Bruins vs. Bulldogs: Fantasy Style

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OK, Fresno State beat UCLA 36-31 on Saturday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

But the Bulldogs still must get it done against the Bruins in the fantasy realm because we all know a college program's true relevance lies in its fantasy football impact.

(FRESNO STATE MUST'VE ARRIVED, BECAUSE SOMEONE ALREADY POSTED HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BULLDOGS' VICTORY ON YOUTUBE. CHECK IT OUT.)

But seriously, The Fantasy Buzz decided it could "preview" the Fresno State-UCLA game this past week by pitting the programs in a fantasy matchup. Sometimes we pushed the limits of this exercise to come up with the rosters.

In Saturday's blog we crunched the numbers and projected a winner. We've condensed things a bit today and updated it with the actual winner of Saturday's game. We'll come back Tuesday to declare which school's alumni -- or players representative of (you'll see in a bit) -- actually won the head-to-head fantasy matchup. Coaches Pat Hill or Rick Neuheisel can even use it as a recruiting tool.

Here we go:

Quarterback matchup: The Fantasy Buzz is letting the schools live vicariously through former NFL players, ex-Bulldog Trent Dilfer and ex-Bruin Troy Aikman, and then projecting their stats by using people now living in their shoes. In Dilfer's case, we'll use current Ravens QB Joe Flacco. In Aikman's case, current Cowboys QB Tony Romo. TF Buzz projection: Flacco (Dilfer) 13.5 points; Romo (Aikman) 21.4 points.

Running backs: Fresno State would've gone with Derrick Ward but the Giants have a bye, so the Bulldogs will bring Ravens fullback Lorenzo Neal off the bench. The UCLA starter at RB1 is easy, the Jaguars' Maurice Jones-Drew. TF Buzz projection: Neal 6.1 points (hey, he could take a 1-yard TD plunge); Jones-Drew 24.3 points.

The Bulldogs will go with goal-line back Michael Pittman of the Broncos and DeShaun Foster of the 49ers will run for the Bruins in the RB2 matchup. TF Buzz projection: Pittman 13.4 points; Foster 1.1 points.

Wide receivers: Leading off at WR1, the Bulldogs will go with Bernard Berrian of the Vikings; the Bruins are stuck with the Rams' Drew Bennett, who has one catch for 4 yards in '08. TF Buzz projection: Berrian 16.8 points; Bennett 0.0 points.

The WR2 matchup, though, is a wash. Fresno State's Adam Jennings and UCLA's Matt Slater haven't recorded any fantasy stats for the Falcons and Patriots. TF Buzz projection: Jennings 0.0 points; Slater 0.0 points.

Tight end: OK, The Fantasy Buzz is going to get a little cheeky here and use Bear Pascoe for Fresno State. Now UCLA fans can say, "Hey, Pascoe has yet to play in the NFL." Fresno State fans can say, "Hey, Marcedes Lewis hasn't done anything in the NFL, either!" So let's project Pascoe being taken by the Chiefs as the heir to the aging Tony Gonzalez but give him a quarter of Gonzalez's points. To be fair, we'll double the few points Lewis nets. TF Buzz projection: Gonzalez (Pascoe) 3.1 points; Lewis 3.0 points.

FLEX: We use our imagination again, setting a dream Fresno State vs. UCLA matchup with Henry Ellard vs. Willie "Flipper" Anderson. Ellard, who also played for Hoover High, had better numbers and therefore will be represented by Rams WR1 Torry Holt. Rams WR2 Dane Looker will be Anderson. TF Buzz projection: Holt (Ellard) 12.7 points; Looker ("Flipper") 3.6 points.

Defense/special teams: We'll go with the Panthers and cornerback Richard Marshall for Fresno State; the Jets and defensive end Kenyon Coleman for UCLA. TF Buzz projection: Panthers (Marshall) 12 points; Jets (Coleman) 8 points.

Kicker matchup: Apparently former Bulldogs kicker Brett Visintainer almost played for the Cowboys, so we'll use Nick Folk, because we really have no other choice. We'll draw on Bruins history with John Lee, a two-time All-American who played for the Bruins from 1982-85. He kicked for the Cardinals, so Neil Rackers is the pick. TF Buzz projection: Folk (Visintainer) 11 points; Rackers (Lee) 7 points.

And the winner will be ...

Fresno State, of course, by a projected fantasy football score of 88.6 points to 68.4.

What do you think? Did The Fantasy Buzz miss anyone? Let us know on this blog or by e-mail to sports@fresnobee.com.

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1 Comments

And don't forget the video of all the Fresno State fans who flocked to Pasadena to see the win.

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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Delton Lowery published on September 27, 2008 11:40 PM.

A few updates . . . was the previous entry in this blog.

Time for 'Dogs to shine is the next entry in this blog.

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