Aug. 13, 2009

FRESNO, Calif. - In tough economic times, it's nice when rival schools can work together to help meet budget challenges.

That's the case as Hawaii officials agreed to a request by Fresno State to move the Oct. 10 football game at Aloha Stadium to 5:05 p.m. HT (8 p.m. PT).

In doing so, that will allow the Fresno State football team to catch a late night flight from Honolulu to return to California after the game instead of spending the night in a hotel, which will be a considerable savings to the Fresno State budget. Had the game not been changed, the Bulldog team would not have had enough time to catch the last flights from Honolulu the night of the game and had originally planned to spend Saturday night in Honolulu and fly home early Sunday morning.

"We are grateful to Jim Donavan and Coach McMackin for working with us," said head coach Pat Hill. "As everyone knows, the Hawaii trip is always tough and when we have to stay overnight after the game, it not only costs more but it make for a long travel day on Sunday and we don't get back to Fresno until Sunday night. All in all, this is a great situation for us not only from a budget standpoint but also to help the guys get some rest on Sunday and be fresh and ready for classes on Monday morning."

The team will be departing on two different flights between 10:30-11 p.m., which brings them home Sunday at around noon.

Hawaii has agreed to make that accommodation to several other schools after Fresno State made the initial request. The original start times were 6:05 p.m. HT.

"Initially, Fresno State expressed interest in moving the start time so they could catch the red-eye flight back to the West Coast," Hawaii Athletics Director Jim Donovan said. "After consulting with our facilities staff and Scott Chan at Aloha Stadium, we agreed to accommodate them and offer that same time slot to our other three WAC home opponents. Our intention is to revert back to the 6:05 p.m. kickoff when everyone's budget gets better in the next year or two. However, if we receive positive feedback from this switch, we may consider keeping the 5:05 p.m. kickoff in the future."

PRACTICE UPDATE
The Dogs held two practices on Thursday, a morning session and an evening practice. In both practice sessions, Fresno State's emphasis was on what Coach Pat Hill calls the "compete zone", which for the offense is inside the opponents' 25-yard line.

Last year, Fresno State's offense ranked No. 17 in the nation in Red Zone Efficiency (which the NCAA calculates from the 20-yard line). The Dogs converted on 40 of 45 drives in the Red Zone for 89 percent, with 17 rushing touchdowns, 13 passing touchdowns and 10 field goals.

Fans are welcome to attend practice sessions through the August 15 scrimmage in Bulldog Stadium. After that date, all practice sessions will be closed. Fans are asked to remain on the hillside that surrounds the practice facility and no video cameras, including cell phones with video capacity, are permitted. Fresno State asks that fans not post video practice highlights on the internet, as it could help opponents prepare when they play the Bulldogs.

FRESNO STATE FACT: Fresno State will have played 21 BCS road games by the end this decade (including three in 2009). Of the previous 18 games, the opponent was ranked in Top 25 14 times. That list includes two teams - Oklahoma and USC - that were ranked No. 1 in the nation when the Dogs played them. Fresno State also played at No. 5 LSU, and against others ranked in the Top 25, like Oregon (three times), Ohio State, Wisconsin (twice), Colorado, Tennessee, Kansas State, UCLA and Texas A&M. No other school in the nation has played such a treacherous collection of non-conference foes on the road.

"We Are Your Team" - The `Dogs will be starting their 2009 Football season off right with Football Fiesta Night on Saturday, September 5th at 7pm when the UC Davis Aggies come to town. Football Fiesta Family Pack tickets are available now. To inquire about the Football Fiesta Family Pack, contact the Bulldog Ticket Office at 559-278-DOGS.