1994_10 The Daily Collegian October 1994

              y***
Friday, October 7, 1994
Page 7
Donati finally gets his
chance in the limelight
By Dennis R. Claborn
This Saturday could be
marked as one of the biggest
events of all- time for Fresno
State when the Bulldogs host
Brigham Young for the first time
ever at Bulldog Stadium. Fans
from all over, the valley will
come to see if the Bulldogs have
what it takes to defeat the Cou-
 gars of BYU. The fans will also
be watching Richie Donati in
his first start as quarterback in
Bulldog Stadium.
Richie Donati, who started
two weeks ago against Ha waii,
has yet to be excepted by the
fan^ as the man who will lead
them to the promise land.
Donati did have an impressive
debut in Hawaii, passing for 186
yards and two touchdowns, but
a lot of Bulldog fansdidn't watch
the entire game. The game,
which was played in Hawaii,
didn't start until after 9p.m. and
lasted well after midnight.
This Saturday will also mark
the biggest day in Donati's ca¬
reer. Donati's not scared
though; he's actually quite, anx¬
ious to "get it on," and expressed
a lot of -confidence in his of¬
fense. Don't confuse Donati's
remark with arrogance. Donati
wants nothing more than to
bring pride and victory to
Fresno State.
Donati, who threw four
touchdowns in his first high
school appearance, grew up in
Santa Barbara where he was a
two-time Tri-Valley Conference
\ MVP. So what? That was high
i J school, you say. But Donati also
recieved Ail-American honors
and was the team's place-kicker,
not to mention an outstanding
baseball pitcher.
Donati, .who was recruited
by UCLA, USC, and Northern
Arizona, chose Fresno State be¬
cause he felt that with a little
time and some lucky breaks, he
could step in and see some p lay -
- ing tim e as quarterback. His
biggest break came when Trent
Dilfer entered the 1994 NFL
draft From there, it was a foot
Todd Warshaw photo-Sports Information
Sophomore Richie Donati makes his first start at
Bulldog Stadium Saturday.
race between himself, Adrian
Claiborne, and Jeff Tuss.
Claiborne, who earned the right
to start the season, may have
won the battle, but didn't even
last through the first half of the
war. After Claiborne had
trouble finding the end-zone
for six straight quarters,
Sweeney turned to Donati.
Donati says that although he
competes with Claiborne for a
starting position, they're still
good friends. They both live in
the same apartment complex and
hang out together on and off the
field, Donati says that Claiborne
gives him a lot of support and
says he did the same when the
roles were reversed.
Donati, whose father is a
firefighter in Chicago, would
love nothing more than to fol¬
low in his father's foot steps.
However, FSU doesn't offer a
firefighting program, which.
forced Donati to chose Physical
Education instead. Donati says
that if for some reason things
don't work out with fire fight¬
ing, he'd love to teach and coach
high school kids. That's, of
course, if he doesn't become a
professional skate-boarder first.
Donati, who was raised in
Southern Califomia,hasbeenskat
ing as long as he can remember.
"Ifs second nature," said Donati,
and he continues to skate even
though his teammates give him a
hard time and teli him to take it
easy and play it safe. Donati doesn't
think the coaches know that he
. skates, and probably doesn't realize
what Coach Sweeney would do if
hefoundouL
I guarantee you if Donati
can lead the Bulldogs to vic¬
tory over BYU, I'm sure Jim
will let Donati do what ever
he wants to do...at least for
the rest of the weekend.
BYU makes first trip
to FSU 'Dogpound'
By Robbie Miner
The Brigham Young Cou¬
gars' football team has domi¬
nated the Western Athletic
Conference for as long as La veil
Edwards has coached there,
and for many of the Biiffiogs,
that's longer than they'vebeen
alive.
The Cougars have won or
shared the last five WAC titles
and have claimed 16 titles over
Edwards' 23 years there. In the
last quarter-century Edwards
has won 201 games as the Cou¬
gars head coach.
But BYU has never played
in the T)oghouse'.
How much of an advantage
is it really to play, at home?
When an opposing team walks
onto a field surrounded by
40,000 deafening Red Wave
fans, the advantage is huge.
Over the last decade Fresno
State has posted the second best
Division 1 home record in col¬
lege football, 62-5-2. Only Mi¬
ami (66-5) has a better record
since 1984. A win against the
Cougars would be FSU's 13th
straight at home. A loss would
be the 'Dogs first home defeat
to a WAC opponent since join¬
ing the conference in 1991.
While the Bulldogs have
won eight straight home WAC
matches, the Cougars- have
been victorious in their last
eight WAC road matches. Af¬
ter Saturday night, only one of
those streaks will reach nine.
BYU (4-1), the preseason
WAC favorites by the WAC
coaches/media poll, has al¬
ready played four conference
matches. With exception of the
Cougars' 45-21 blowout of Air
Force, Edwards has had a
stressful 24th season. In the first
match of the year, the Cougars
squeaked by Hawaii 13-12 at
the islands, and two weekends
ago won an offensive show¬
down with New Mexico 49-
47. The Cougars' only defeat
came to the surprise of the
' WAC, Colorado State. Trie
Rams knocked off Brigham
Young in the third week of the
college football season 28-21
and have yet to lose * game
this year.
- LuteeveryteamintheyVAC
and every Brigham Young
team in the past, the Cougars
strength is on offense. John
Walsh follows a tradition of
great quarterbacks at BYU,
"that includes the tikes of Ty
Detmer, Jim McMahon and
1 Steve Young. The preseason
pick for WAC player of the
year has passed for 1,442 yards
and 11 touchdowns. "Many
college football analysts have
tagged Walsh as one of the top
five NFL quarterback pros¬
pects in the NCAA.
. The Cougars are equally le¬
thal on the ground. Running
back Jamal Willis has rushed
for 537 yards on 5.9 yards per
carry, and eight touchdowns.
Willis is complemented in the
backfield by the versatile
Hema Heimuli. The fullback
has scrambled for 222 yards
on the ground and has caught
18 passes for 215 more yards.
Heimuli also has scored five
touchdowns. '
In the six matches between
the Bulldogs and the Cougars,
Fresno State has come out on
top four of those times. The
sweetest of those victories
came just one year ago when
the 'Dogs went on the road
and out-slugged BYU 48-45.
In the ABC regionally telecast
game, Trent Dilfer had per¬
haps his greatest game as a
Bulldog, throwing for 456
yards and four TDs, out-duel¬
ing Walsh, who threw for 439
yards and five TDs himself.
The win avenged the Bulldogs'
1992 36-24 defeat, in the first
meeting in more than 30 years
with Brigham Young.
FSU tries to surpass '93 win total
By CHad Holcomb
The 'Dogs of Fresno State vol¬
leyball (3-1 in WAC. 11-5 overall)
will be looking to have a positive
weekend when they travel south to
San Diego to take on fellow first-
place foe San Diego State, (3-1 in
WAC, 10-4 overall) tonight and
William and Mary (11-5) Sunday.
At stake for it Bulldogs be¬
sides first place is their opportunity
to surpass thetr*win total of last
year, 11 .with the entire season just
beyond the half-way mark.
The' Bulldogs, who split their
matches with the Aztecs last season,
losing a sweep in San Diego, have a
. career record of 4-14 against San
Diego State. SDSU has lost three of
their four games to ranked teams.
SDSU could very well be com¬
pared quite equally with the 'Dogs.
The Aztecs also have a very young
team, starting three freshman, two
sophomores and a junior.
'We know that they have good
outside hitlers, taut I think our ball
QUaUuluiaWbealatalebetag,"saklhcad
FSU coach Lindy Vivas. 'Ithinkthat
we are prefly even; but we need to
make sure that our side is good"
William and Mary, who the
'Dogs have never ceen before, arc
headed by 17-year head coach
Debbie Hill. William and Mary
arc part of the Colonial Athletic
Association   and   hale   from
Williamsburg, Virginia.
"It is a great opportunity to play
a cross regional team, always good
for the NCAA selection process,"
said Vivas.
One aspect that i s not to be over¬
looked this weekend is the FSU
career assist record. The current
holder of the honor, Traci S liester-
Corey' s mark is currently in serious
jeopardy when junior setter Brenda
Gregersen takes the court only need¬
ing 45 more assists to get the honor.
Gregersen currently is ranked
15th in the nation in assists per game
with 12.95. Gregersen is only the
second Bulldog in history to have
over 3,000 career assists with 3304.
NFL, from Pago 6
The Raiders have yet to put to-
gether a ninning game and that's
probably why their loss column is
three times greater than their win
column.
The San Francisco 49ers (3-2)
will be on the road this week in
Detroit The Lions (2-3), who
have been up and down all year,
continued their roller-coaster
season by losing to the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers last week 24-14.
The Lions, who showed signs of'
brilliance against the Cowboys,
have become too dependent on
Barry Sanders. Sanders, who's
Brazil, from Pago 7
The most distinct difference
between the teams is in the defense.
While Parreira is a bit more tradi¬
tional by using a flat four, which
consists of two players in line in the
middle and two wide fullbacks,
Bluem innovates a three man de¬
fense.
Indeed the Bulldogs do resemble
enjoying one of his best years,
leads the NFL this season in
rushing with 627 rushing yards
but has only found the end zone
twice. If the49ers can shut down
Sanders, they'll be able to col¬
lect an easy victory. Then again,
the 49ers weren't able to shut
down Charlie Gamer of Phila¬
delphia
Although you can't count on
any particular team to domi¬
nate on any given Sunday, you
can count on them to play every
Sunday. There aren't any ru- a
mors of a strike... at least the las/
time I heard.
the Brazilian squad, especially in the
midfield and forward line. Coach
Bluem chose a good team to model
his team around. The results show it
Brazil woo the World Cup. The
Bulldogs are taking many steps to¬
wards one of the most successful
and unforgettable seasons in the
school's history.