Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson
Fresno State's motto of "Anybody, anywhere, any time" is pretty well-known and has been well-documented as the Bulldogs prepare to embark on yet another difficult nonconference schedule. And for the most part, the focus has been on the anybody, but after talking with coach Pat Hill yesterday, the focus should shift to the anywhere.
The Bulldogs travel to Piscataway, N.J., to play Rutgers this weekend in a trip that would usually take a little more than five hours on a typical non-stop commercial flight. But Fresno State isn't that lucky. Hill said his team would board its charter flight at 1 p.m. PST and land around midnight EST on Sunday for a 4 p.m. EST kickoff on Monday.
"There are a lot of things you could make into distractions," Hill said. "This isn't just one plane, five hours, get over there and get ready to go. This is going to be a long trip. The mettle of this team's going to be tested. We're going to keep them busy on the plane. They know upfront everything that lies in front of them."
Hill said because the team chartered a smaller plane, it would have to stop for fuel somewhere in the middle of the country. Each player will have a scouting DVD's with him, there will be some strategy talk, but mostly Hill expects his players to sleep.
"It will be a long day and when we get in there late at night, if everything goes smoothly, we'll be there before midnight, get something to eat and go to bed," Hill said. "Then we'll be up the next morning ready to roll."
Ridiculous travel scenarios are nothing new to Hill. In 2004, the Bulldogs had plane troubles that resulted in a 3:30 a.m. arrival into Manhattan, Kan., for an 11 a.m. game against No. 14 Kansas State.
The Bulldogs proceeded to beat Kansas State 45-21 in a game that dropped the Wildcats out of the Top 25.
To expect a similar result against Rutgers would be ambitious, especially with just 12 seniors on the roster, but Hill said his team knows what it's facing from a travel standpoint this season. Two weeks after Fresno State returns from New Jersey, it has to fly out to Toledo and then bus to UCLA the following weekend. Later in the year, it flies to Ruston, La., to face Louisiana Tech.
"We don't really talk about things we can't control," Hill said. "The only thing we can control is the way we play and that's what we need to focus on, the way we're going to play. There are no excuses. That's for other people to talk about, not the players. All that other stuff is trivia."
Watson joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four seasons covering the Missouri Tigers and the Big 12 Conference for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She also covered college football recruiting for the Dallas Morning News.
