1994_09 Insight September 1994

              September 21,1994
SPORTS
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY. FRESNO
Page 7
INSIGHT
Player Profile
Adam Brady
INSIGHT
When Jason James first set foot
on the Fresno State practice field
as a freshman in 1990, he was
hardly an impressive physical
specimen. Fresh out of Buena
Park High School, James was a
pudgy 330 pounds and scarcely in
condition for Division I football.
"He had not matured physically
yet and had a lot of baby fat on
him," recalled Fresno State offensive line coach Bill Dole.
Bulldogs Head
Coach Jim
Sweeney put it
more bluntly:
"When he came
here, I looked at
him and thought,
'Who recruited
this blob?'"
But in little
more than three
years, James
went from blob
to one of the premier offensive
linemen in college football. He
has drastically
changed his
physical appearance, which has
led to a dramatic improvement in
his skills on the front line. James
is now an imposing figure, weighing a brawny 305 pounds.
To complete the look, James
now sports a shaved head and two
tattoos: one that curls around his
left bicep like an armband and the
other, a drooling bulldog in a
Fresno State uniform with James'
No. 79 on its sleeve.
But it is his play on the gridiron
that has caused James to be bombarded with high expectations for
the 1994 season. After being a
unanimous choice for the All-
WAC first team last year. James
has been named by the
conference's coaches as a preseason All-WAC player for '94.
Even more impressively, James
has already been projected by Na
tional Football League draft guru
Mel Kiper, Jr.. as the fifth-best offensive lineman among next year's
available draftees.
At the present time, James has
had a hard enough time predicting
what position he will play from
week to week. After receiving
much recognition as a center the
past two years, he played the first
two games of the 1994 season at
right tackle, a move that became
necessary with the loss of some key
members of last year's line. However, James was moved back to
center following
the Bulldogs' 24-
3 loss to Washington State on
Sept. 10. But he
says that despite
moving around
so much, he really has no position preference.
"I think I'm capable of playing
both positions
(center and
tackle), so it really doesn't matter to me," said
James. "If I can
help more at
tackle, then I'll play tackle. If they
need me at center, that's where I'll
be."
"He can play center and he can
play cither tackle," Sweeney said.
"He can also play guard and coach,
as far as that's concerned."
But regardless of what position
he plays, James' goal is to help the
Bulldogs win a third straight WAC
title and play in his fourth consecutive bowl game. It would be an
ideal way to end a career that has
come full circle since its commencement. He has gone from
"blob" to earning the utmost reverence from a tough critic: Coach
Sweeney.
"The more you know him, the
more respect you have for him,"
Sweeney said. "I think he'll be a
great player for a long time."
Ken Roller INSIGHT
Jerome Oliver (25) slips through Oregon State's defensive line in Saturday night's game at Bulldog
Bulldogs contain OSU
Jason Gibbs
Cross Country 2-0
men, women win
INSIGHT
Saturday night Fresno State returned
home to the familiar surroundings of
Bulldog Stadium and defeated the Oregon State Beavers 24-14.
For the second straight week, the
Bulldogs' defense was more impressive than the offense, something
trucly rare for Fresno Slate football.
The Bulldogs held Oregon State's
option offense scoreless through three
quarters until a touchdown, nearly
four minutes into the fourth quarter,
broke the shutout.
One standout for the offense, however, was tailback Jerome Oliver.
Oliver started in place of Mike
Pittman, who suffered a broken collarbone last week against Washington State.
In his first start as a Bulldog, Oliver
carried the ball a school record 37
times for 220 yards, scored two touchdowns, and was named the WAC's offensive player of the week.
Time after time the Bulldogs turned
to Oliver when the passing game was
unable to move the ball.
Historically, the Bulldogs have used
the run to set up the passing game,
but as Oliver explained, "the run just
kept working so we stayed with it."
When asked for thoughts about his
accomplishments, Oliver spoke about
his teammates first.
"The biggest thing is, I'd like to
thank my offensive line and wide receivers for blocking for me. They
gave me the advantage," Oliver said.
Aside from Oliver, the offense
struggled in the first half, scoring only
seven points. Starting quarterback
Adrian Claiborne completed 7 of 17
passes for 41 yards.
In the second half, quarterback
Richie Donati took over for
Claiborne.
Donati completed all five of his
passes for 61 yards.
The success of Donati raised questions about the status of Claiborne and
about the starting role at quarterback
going into the WAC opener this Saturday in Hawaii.
Head Coach Jim Sweeney said,
"There is no quarterback controversy.
Donati has earned a shot, and he will
play against Hawaii."
The Rainbows are coming off back
to back Pac-10 wins against Oregon
and Cal, holding the Bears to just
seven points.
"Hawaii is outstanding on defense,"
Sweeney said.
Fresno State's win against Oregon
State extended their home winning
steak to 11 games.
Since 1985, the Bulldogs are 58-3-
2 when playing at Bulldog Stadium.
However, they have lost six of their
last eight games away from Bulldog
Stadium.'-       '■** '
The Bulldogs have also lost six of
their last seven games played on artificial turf.
Saturday's game doesn't look promising for Fresno State. The Bulldogs
are traveling to Hawaii and will play
on artificial turf.
Volleyball,
soccer win
on the road
Jabari Lawrence
INSIGHT
The women's volleyball and
men's soccer teams had an
eventful road outing this past
weekend.
The volleyball team ended its
trip to Minnesota 2-1 after losing to the University of Minnesota on Friday, then beating
Florida State and DePaul on
Saturday during the Minnesota
Volleyball Classic.
The Bulldogs lost in straight
games to Minnesota, 8-15, 6-
15,15-17. Fresno State went on
to defeat the Seminoles 7-15,
15-13,15-9,16-14 and DePaul
15-0,15-5,9-15,15-10.
Fresno State's Trish Tuley was
named to her third straight all-
tournament team. Tuley had 45
kills and 46 digs in the three
game tournament.
The Bulldogs improved their
season record to 8-4. They host
Utah Friday at 7:30 p.m.
In soccer, Fresno State defeated the University of San
Francisco Dons in the Bay Area
last Wednesday 1-0 on Mike
Matson's goal.
The Bulldog soccer team traveled to San Diego this weekend
for the Met Life Classic.
Eric Farfan was once again the
mainstay for the Bulldogs.
Farfan scored three goals in
three games in the Goal Rush
Classic at Fresno State last
weekend. In San Diego, he
scored twice against Yale and
once more against Butler.
On Friday, during the Mel Life
Classic, the Bulldogs beat Yale
2-1, then Butler 2-1 on Sunday.
Fresno State improved to 5-1
on the year and will wait to hear
whether thcyimprove on their
No. 12 national ranking. Bulldog goalkeeper David Kramer
upped his record to 4-1. Jason
Berg is 1 -0 backing up Kramer.
The Bulldogs will host Cal
State Bakersfield on Thursday
at 7 p.m.
Sports Information
Both the Fresno State men and
women took first place in the Fresno
Cross Country Invitational, Saturday
at Woodward Park.
Senior Ann Bums led Fresno State
in the five-kilometer women's race,
finishing first in a time of 17:50, her
personal best on the Woodward Park
course.
Right on Bums' heels was sophomore Danielle Nelson, who crossed
the finish line one second behind
Bums in 17:51 and finished second.
Cal Poly-San Luis Obipo and Cal
finished second and third, respectively, in the seven team race.
On the men's side, in the five-mile
event, Fresno State's Israel Pose finished a close second to Cal Poly's
Coley Candaele. Pose crossed the finish line in 25:10.
Fernando Mendoza, also of Fresno
State, finished fourth with a time of
25:40.
Like the women, the Bulldog men
beat out Cal Poly and Cal who finished second and third in the five-team
race.
It was the second win in two weeks
for the Fresno State men and women,
both of whom picked up victories at
the season-opening Jammin' Invitauonal in Brea, Calif.
NFL, what to expect in week 4
John Sliaw
INSIGHT
The 1994 NFL season offers the
new and the old. With a two-point
conversion and rule changes affecting the kicking game, offense and
point scoring is way up. Field goal
attempts are down and coaches are
more aggressive on fourth down situations. Despite the new rule changes,
much has remained the same. The
Cowboys and Niners remain the
teams to beat in the NFC. The Cowboys will be challenged (again) by the
division rival New York Giants. This
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season the Niners will have to look
for inspiration in divisions other than
their own. Their Nov. 13th matchup
with the Cowboys is a good example.
The AFC still offers Buffalo and Miami in the East. The Central is open,
except for the Bengals while Joe and
the Chiefs look strong in the West.
GAME OF THE WEEK: San Diego (3-0) at LA Raiders (1-2). No one
thought the Chargers would enter
week four unbeaten and two games
ahead of those "Super Bowl bound"
LA Raiders? Both teams are coming
off impressive interdivision wins. San
Diego topped Seattle for sole possession of 1st place in the AFC West,
while the Raiders embjrrassed the
Broncos at Mile High/4he Charger's
defense will be the difference.
Chargers 23, Raiders 21
BATTLE OF THE WINLESS:
Cinncinati (0-3) at Houston (0-3).
Houston may be 0-3, but unlike
Cinncinati, the Oilers have an excuse.
The Oilers owe their record to the
competition, with losses to two time
Super Bowl champion Dallas, Super
Bowl loser(s) Buffalo and an improved Colts team led by Marshall
Faulk. The Bengals offer a perfect
opportunity to get on track.
Oilers 31, Bengals 10
THE BATTER OF NEW ORLEANS:
New Orleans (1-2) at San Francisco
.(2-1). The Saints always seem to play
the Niners tough. In the past, New
Orleans would use solid defense and
a conservative offense to keep the
games short and the scores low. All
that's left in New Orleans now, however, is the conservative offense. The
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Niners improved their defense and
helped decimate the Saint's defense
by taking Rickey Jackson through
free agency. They completed their defensive reconstruction with the addition of Deon Sanders. The Niners'
high octane offense should have an
easier time with this year's Saints.
Morten Andersen might manage to
keep it respectable.
49ers 35, Saints 12
MILD UPSET Miami (3-0) at Minnesota (2-1). You Dolphins fans who
are hoping for a repeat of the unbeaten '72 season will view this
week's matchup against the Vikings
as a humbling experience. Minnesota is fresh off of back-to-back wins
against division rivals Detroit and
Chicago. The Vikings have the defense to keep Dan Marino and the
Dolphins offense in check. Quarterback Warren Moon and tailback Terry
Allen will provide just enough offense for the Vikings to pull this one
out.
Vikings 16, Dolphins 14
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