WAC versus Pac
It’s WAC vs. Pac this week. Five Western Athletic Conference football teams take on Pac-10 counterparts, including Idaho’s eight-mile road trip to Washington State.
“It’s always been a great rival to a point, but Idaho obviously hasn’t been very successful against Washington State over the years,” Vandals coach Dennis Erickson said. “It’s an exciting time on the Palouse with this game. The students get excited and the excitement is going to be fun for all of us.”
Oregon State and Boise State renew their regional rivalry Thursday at Bronco Stadium. On Saturday, Oregon visits Fresno State, San Jose State entertains Stanford and Nevada is at Arizona State.
Boise State and Oregon State have staged entertaining games the last three seasons with the home team winning all three. The Beavers pulled off wins of 26-24 and 30-27 in Corvallis. BSU routed Oregon State 63-34 in 2004.
Both opened with easy wins over Big Sky opponents. Boise State blanked Sacramento State 45-0. Oregon State thumped Eastern Washington 56-17.
“This is a whole different animal coming to town (than Sacramento State),” Broncos coach Chris Petersen said. “I think they’ve upgraded their talent. We have a lot of history with them the last three years.”
BSU is celebrating its 20th season of playing on the blue turf Saturday because it falls on the date closest to its first ‘blue’ game (Sept. 13, 1986). The Idaho Statesman newspaper in Boise compiled a list of 20 memorable moments on the blue. Four games involved Idaho, including the 1998 Humanitarian Bowl and UI’s 36-35 overtime win against BSU earlier that season.
Fresno State has done everything but beat Oregon in the last decade. The Bulldogs take another shot Saturday with a rare home game against a BCS opponent. The Ducks have won by 3, 3, 4 and 3 points in four meetings.
“The bottom line is every time we’ve left Oregon we’ve got an ‘L’ next to our name,” said Fresno State coach Pat Hill, who is 0-3 against the Ducks. “They’ve all been great games.”
This is Fresno State’s 30th game against a BCS foe in Hill’s 10 years, but just the fourth to be played at Bulldog Stadium.
Wright answer
Running back Dwayne Wright had been out for nearly two years with a knee injury, but he quickly made up for lost time in Fresno State’s opener. Wright rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs past Nevada.
Wright’s highlights included a 40-yard TD run and conversions on two fourth-and-1s.
“It’s been two years and people might have forgot,” Wright told the Fresno Bee, “but this is how I play.”
Wright rushed for 1,038 yards in 2003 and had picked up nearly 200 yards two games into the 2004 season when he suffered a severe knee injury. He redshirted last season.
“I think all the questions about his knee being healthy are gone,” Hill said.
Notes
Louisiana Tech (0-1) and Hawaii (0-1) have byes this week. … When Utah State visits Arkansas on Saturday, it’ll be a reunion of sorts for Aggies head coach Brent Guy and Razorbacks counterpart Houston Nutt. The two were teammates at Oklahoma State in the late 1970s and assistants at OSU in the late 1980s. … Three Boise State reserves – tight end Julian Hawkins, linebacker Garrett Tuggle and defensive back Kyle Wilson – have been suspended for undisclosed violations of team rules. Hawkins and Tuggle will miss one game. Wilson is out for three. … San Jose State was one of several WAC schools to push a BCS opponent before falling. The Spartans lost to Washington 35-29. Said Spartans coach Dick Tomey: “When I look at the tape we left some plays out there defensively, offensively and in the kicking game. I think we had an opportunity that we missed.”