	7	31

See also: 2008 UCLA Bruins football team

1-6 all time. Last meeting in 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

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Warriors	9	10	10	0	3	32
No. 22 Bulldogs	3	6	13	7	0	29

See also: 2008 Hawaii Warriors football team and Fresno State–Hawaii football rivalry

Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vandals	3	7	7	15	32
Bulldogs	7	14	14	10	45

See also: 2008 Idaho Vandals football team

At Utah State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	7	7	9	30
Aggies	7	6	0	15	28

See also: 2008 Utah State Aggies football team

At Louisiana Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fresno State Bulldogs	7	14	7	7	35
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs	7	7	10	14	38

See also: 2008 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team

Nevada

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wolf Pack	7	10	14	10	41
Bulldogs	7	0	14	7	28

See also: 2008 Nevada Wolf Pack football team

New Mexico State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	10	7	0	0	17
Bulldogs	3	14	0	7	24

See also: 2008 New Mexico State Aggies football team

At San Jose State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	3	0	7	14	24
Spartans	7	3	0	0	10

See also: 2008 San Jose State Spartans football team and Fresno State–San Jose State football rivalry

At No. 9 Boise State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	3	0	0	10
No. 9 Broncos	7	6	28	20	61

See also: 2008 Boise State Broncos football team and Milk Can (college football)

vs. Colorado State (New Mexico Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rams	10	10	0	20	40
Bulldogs	14	7	7	7	35

See also: 2008 Colorado State Rams football team and 2008 New Mexico Bowl

2008 New Mexico Bowl
Bowl game
Colorado State Rams Fresno State Bulldogs (6–6) (7–5) 40 35 Head coach:  Steve Fairchild Head coach:  Pat Hill
1 2 3 4 Total Colorado State 10 10 0 20 40 Fresno State 14 7 7 7 35
Date	December 20, 2008
Season	2008
Stadium	University Stadium
Location	Albuquerque, New Mexico
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Rod Gilmore, Joe Tessitore

Awards

First Team All WAC

Bobby Lepori- Sr. OL

Second Team All WAC

Bear Pascoe- Sr. TE- 2007 1st team

Chris Carter- So. LB

Ben Jacobs-So. LB

Moses Harris- Jr. DB