Senior point guard Kevin Bell will travel to the Western Athletic Conference Media Day, held Oct. 10 in Salt Lake City. Last season, Bell averaged 9.6 points and led the WAC in assists per game (5.56).

I talked to women's basketball coach Adrian Wiggins at Saturday's football game... He said he will not take a player to media day. Senior guard Tierre Wilson would be the natural fit, but in anticipation of the future -- more pressing time away from the classroom during the season -- she will pass.

Bell will likely fly into SLC on the 10th and leave out the same day. Long season ahead, plenty of time to travel...

Bell is one of several Fresno State seniors forced to miss practice time because of classes.

That means Myles Green, a freshman walk-on from Southern California's Capistrano Valley High, moves to the first-team offense-defense. Such a move is usually tough on any newcomer, and Green's time with the starting unit is much the same. Some days are better than others.

His mistakes aren't always big things, but when the ball is in your hands on a fast break, every move you make increases or decreases your team's chances of scoring.

The week of abbreviated practices were highlighted by coach Steve Cleveland upset over the team's lack of shooting. Besides transfer Bryan Harvey, few players were making the types of shots Cleveland expected. The Bulldogs spent Thursday shooting, and shooting. Then shooting some more. Like 200 3-pointers for perimeter players and 100 hook shots per arm.

No Central Section Division I team has made a more convincing statement this season than Clovis West in its 31-24 loss at Centennial-Corona Friday night. Centennial -- ranked third in the state and about to move to No. 2 after St. Bonaventure lost -- required a fourth-quarter touchdown to win it against a Golden Eagles team minus star running back Matt Jelmini and four suspended players. I can't imagine any other section team -- even at full strength -- nearly beating Centennial on the road. So Jelmini returns, CW finds its stride under new coach Marty Martin and the Eagles win the section D-I title on Nov. 30. Count on it.

Bullard's Phillip Brandt is the area's most underrated quarterback. And, while running back Clifton Rogers hogs the headlines, the Knights' passing game is real with Brandt and wide receivers Brandon Williams and Evan Caldwell. They're as good as any at Edison, and the Tigers are loaded.

Imagine Clovis, which hasn't had a losing season since 1973, going winless this year? Could happen. The Cougars are 0-5 entering the TRAC. If they're going to win, it's going to have to be at home against either Madera and Buchanan Oct. 12-19.

The Fresno State football team improved to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the Western Athletic Conference with a 17-6 victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday night at Bulldog Stadium.

Fresno State defensive lineman Jon Monga made a by-the-heels sack on La Tech QB Zac Champion, forcing a 4th-and-20 with 8:17 to go.

On 3rd-and-goal from the 6, Fresno State's Clifton Smith ran left, made a nice move to his right and ran into the end zone to give Fresno State a 17-6 lead with 9:51 remaining in the game.

Fresno State started the drive at the La Tech 37-yard line after a slick punt return by Smith.

Clifton Smith returned a punt to La Tech's 37-yard line. His elusiveness harkened back to the pre-injury days of 2004, when Smith was a threat to return every punt for a score.

The third quarter ended with Fresno State leading La Tech 10-6 and ready to receive a punt.

If they're smart, they'll stay 10 yards away from the punter.

The Fresno State defense has stiffened in the second half, led by nice open-field tackles by secondary members A.J. Jefferson and Moses Harris; but for the second time tonight, Fresno State gave the ball back to La Tech on special teams. This time Seyi Ajirotutu roughed the punter.

On 3rd-and-8 from the La Tech 27, Tom Brandstater hit Jason Crawley on a 10-yard pass that Crawley turned into a touchdown after breaking a tackle.

The touchdown, with 7:43 to go in the third quarter, gave Fresno State a 10-6 lead.

Two big runs on the drive came from Clifton Smith (28 yards on a pitch left) and Ryan Mathews (15 yards).

Fresno State cornerback A.J. Jefferson went down on a passing play. No players were around him when he went down. He walked off the field without any help.

Fresno State's offense couldn't take advantage of A.J. Jefferson's 57-yard kickoff return, and Clint Stitser lined up for a 45-yard field goal attempt. But as time was running off on the play clock, Fresno State called a last-second timeout. Stitser nailed the field goal, but the timeout had been called first.

So, they had to line it up again after the time out and Stitser nailed it again, pulling Fresno State within 6-3 with 12:41 to go on the third quarter.

Fresno State kick returner A.J. Jefferson returned the ball 57 yards to the La Tech on the opening kickoff of the second half.

Jefferson made a nice spin move around the 25 to break loose and finally was forced out by the kicker.

Fresno State rushing

Lonyae Miller 11-31; Marlon Moore 1-20; Clifton Smith 1-9; Ryan Mathews 2-7

Fresno State passing

Tom Brandstater 5-15 54 yards, 1 interception

Fresno State receiving

Bear Pascoe 2-23; Marlon Moore 2-14; Darren Newborne 1-17

An uninteresting first half comes to an end with La Tech leading Fresno State 6-0.

On six first-half drives, Fresno State totaled 126 yards, including 54 passing. QB Tom Brandstater has been pressured most of the night behind a revamped offensive line and the running game hasn't found its footing.

Fresno State's defense has bent, allowing 189 yards, but has kept La Tech out of the end zone. It doesn't seem bothered by La Tech's no-huddle offense.

Here's hoping for a more interesting second half.

The Fresno State offense is in the midst of its first positive possession of the night.

QB Tom Brandstater is getting time and has connected with Bear Pascoe and Darren Newborne on nice pass plays. Clifton Smith also had a 9-yard run up the middle.

After starting at its own 1, Fresno State is at midfield.

Fresno State linebacker Marcus Riley stopped a first down and had the hit of the night when he leveled La Tech receiver Joe Anderson, who took a minute to get off the turf.

La Tech's subsequent punt buried Fresno State at its 1-yard line.

On 3rd-and-12 deep in its own territory, Tom Brandstater tried to go deep down the middle to Bear Pascoe. La Tech's Deon Young, however, made a nice interception on the overthrown pass.

Fresno State has 74 total yards in its five possessions.

Fresno State gave the ball back to La Tech when it ran into the punter, giving La Tech the ball at its 43 instead of taking over at Fresno State's 35.

Fresno State's best drive of the night was stopped at the La Tech 39 on a failed screen pass. Kyle Zimmerman was forced to punt and La Tech starts at its 9.

After a first-down pass to Bear Pascoe, Fresno State receiver Marlon Moore went down with what appears to be a leg injury. He is being helped off the field.

The Fresno State offense gained 45 total yards in the first half, nearly half of those coming on Marlon Moore's 20-yard reverse run.

La Tech, meanwhile, had 151 first-half yards.

La Tech kicker Danny Horwedel made a 37-yard field goal with 13:30 left in the second quarter to give La Tech a 6-0 lead. Previously, La Tech decided to go for it on 4th-and-3 from the Fresno State 31 and easily got the first down.

Three drives, three unimpressive outings for the Fresno State offense, which is having trouble running and passing. The revamped offensive line appears to be having trouble keeping defenders off QB Tom Brandstater and RB Lonyae Miller.

Although their tackling has been suspect, the Fresno State passing defense is living up to its No. 1 national ranking. Incompletions doomed La Tech's drive and it was forced to punt.

A Kyle Zimmerman punt to the right corner was downed at the La Tech 6.

Showing a new offensive wrinkle, Marlon Moore took a pitch from Lonyae Miller on a reverse for 20 yards into La Tech territory.

La Tech finished its 57-yard drive with a 27-yard field goal by kicker Danny Horwedel with 6:44 left in the first quarter.

La Tech's offense is having its way with Fresno State's defense on its second drive, which started at its 34. Running inside and outside with misdirection, La Tech running backs are getting positive yardage on every play.

After a quick first down, the Fresno State offense stalled after QB Tom Brandstater threw two incompletions while under pressure. On the first, he was flushed from the pocket and threw the ball away. On the second, on 3rd-and-6, Brandstater badly overthrew Marlon Moore down the middle before getting drilled.

Moses Harris made a drive-killing stop on 3rd-and-1 to force La Tech to punt on its opening drive. Fresno State starts its first drive at the 8 after a fair catch on the punt by Clifton Smith.

Damion Owens will be making his first start, replacing Damon Jenkins at cornerback.

Former Clovis West High running back Kyle Duffy will be wearing No. 29 instead of No. 20.

A.J. Jefferson and Lorne Bell will be returning kickoffs.

** Clovis West will lose by 30 tonight at Centennial-Corona, so no reason to play RB Matt Jelmini (ankle).

** Central matches up well with Bullard at every position but the big one -- quarterback, with the Knights' Phillip Brandt vs. the Grizzlies' Brian Turner.

** The bubble bursts tonight for Selma at Chowchilla.

** Join my campaign: Let's play a Bullard-Edison and Clovis West-Clovis East doubleheader somewhere on Oct. 19. As it is, they're being played at Chukchansi Park and Buchanan, respectively, that night. Bummer not to see both.

Early Bee All-Star Coach of the Year candidate list for football is impressive:

** Bullard's Donnie Arax: 4-0 with a Clovis Unified sweep following 2-8 nosedive in 2006.

** Central's Wayne Koligan: 4-0 and making 'em believe in community whose athletes aren't exactly groomed for success.

** Edison's Tim McDonald: 3-0-1 with tie of then-No. 1 Clovis West, and also state ranked.

** Sanger's Chuck Shidan: 3-1 with nine injured starters, including top two running backs -- and that counts the marvelous Justin Webber.

** Selma's Justin Fowler: 3-1 with a 34-game losing streak shoved deeper into the archives by the week.

** Roosevelt's Mike Hobbie: 3-2 against soft schedule but, hey, it's a heck of a leap from 0-10 in 2006.

** Tulare's Darren Bennett: 4-0 and inching toward Bee's top 5.

** Kingsburg's Mike Newell: 4-0 and ranked with big schools in Bee's Top 20 while operating with a sophomore quarterback.

Some thoughts through Week 4:

** No one player means more to a Central Section team than Bullard's RB/CB/kick blocker Clifton Rogers. The 4-0 Knights would be 2-2 without the Hoover transfer.

** Clovis West tied Edison 27-27 with Matt Jelmini (ankle) out for all but one play of the second half, and the Golden Eagles lost 28-25 to Bullard without him at all. Is he worth fourth points in those two games? Yes, meaning they're 4-0 with the 2006 Bee All-Star running back in good health.

** Selma (3-1) and Roosevelt (3-2), each 0-10 a year ago, have more wins than Clovis West (2-1-1).

** Two more reasons not to trust the East Yosemite League: A 3-0 Monache losing 7-6 to a 1-2 Granite Hills and a 3-0 Delano losing 20-12 to an 0-3 Golden West. But, this year, Tulare would compete well in the TRAC.

Send me your suggestions, listing conference teams in predicted order of finish (1-9). No ties.

The options are: Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Idaho, La. Tech, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State and Utah State.

The poll results will be posted Oct. 10 at WAC Basketball Media Day in Salt Lake City.

I'm especially intested in expectations at Fresno State. Despite losing the team's top two scorers (Quinton Hosley and Dominic McGuire) can the Bulldogs challenge for a conference title? Is third place in the WAC acceptable?

Former Fresno State foward Dominic McGuire will participate in the Washington Wizards' five-day training camp in early October.

McGuire was the team's second-round pick of the 2007 draft. He left Fresno State after just one season (He started college at Cal), intent on being drafted in the first round. That didn't work out, but he's still hopeful that he wil make the regular-season roster.

** Ironic but true: Clovis West quarterback Beau Sweeney would have more weapons to work with had his family lived in the Bullard district, following the footsteps of his father, Kevin. Beau has not one legitimate wide receiver and, now, 2006 Bee All-Star running back Matt Jelmini has a sprained ankle.

** Notice the discrepancy of power in Tulare-Kings Counties? In nonleague play, the East Yosemite League went 15-6 while the West Yosemite League went 4-17. Leading the EYL charge with 3-0 records are Delano, Monache, Tulare and Tulare Western.

** Roosevelt is 3-1 one year after going 0-10. That's refreshing for the Rough Riders, though it's difficult to ignore their butter soft schedule (they've beaten Cesar Chavez, Tranquillity and senior-less Frontier). Says here Division V Bakersfield Christian beats Roosevelt Friday.

Watched the Bulldogs participate in mini-basketball scrimmages today. Here's a few thoughts...

Dwight O'Neil is back, extending an arm in the passing lane, playing tough perimeter defense, leaping for a two-handed dunk. If he can continue to get in shape (he redshirted last season) he could push starter Eddie Miller for time at shooting guard. Will also earn PT at small forward, especially when Louisville transfer Bryan Harvey moves to point guard (when Kevin Bell goes to the bench).

James Tchana, as I said several weeks ago, has vastly improved. Still, it is a tough year for him to earn playing time. Alex Blair, Shawn Taylor, Hector Hernandez and Rekalin Sims are all seniors. Tchana is a junior, but will likely receive a medical redshirt for last season. Also, he still forgets that he's the biggest guy on the court... Settles for too many 5-foot jumpers instead of drawing contact at the rim.

Early plans were to redshirt true freshman Brandon Webster. That might change, based on what kind of shape he's in by late October and what the senior post players can accomplish. Right now, Webster needs to either lose, maybe, 20 pounds or keep it and turn it to muscle.

Kevin Bell... the only problem is that there's just one 'em.

Hector Hernandez seems to have left this summer's shooting woes at the FIBA Tournament in Las Vegas. He's added a drive to the basket. Coupled with his set shot and quick-baseline-dribble-and-shoot move, he could put up some points this season.

Alex Blair could spend some time on the perimeter. That's if the Bulldogs employ a big lineup. He has a nice perimeter jump shot; it's just hasn't been game-tested at Fresno State. What if Blair defends the 5 on defense, let Hec defend the 4, then on offense Hec plays against the 5 and Blair against the 4?

Wish Eddie Miller would put the ball on the floor more. He's got the most upps on the team, shoots the ball faster than you can say all-conference potential. If he could handle the rock, he could lead the Bulldogs in scoring. Right now, would it be better if he came off the bench to average double-digit points?

Bryan Harvey is the reason why this team, right now, is probably better than it was at the beginning of last season. Like Miller, he can score from the outside. But he can also handle the ball and distribute. Poise. Poise. Poise.

Fresno City's upset of San Francisco has wider implications in the big football picture.
The loss knocked San Francisco to No. 5 in Northern California behind fellow NorCal Conference members Santa Rosa (No. 1) and San Mateo (No. 4).
San Francisco has to play at Santa Rosa and at San Mateo. That means Fresno City, if it wins the Valley Conference, probably won't have to face CCSF again in the Northern California championship game.
The Rams aren't a lock, anyway. Reedley, Sierra and Sequoias in the Valley Conference present formidable obstacles. Fresno City plays at Reedley and Sequoias and hosts Sierra.
The choice here is Reedley, unless Fresno City starts making some big strides offensively. The Tigers are close to matching the Rams defensively, but have a wild card in quarterback Darius Reynolds, who coach Mike White can also use at wide receiver when Zach McRae is behind center.
No doubt about it, the Nov. 10 FCC-Reedley game at Reedley High caps the regular season with a potential game for the ages.
It could be shades of 2002 when they met at Fresno for the Valley Conference title, then a week later in Reedley for the NorCal championship. The Tigers won both, then crushed College of the Canyons 35-15 for the state titie.

Regarding Friday's 27-27 overtime tie between Clovis West and Edison when the game was called because the lights went out at Sunnyside High:

Who to blame? The Fresno Unified School District is always an easy target. Last time I was at Sunnyside, the infield sprinklers went on during an important high school track meet. Always excuses; always problems.

State impact? Entering the game, regarding state bowls, CW was No. 2 in South Division I and Edison No. 7 in South Division II. They will drop, but the Golden Eagles will still figure prominently in the running should they run the table, including a win next week at Centennial-Corona, which is No. 1 in South Division II and No. 5 in the state. Edison, conversely, faces longer odds. But they were a stretch to begin with.

Who's better? Clovis West's game is more complete than the Tigers because of the Eagles' outstanding special teams. This game never goes to overtime if not for Edison's two missed conversion kicks and a gimmie field goal.

Here's a story from Lauren Gustus of the Reno Gazette-Journal... A couple of Wolf Pack basketball players helped out with campus traffic before a recent Nevada football game in Reno.

If Fresno State fans had their way, I'm sure they'd place James Tchana on the defensive line, Shawn Taylor on special teams, another tall guy to block field goals.

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070916/SPORTS06/709160361/1053

After two tough losses against ranked teams, the 'Dogs have a bye then begin WAC play. How do you expect Fresno State to fare in the conference?

The Fresno State football team lost to Oregon 52-21 Saturday at Autzen Stadium. The Bulldogs drop to 1-2 and have a bye week next week before hosting Louisiana Tech on Sept. 29.

Some observations:

1. The Bulldogs didn't have enough speed to hang with the Ducks.

2. The Bulldogs didn't execute, suffering through penalties, turnovers, missed blocks and missed tackles.

3. The Bulldogs didn't appear to have a sense of urgency on offense after falling behind.

Freshman running back Ryan Mathews dove in from 2 yards out to pull Fresno State within 52-21 with 1:56 left in the game.

The Bulldogs played their second string on the drive: Ryan Colburn at quarterback hit Tim Lang on a quick slant and Lang turned it into a 20-plus yard gain after breaking a couple of tackles.

Oregon hit a 22-yard field goal with 6:55 left in the game to take a 52-14 lead.

Trailing 49-14, Fresno State has the ball on its own 17 early in the fourth quater.

First down: Handoff.

Second down: Handoff.

Third down: Incompletion as QB is flushed out of pocket.

Fourth down: Punt.

Andre Crenshaw scored from 2 yards out to give Oregon a 49-14 lead with 13:28 left in the game.

Oregon QB Dennis Dixon put a move on Bulldogs linebacker Todd Chisom that put the Fresno State sophomore on his butt and this Ducks offense is now moving well again.
Younger players are seeing some action for FS in this second half. Last series OLB Nick Bates and DT Wilson Ramos were seen.
It's now 42-14 at the end of 3.

Fresno State trails by four touchdowns with 7 minutes left in the third quarter.

Yet, every first-down play is a run that inevitably gains little to no yardage. Then they are forced into 2nd-and-long or 3rd-and-long situations in which Tom Brandstater has to elude a fierce Oregon pass rush.

If it wasn't for Bear Pascoe, Fresno State's sure-handed tight end, the Bulldogs wouldn't have much of an offense today.

With junior defensive end Jason Roberts out with that right leg injury, junior Ikenna Ike will likely be his replacement for the rest of the game.
Roberts brought a lot of speed to the end postition. Ike is an active player with good speed as well.

Fresno State freshman Chris Carter recovered a fumble after a jarring hit by Marvin Haynes caused the loose ball.

Oregon came into this game with the No. 3 running game in the nation.
It's shown in the first half.
The Ducks ran for 222 yards in the first half.
Oregon RB Jonathan Stewart has run for 141 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.
The good thing for the Bulldogs is that they have the ball right now to start the second half.

Tom Brandstater hit Vince Pascoe on a 1-yard touchdown pass with 1 second left before halftime to pull Fresno State within 42-14. Clifton Smith ran in the two-point conversion.

The Oregon Ducks are running away with the game in the first half, going up 42-6 with 3:19 left in the first half after Dennis Dixon's 1-yard run for a touchdown.

Pass to Bear Pascoe on every down.

It's about the only thing that works consistently.