1996_11 The Daily Collegian November 1996

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Monday, November 11.1996
Sports
Sports Editor: Tom Sepulveda
.   Telephone: (209) 278-5733
WAC tourney coming to Fresno
CORNER
WAC Football
Colorado State
Fresso State
{
#12 BYU
Rice
San Diego State
#16 Wyoming
Army
Air Force
TCU
Tulsa
SMU
UTEP
24
II
24
JO
0
Top 25 scores
»l Florida
Vanderbilt
#2 Ohio State
Illinois
I
#3 Florida State
Wake Forest
#4 An zona State
California
35
7
51
7
*5 Nebraska
Missouri
Men's soccer
• 16 Fresno State 2
•3 Air Force I
** 16 Fresno 3
New Mexico • 2
Volleyball
Fresno State def. Air Force
15-fc. 15-5. 15-4
Pro football
Dallas
San Francisco
Tampa Bay
Oakland
20
17m
20
|?«
Kansas City
Green Bay
I-7
20
Colorado Stale tighten*
up wac race
The loss that ended Fresno
State's bowl hopes has given the
Rams new life.
After Wyoming's 28-24 loss lo
San Diego State. Colorado State's
win moved them into a tic for first
place with 6-1 records.
Both teams face off in Colorado
next week, with the winner taking
the inside track to finishing first in
the WAC.
Patterson leads team in
scoring
After scoring two goals against
New Mexico yesterday, junior Steve
Patterson extended his team-high
scoring total with 34 points
Patterson, who has 13 goals and
eight assists, is the first Bulldogs to
hit the 30-point plateau since Ster¬
ling Wescon did it in 1993.
— Sports Information
Paul Martinez — The Daily Collegian
Bulldog leading scorer Steve Patterson scored two goals against
new Mexico in a 3-2 win.
By Luis Hernandez
The Daily Collegian
Bulldog striker Steve Patterson
has a good opportunity for summer
work this year After predicting that
the FresnoState men's stveer team
would sweep its weekend games
against #3 Air Force and un-ranked
Naiv Mexico, he might us well open
a psychic hotline
The Bulldogs won two games on
the road lo grab first place in the
conference and set themselves up
to host the upcoming Western Ath¬
letic Conference playoff game next
Sunday Fresno State will host Air
Force at Bulldog Stadium on Sun¬
day for the WAC championship af¬
ter the Falcons beat San Jose State
yesterday lo finish the season in
second place.
First, on Friday the Bulldogs
took care of the Air Force Falcons
2-1 to climb up to the top of the
Western Athletic Conference. In the
process, the Bulldogs snapped a
couple of streaks the Falcons had
going The Falcons had not lost in
13 matches, a two month span. Fur¬
ther, the Falcons had been unde¬
feated in their home field since
Fresria State had beaten them there
last season
Air Force had jumped to a 1-0
lead in (he 29th minute ol plav
Jaime Burgcper hit in a rebound
shot past Fresno State's goalkeeper
J.J Wozniak
The Bulldogs tied up the score
right before half lime. Shawn
Saunders crossed a ball that Mike
Please sac SOCCER page 7
49ers no longer team of the decade
By Tom Sepulveda
The Daily Collegian
For fans who remember the
bad old days of the late 1970s,
the 49ers of the 90s arc great.
But for everyone who was
spoiled by the success of the
Montana era in the previous de¬
cade, this isn't acceptable: the
49ers arc not the best team in the
league Not this season, or last
season, or any other season in
the 90s with thesexception of a
Super Bowl victory in 1994
And while I am quick to point
at Steve Young for the blame. I hav e
had an epiphany — it's not his fault
The only big game that San Fran¬
cisco has won in this decade was
the 1994 NFC championship game
There was a loss to the Giants
in the 1990 NFC championship
game. Losses to Dallas in the 1992
and 1993 NFC title games, and
Green Bay last year in the Divi¬
sional playoff game.
Particularly in this season, the
49ers are unable to beat teams w ith
a winning record. Of the team's four
games against opponents with a
w inning record. San Francisco is 1 -
3 The win came against a Houston
team that is playing over its head
Niner fans should be wary St.
Louis. New Orleans, and Atlanta do
not play in the playoffs. If San Fran¬
cisco is going to advance in the
playoff rounds, it will need to start
beating talented opponents.
There is some hope. A win on
the road against Pittsburgh will re¬
store some credibility (but not too
much, since the Steclers are an AFC
team) A win against Washington.
also on the road, will help, but
the Redskins are doing the same
thing that San Francisco is and
beating up on teams with a los¬
ing record.
The latest loss. 20-17 to Dal¬
las yesterday, confirms the big¬
gest fears of 49cr fans: we are
in trouble. With the measuring
stick being the Super Bow I now.
the 49crs aren't measuring up
this year, or this decade
But hey. like I said, compared
,to the old days, things aren't so
bad
Rams dash 'Dogs' slim bowl hopes
By Luis Hernandez
The Daily Collegian
The Fresno State football team
had a remote chance at a bowl berth
and a winning season if it could win
the rest of its games. But the Colo¬
rado State Rams quickly did away
with those hopes.
The.Rams scored quickly and
often, getting a two louchdow n lead
they never relinquished and de¬
feated the Bulldogs 42-20 in front
of 35.009 fans at Bulldog Stadium.
"This shatters any hopes of a
victorious season." Jim Sweeney.
Fresno State football coach, said.
The Rams jumped to a 14-0 lead,
in thc.first quarter and increased it
to 28-7 by halftimc. taking advan¬
tage of Fresno State turnovers.
"Turnovers killed us." Sweeney
said.
In the first play of the game,
Fresno State running back Michael
Pittman fumbled, and Rams defen¬
sive back Erik Olson recovered at
Fresno State's 19-yard line.
\ Two plays later. Colorado State
starting quarterback Moses
Moreno, who finished with 14
passes completed out of 24 attempts
for 214 yards, threw a 6-yard touch¬
down pass to Eli Workman, and a
7-0 lead. The game was not one
minute old and Fresno State was
already behind.
That isn't an unfamiliar-position.
The Bulldogs have fumbled in the
opening quarter four times this sea¬
son.
In their next possession, the
Bulldogs drove down the field to
the Rams' 24-yard line, but on the
9th play of the drive Jim Arellanes.
who finished with 22 completions
in 39 attempts for 261 yards, threw
the first of his three interceptions
into the hands of Eason Ramson
"We should have come back and
made it 7-7." Sweeney said.
"I just did not throw the ball very
well." Arellanes said.
The Rams scored again with
,49:06 left'in the first quarter. Rams
running back Clifford Branch, who
rushed for 191 yards in.30 carries,
rushed nine yards untouched for the
first of his three touchdowns.
The Rams kept pouring it on. On
the fourth play of the second quar¬
ter. Branch rushed for four yards
and a 21-0 lead. The Rams drove
80 yards in 16 plays, keeping the
ball for 7:21.
"I was proud the way we came
out and played early on. Our of¬
fense scored the first three times we
had possession." Sonny Lubick.
Colorado State's football coach,
said.
It was not until Fresno State's
fourth possession that they broke
into the scoring column. Michael
Paul Martinez — Tlie Daily Collegian
Tailback Michael Pittman had 157 yards rushing in a losing
cause in Saturday's 42-20 loss to Colorado State.
Pittman. who finished with 157
yards in 26 rushes, ran for two yards
capping a 9-yard play. 70-yards
drive in4:41 for the first of his three
touchdowns.
That was as close as the Bull¬
dogs would get. The Rams drove
76 yards in five plays for their
fourth touchdown of the first half.
Kevin McDougal. carrying the ball
for the first time in his career,
rumbled for 40 yards and restored
Please see FOOTBALL page 7