1994_09 The Daily Collegian September 1994

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Page 6
Monday, September 19, 1994
KD
Bulldogs beat Oregon State at own game
FSU beats sixth
ranked rushing
team in nation
with a strong
rushing game of
their own^
By Robbie Miner
The Oregon State football
team marched into Bulldog Sta¬
dium Saturday night with the-
sixth-ranked rushing offense in
the country, but it was Fresno
State tailback Jerome Oliver that
stole the show.
Oliver, who was replacing
injured running back Mike
Pittman as the starter, carried
the ball for a school-record 37
times for220yards to propel the
Bulldogs (2-2) to a 24-14 win
over the Beavers. The junior
transfer from Ricks junior col¬
lege in Idaho made his first Di- •
vision 1 collegiate start a memo¬
rable one, running for more
yards than any FSU back since
Jim Long rushed for 222 yards
in 1964.
"We discussed all week in
practice how we needed to es¬
tablish the running game, so that
we could open it up with our
passing game," said Oliver. "I
gave it 100 percent, and every¬
thing just worked out"
The passing game never re¬
ally did come around for the
Bulldogs, but with the FSU run¬
ning attack successfully mov¬
ing the ball down field and
chewing up the clock, the lack
of an air attack made little dif¬
ference. Fresno State rushed for
270 yards, compared to Oregon
State's 284 yards on the ground,
"but the story was the time of
possession: 36:13 to 23:47, in fa¬
vor of the Bulldogs.
"If you had told me-that our
entire team would rush for 220
yards   against   anyone,   I
wouldn't have believed it,"said
Sweeney, in reference toOuver's
performance and that of the in¬
experienced backf ield as a unit.
The two teams totaled only
189 yards in the air Saturday,
but the first half, in particular,
was no showcase for the quar¬
terbacks. Oregon State quarter¬
back Don Shanklin failed on all
three of his pass attempts and
Adrian Claiborne completed
only seven of 17 passes for 41
yards. The Oregon State defen¬
sive backs limited the Bulldogs'
throwing game to short screens
and button hooks in the first
half, and those rare cases when
FSU challenged the Beavers'
cornerbacks, Claiborne consis¬
tently came up short.
Fresno State scored on a one-
yard dive by Sal Mejico in the
first quarter, but the 7-0 score
would hold up until halftime.
With Claiborne struggling and
the Beavers' within striking
range, FSU coach Jim Sweeney
decided it was time to give
sophomdre backup quarterback
Richie Donati a shot to begin
the secon4 half. -
"He's (Donati) earned his
spurs and he got a chance to
ride the horse tonight," said
Sweeney.
The 6-3, 200-pound sopho¬
more made the most of the op¬
portunity, completing all six of
his pass attempts for 66 yards.
On the season Donati is 13-17
for 192 yards. Claiborne is 45-91
for 688 yards.
"Richie's earned the chance
to start next week against Ha¬
waii," said Sweeney. FSU's
coach also indicated that both
of his quarterbacks would see
playing time in next week's
Western Athletic Conference
opener.
OregonStatereceivedtheball,
first to open the second half, but -
for the fifth time of the game the
Fresho State defense forced a
punt on three plays-and-out. On
an eight-play, 41-yard opening
drive, the Bulldogs settled for a
field goal. The 'Dogsengineered
another successfuldri ve the next
Steve ft. Fujimoto-THE COLLEGIAN
Junior Jerome Oliver rushed the ball 37 times for
220 yards Saturday against Oregon State
time they touched the ball after    when the Beavers received the
the defense stopped the Bea¬
vers' wishbone offense cold
once agajn.
Oliver carried the ball eight
times for 36 yards in an 80-yard
drive that ate up seven minutes
and 38 seconds. The hero of the
evenrng, Oliver, finished the
long drive with an 11-yard
touchdown catch on a roll-out
from Donati.
Up 17-0 with only a quarter
to go, the game was all but over
ball with 24 seconds left in the
third period. But,the Fresno
State iy had more inmindthan
just a win. They were aiming for
their first shutout since 1989.
Two weeks ago the Bulldogs
held San Jose State scoreless in to
thejourth quarter, but the Spar¬
tans managed two meaningless
touchdowns. The Beavers
spoiled the shutout Saturday
See Rushing, Page 7
By Chad Holcomb
FSU rebounds for second-place finisli
Fresno State's volleyball
team conducted theii pre-
WAC season this past week-'
in uwWmk^ota Classic,
^Minnesota Univer-
"Weju
t came out a little flat
atinesota; we didn't
play that wen/ said FSU head
coach Lindy Vivas on their
match against Minnesota.
Diana Nalbandian also did
heir part for the 'Dogs, adding
nine kills and 11digs.
The- Bulldogs, with that
never die, never give up atti¬
tude, weft into SaturdaykiTO^
. ing they would have a couple of
tough matches^gafestiFlorida
State and DePauL They were
z4nto those
Saturday.
The Bulldogs had lost four
straight games, (including three
from Minn.) losing their first
against Florida State, and were
trailing in the second lf>4 when
they rallied to win the game 15-
13. In game four, the Dogs
were leading 14^8 when the
Seminoles got six straight points
to tie the game at 14, but FSU
finished ttiw^n otf, gMtirig the
last two points*
"We played^ well in the
ina^saidVtvas,"Wegetinto
'''■Oyer middle
belt but had another match in
the day with a team never be¬
fore seen by a Bulldog player
or coach, DePauL The Bull¬
dogs didn'tseem tohave prob¬
lems with never seeing {he
Blue Demons before as they
won the match in four games,
15-0,15-5,9-15,15-10.
The Bulldogs hadfourplay-
ersin double figures in kills in
the match.      —      "***■ ~**
high 12 digs and Ave blocks.
Chth was supported with the
efforts of Brown, with 12 kills,
"*"" fr-Tera
and Tuley
Oliver rims
wild in start-
ing debut
By Casey Angle ,
When starting tailback
Michael Pittman went down
with a broken collarbone against
Washington State the future for
Fresno State's running game
looked bleak. Someone would
have to step up.
In Saturday night's 24-14 win
overOregonState Jerome Oliver
did a lot more than just step up.
In his first ever start, the junior
set a school record for carries
with 37 and gained 220 yards -
third best in school history. He
also had two touchdowns and
set up two"other scores with
long runs.
Although Oliver's perfor¬
mance came as a surprise to
most fans, his teammates ex¬
pected him to come through.
"He played like he's capable of
playing. We knew he could do
it and he did it," said receiver
Charlie Jones.
Center Jason James added, 1
knew he could play; he does it
in practice. He came on like he
was supposed to."
It became dear on Fresno
State's first possession that
Oliver would get plenty of car¬
ries. In that first series he car¬
ried four times for 27 yards -
four more yards than he gained
the entire WSJJgame.
"We discussed all week that
we would establish the running
game early; then we could open
up our passing game," said
Oliver.
Fresno State d^ytablish       *
their running game thanks to
Oliver, but their passing game
never did get on track.
On the Bulldogs' second
drive of the game it was Oliver's
27 yard gallop to OSU's one-
yard line that set-up their first
touchdown of the night.
Oliver quietly scampered his
way to 97 yards in the first half.
But, it was during the second
' half when he truly put on a
show. '  *^~ '
The Bulldog work horse car¬
ried six times on Fresno State's"^—
first possession after the half. It
was his 16-yard run that put the
ball on the OSU 20-yard line
and set-up a Johann Lyssand
field goal.
But the Jerome Oliver Show
. was just beginning. On the next
Bulldog possession he would
carry eight times, help chip pre¬
cious ixunutes off the dock, and
score his first of two touch¬
downs on the night.
That first touchdown was a
10-yard pass reception - the only
pass thrown to him all night It
came with 39 seconds left in the
third quarter and all butwrapped
up the game for the Bulldogs.
See Oliver, Page 7