Fresno State is set to play No. 1 Alabama on Saturday and Paul Pinegar has been there before, maybe not in Tuscaloosa, but in Norman, Okla., in 2003 and Los Angeles in 2005 when the Bulldogs also took on college football’s top-ranked teams.
Those were different teams, in different situations. In 2005, going to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Bulldogs knew they were in with a chance. They were riding a seven-game winning streak, ranked No. 16 in the nation and had just beaten nemesis Boise State. It was a senior-led team, including wideouts Jermaine Jamison and Adam Jennings and running back Wendell Mathis.