The Bulldog Football Hour With Paul Loeffler, Coach Timn Skipper & Defensive Lineman Kavika Baumgartner

The Voice of The Bulldogs Paul Loeffler was at The Point Patio Bar & Bistro with Fresno State Football Head Coach Tim Skipper and Fresno State Foottball Defensive Linemen Kavika Baumgartne as they spoke about the big win last week and a big game which could make Fresno State Bowl Eligible against Hawaii. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
On the Bulldog Sports Network from Learfield. This is the
Bulldog Football Hour, presented by American pistachio growers, powering the Valley.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
One nut at a time. Also brought to you by.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Table Mountain Casino Resorts, Lucky Days and Epic Nights, and
by Pepsi, official soft drink of Fresno State Athletics. Now
live from the Point Pattio barring Pistro. Here's your host,
the Voice of the Bulldogs, Paul Leffler.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Here we go at the Point Patio Bar and Pistro.
It's the Bulldog Football Hour. We're gonna have a lot
of fun tonight talking Bulldog football and maybe out of
the corner of our eye looking at those TVs where
the Yankees and Dodgers are playing, Aaron Judge has already
gone deep tonight for the Yankees. Presno State's finest, so
that's good news. We're gonna be here till seven o'clock

(00:54):
and you know special afternoon Saturday four o'clock kick against Hawaii.
It's the second year in a row the Fresno State
will wear special tribute helmet decals honoring the incredible Native
American heritage of our area. And we have one of
those helmets here tonight. You can take a look for yourself.
Maybe you can even try it on. You can get
a picture with it. We're also going to be giving

(01:16):
away some t shirts tonight, like the fans will get
Saturday for that four o'clock kick against Hawaii. We know
it's going to sell out, so don't wait too long
to get your tickets at go Bulldogs dot com. Coach
Tim Skipper is here. Later on, we'll be joined by
one of his run stuffers up front, who actually earned

(01:36):
the Special Teams hammer on a play that had nothing
to do with special teams. So we're gonna explain that
later with Kavika Baumgartner. Excited to have him here, but
to give the coach a proper introduction, we need one
of our valley's great public address announcers. And you know,
every week we've been having Matt lee Aver, who does
the public address announcing at Valley Children's Stadium the Save

(01:57):
Mart Center, out here introducing coach Skipper. This week, we
have someone who's been doing it, I think even longer
than Matt has. In fact, every touchdown that Marcus mcmarrian
threw at a home game at Danuba High School was
announced by the one and only Glenn Zimmerman. So, Glenn,
first of all, how many years have you done Daanuba
High School?

Speaker 4 (02:18):
You know it's hard to say, but I think about
twenty two twenty two years.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
Uh huh. And you had to step away.

Speaker 5 (02:24):
For a while, step away for a while. Cancer did
a little number on me. But we're okay.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
You came back overcame that got back on the microphone
in remission. Amen to that. Amen, that we can be
thankful for that.

Speaker 4 (02:38):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (02:39):
So before you introduce the coach, is there one play
that Marcus mcmarrion made in green and silver that that
was as good as what he did in the snow
against Boise to win that championship in twenty eighteen.

Speaker 4 (02:51):
No, but I'll tell you what impressed me was Marcus
knew when he had ten yards or more and he
didn't have to throw. The touchdowns that he scored running
on keepers. Those were impressive because he had a lot
of them.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, you can ask UCLA about that. He had four
in one game against them.

Speaker 6 (03:09):
I think.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
So go ahead, Glenn, thanks for coming today and do
the honors. Introduce the head coach of our Fresno State Bulldogs.

Speaker 4 (03:15):
Well, thank you, Paul, and ladies and gentlemen, we're here
to talk bulldog football, all right.

Speaker 5 (03:18):
That okay, okay, and coach my family.

Speaker 4 (03:23):
As I told you before, my family's had season tickets
now for almost forty years.

Speaker 5 (03:28):
And uh, we're gonna hang on to him.

Speaker 4 (03:30):
And my family always remembers outstanding names for a long time.
One of those outstanding names is Tim Skipper, linebacker.

Speaker 5 (03:40):
And you know what, I.

Speaker 4 (03:42):
Just can't hardly believe that you had four hundred and
eighteen tackles during your career at Fresno State.

Speaker 5 (03:48):
Isn't that unbelievable?

Speaker 3 (03:50):
Wow?

Speaker 5 (03:51):
How do you do that in four years time?

Speaker 4 (03:54):
And so anyways, I don't want to take up a
lot of time because this is going to be his show,
but linebacker Jim Skipper coach on the Fresno State Bulldogs.

Speaker 5 (04:09):
Let's give it up for coach Tim Skipper.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
All right, all right, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 6 (04:16):
Hey, that was fine.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
Thanks Glenn, and we'll have you come up later and
introduced Kavika as well. Glenn Zimmerman doing the honors for
coach Skipper today. Coach boy, that was a pretty special
day in the stadium last week, wasn't it.

Speaker 7 (04:29):
Yeah, that was a complete game. That's what made it awesome.
Complete game. Then all the extra style. I told you
the football game was the main event, and then they
made everything else sweeter.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
So it was an awesome night. And you're still wearing black.
Still wearing black. Keep it going, Keep it going. Was
there a moment in the game where you felt that
that momentum was really building and that there was no
stopping the dogs?

Speaker 7 (04:52):
I think because when they got the ball, they scored
it within a minute under a minute, So first you're like, whoa,
but you.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
Knew the reasons it happen.

Speaker 7 (05:00):
And so when we answered back from that and the
intensity and the excitement and everything was still there, I
knew we were gonna be all right.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
But it just scared you for a minute there.

Speaker 7 (05:09):
But then as soon as I felt the team and
I could tell they were still locked in and ready to.

Speaker 3 (05:13):
Go, I knew we were gonna be good.

Speaker 7 (05:14):
So I don't know if it was an exact moment,
but that's when I knew we were gonna be all right.

Speaker 4 (05:19):
You know.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
It kind of reminded me a little bit of is
we've got basketball season starting up in fact Sunday, you
can get a sneak peek of the basketball team. The
Red White Scrimmage will start at noon at the Save
Mart Center on Sunday, and my broadcast partner on basketball
coach Q Mark Q Jones. He talks about fools gold
sometimes if a guy makes his first shot, then he
thinks every shot is going to go in right exactly,

(05:41):
And some of the guys I'll be playing with tomorrow morning,
I'm gonna probably use that line on them too. But
you know, in that game, it was almost like that's
what happened to San Jose State. They hit those two
bombs and they're thinking, hey, we can do this to
Fresno State. By the end of the day, the Bulldog
secondary had four interceptions, so maybe it encouraged them to
take more shots that they had early success.

Speaker 7 (06:00):
No doubt, no doubt, and we kind of just hand
giving it, gave it to them and they went down
there and took advantage of some bad leverage on our
part and some bad technique at the line. So I
think the fools goal makes a lot of sense because
then after that drive we started playing and they only
scored three more points for the rest of the game
in fifty nine minutes.

Speaker 6 (06:17):
So it was.

Speaker 7 (06:18):
It was awesome. We bounced back, and I like the
way the guys responded.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
And that was on the heels of shutting out Nevada
in the second half the game before, So two games
in a row, that defense just just really stepped up
and dominated. But how about that Fresno State offense just
last year? The way they converted this last game, I
should say that the way they converted third downs chewed
up time of possession. How much closer are we to
the optimal performance that you think that offense is capable of.

Speaker 7 (06:44):
I think we're getting very close. I think we're getting healthier.
The guys are feeling fresher right now. More of the
guys are playing together, so once you get more of
them playing together, you start to get rolling a little bit.

Speaker 3 (06:54):
So I like the way coach mccam's handling those guys.

Speaker 7 (06:57):
I think we'll keep getting better and better as being
on the rise, I'll say so, I'm excited and I'm
looking forward to watching these guys.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
I think the Red Waves looking forward to it too. Saturday,
four o'clock against Hawaii or am I.

Speaker 6 (07:09):
The only one? Okay? Just checking?

Speaker 3 (07:12):
Just tracking, Well, let's go ahead and get our practice
Update Coach, presented by Pepsi, the official soft drink of
Fresno State Athletics. We've been talking about trying to get healthy.
There are a couple guys you're not going to get
back this year, but there's a couple you've been hoping
to get back for a while, and maybe we might
see some of those developments this Saturday.

Speaker 7 (07:31):
Possible possible Spoemer's been practicing, so we'll see once we
get the game time how that's gonna be. But he's
definitely been out there and he's a possibility of being
able to help us out come Saturday on that old
line that really we've had four guys out on the
line at some point in the season. So just to
get those guys to finish through a game the same

(07:52):
group that practiced all week is going to be huge
and we're looking forward to that and excited for that.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
I think that'll be that'll be a big boost for us.
And you know, we're also getting to the point, not
that you want to give away any secret weapons. Maybe
you've been hiding all season that Hawaii is not ready for,
but they're probably thinking the same thing. You're getting to
that point in the season where if guys haven't played yet,
you can play them and it's not going to cost
him any eligibility. Yeah, last four.

Speaker 7 (08:16):
Games, so you have four games to red shirt. So
we're at the four games. So somebody's at zero, they
can play the last four.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
And it won't affect their eligibility. So that's a pretty
good plus. So is there a chance we may see
a name or two that we haven't been talking about
all year.

Speaker 7 (08:33):
We'll see by game time, We'll see, We'll see, we'll see,
we'll see.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
There's some guys definitely hanging there. And you know, it's
a good thing. This is a radio show because no
one can see whether you're smiling or not when you
say that I'm smiling, but you don't know how I'm smiling.

Speaker 6 (08:51):
Exactly.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Is it the cat that ate the canary or is
it a different kind of smile? Exactly? Right. He's coach
Tim Skipper. He's going to be here tonight. We've got
tea to give away. We're gonna be talking to him
and Kavika bomb Gartner defensive tackle for the Bulldogs, one
of the seniors on this squad, and it's another rivalry game.
Coach that you played in kind of and it's heyday.
I mean, that's when it I think really took on

(09:14):
even added intensity because the Bulldogs were so good in
the two thousands. June Jones got Hawaii so good in
the two thousands. You were here for some of the
beginning stages of that era. What do you remember about
playing the Bows.

Speaker 7 (09:27):
The main thing I remember is you had to be
ready to fight, like a pre game. Everything there it
was serious, especially if we were over there. Oh yeah,
it was. It was on so and then they're gonna
do their little haka and all that stuff on the field,
so you gotta be ready for that also.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
So there was a lot to this whole series.

Speaker 7 (09:44):
I can remember the very first time playing them, they
were on a losing streak and it was Coach Hill's
first year. They were on a big losing streak, and
we went over there and played them, and they beat
us pretty bad, pretty bad, about as mad as I
seen Coach Hill, and we bounced back the next week.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
But we stay in that.

Speaker 7 (10:01):
Locker room a long time after the game, and he
just kept talking and talking and talk and just trying
to get our mentality of the way it needed to
be and He's telling us we deserve that butt whooping
and all that type of stuff.

Speaker 3 (10:12):
So that's one memory, and.

Speaker 7 (10:13):
Then we want a lot against them also responding from
that loss. So you just you gotta shop it on.
Is what I remember from my playing days. It's the
rules and stuff.

Speaker 3 (10:22):
Were a little different now, but when I played, you
need to be ready, you needed to watch your back. Yeah,
that locker room at halftime during Pat Hill's era went
through a few things. Yes, the walls have holes in them,
but there was a locker that held firm even when
Coach tried to throw it on the ground. You never
heard that story. Yeah, I see. I wasn't gonna bring

(10:43):
that up, Coast. I wasn't even going to bring that up.
We won't talk about the whiteboard he put his fist
through already. So many stories when it comes to Fresno
State and Hawaii and a chance to write a new chapter.
And I've got to ask you, Coach, just as we
look at this helmet here uh table. Mountain Casino Resort
sponsoring this game as a chance to celebrate Native American

(11:03):
heritage throughout the valley, not just the tribe that they represent,
but the other tribes around the area too. And when
your guys go out there wearing this helmet that has
those feathers, the red and white feathers with the blue
outline on the helmet, can you help us understand what
the significance of that is for the guys who are
inside the program.

Speaker 7 (11:22):
Definitely, I mean it's awesome, right, you just start with
the with the white helmet, right, that's not normal, especially
not at home.

Speaker 8 (11:27):
Yea.

Speaker 3 (11:27):
So this is a huge civilization here, all right.

Speaker 7 (11:31):
You have the feather and everything going with it, with
the red and the feather right.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
Okay, so the team actually hasn't seen a helmet. They'll
see it tomorrow.

Speaker 7 (11:38):
We'll see a Friday, So they're gonna actually see that
helmet for the first time on Friday, and I think
that's gonna give them a little added boost when they
see something new and then they know what it means
and represents. So and we'll talk about that on Friday night.
But we're gonna be white, blue jersey, white pants in
Bulldog Stadium, so that's huge. We're getting all these different
colors going here, so it's it's awesome.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
It definitely.

Speaker 7 (12:01):
Table Mountain helps us out a lot, enjoy them and
the partnership we have with them, and we're just gonna
have that excitement keep all rolling through through Saturday, through
the game.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
I know we need to take a break, but it
just brings to mind another question. You're talking about all
the different uniforms. So, I mean, we saw the red
red red last time. It was the black jersey for
the first time in years now this week that the
Native American heritage theme with the white blue white. When
you guys mix it up so much, does that give
players the courage to come to you with their goofy
ideas like we should wear gold or silver or purple

(12:35):
or stuff like that. They have plenty of goofy ideas,
so that never ends.

Speaker 7 (12:39):
So yes, yes, all these different combinations and putting this
color with this color, all that always comes up.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
So you never know what we're gonna do next. Maybe
Aaron Judge could sponsor a game. You guys all wear
pinstripes for a night. We'll do it. We'll do it
alls he pays for it. Well, he's earning some more
money tonight. The Yankees lead the Dodgers five nothing in
the World Series Game five. But we're talking bulldog football
here at the point patio bar and bistro. You can
watch the game while we're talking Bulldog football. Come hang

(13:06):
out with us. If you want to win tickets, you
must be here to win. Here till seven o'clock the
Bulldog Football Hour on the Bulldog Sports Network from their field.

Speaker 9 (13:14):
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(13:34):
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Speaker 2 (13:45):
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Speaker 6 (14:05):
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(14:36):
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Speaker 10 (14:44):
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(15:06):
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Speaker 8 (15:44):
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(16:05):
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Speaker 3 (16:17):
Than Welcome back to the Bulldog Football Hour. We're here
live at the Point Patio Bar and Bistro, where, yes,
the Yankees and Dodgers in the World Series are on TV.
It's still a five to nothing Yankee lead. We're talking
about Saturday at four o'clock though, when Fresno State hosts
HAWAIII have Valley Children's Stadium. Another rivalry that we don't

(16:38):
know what it's going to look like in the future
if these teams are in different conferences, but we know
the Bows will be here Saturday at four o'clock. You
your screwdriver jokes. Kenny Wiggins, former Bulldog, told me the
other day he got hitting the head with his cell
phone one time playing at Hawaii. Yeah, did they ever
throw anything at you? They just spit at us when
I yea literally spit at us. The sky kind of

(16:58):
always spitting at you over there. It does rain a lot, supposedly,
and there's I'll just be full disclosure. There have been
some forecast for Saturday that say there may be a
little drizzle at Valley children Stadium, but nothing that we
can't handle here.

Speaker 6 (17:10):
In the valley.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
I remember your predecessor, coach Tedford. Anytime there was like
a zero point two percent chance of rain in the forecast,
he's getting those buckets out, getting the balls wet and
making you guys practice with balls that had a little
you know, water on them, moisture on them.

Speaker 7 (17:25):
Yep, you guys doing a little that. We've been doing
it all year. That's our Friday routine. So do it
every Friday. So nothing new there, nothing new there, nothing
new there. Snappers, quarterbacks, holders, they all have to handle it.

Speaker 3 (17:38):
Speaking of holders, now, holders are like the unsung heroes
of a football team.

Speaker 6 (17:43):
Right.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
Have you ever tried to hold for a kick? No,
not into that coaches kid, he never made you hold
for your brother or anything. No, no, no, no, none
of that.

Speaker 7 (17:51):
Somebody kicking with my hand there doesn't make sense. They're
tougher than me.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
So we talked a couple of weeks ago when Jake
Baust was here about the hammer that a special teams
player earns each week. And this week I understand the
players they couldn't decide. Their vote was split between the
guy who's coming here tonight, Kavika Bombgartner and your holder,
Nick Verdugo. Now, I bet all these people here at
the point Patti o'bar and bistro, and some of the

(18:17):
ones listening on the radio are saying, well, what can
a holder do to earn Special Teams Player of.

Speaker 6 (18:24):
The week in the locker room?

Speaker 3 (18:26):
Can you educate us a little bit on what variables
the holder has a little influence over? He has a lot.

Speaker 7 (18:31):
So first off, he directs when the ball snapped, so
he tells the center when to snap the ball, which.

Speaker 3 (18:37):
Is critical because it's all about timing with the kicker.

Speaker 7 (18:40):
When the kicker says I'm ready, and then he can
tell him, and then we have to have enough time
to snap it for when we normally was snapping in practice.
That's a whole I could go away into that a
little bit more. But once it's now hit the ball snap,
he has to catch it. So holders have to have
good hands. So a lot of quarterbacks are holders. A
lot of punters are holders becausey're always catching the ball. Okay,
for us, kicker backup punter, he's a holder, right, so

(19:04):
he catches it. The number one job after he catches
is the laces cannot be towards the foot.

Speaker 3 (19:10):
You got to turn the laces out because if he kicks.

Speaker 7 (19:12):
The laces, you can kick the ball the laces, but
it doesn't have the same lift, the same power, and
it hurts the foot of the kicker when the temperatures
get colder, So you want to always turn the laces
and now he can hit that ball square.

Speaker 3 (19:24):
So that's my story on the holder. Sounds like you
could be a special teams coach. H N. I kind
of like what I'm doing now. I think you're doing
a good job of what you're doing now. And so
Nick Verdugo, who you know is one of the just
statue wise, smallest guy on the team, had a big

(19:44):
role in Saturday's win because four times in that game
he had to turn the laces back away from the kicker.
Huge and you have what about half a second to.

Speaker 7 (19:53):
Do the second it's catch down, go go, and he
was perfect, automatic, automatic, And we actually have a camera
that specifically he just shows the laces specifically just for that.

Speaker 3 (20:05):
And I'm glad you pointed out too that the holder
in your system is also responsible for the timing of
the snap. Yeah, because there was a play in this
last weekend. I don't know if you saw it with
another team where the holder didn't know the ball was
getting snapped.

Speaker 6 (20:17):
I see it.

Speaker 3 (20:18):
I'm not going to say it was. He was looking
the wrong way and it hit him here and bounced
that way, and the whole play, you know, was ruined.
So the things we take for granted, Yeah, I'll keep
you up at night. Well it's the Bulldog Football Hour.
You never know what we're going to talk about here
with coach Tim Skipper, but you do know we're going
to be giving away T shirts by the end of
the night. Here at the Point Patio'barnbistro, Northwest corner of
Willow and Knees, brought to you by the American Pistachio

(20:40):
Growers powering the Valley one nut at a time. We
want to thank the American Pistachio Growers for their continued
supporter of Fresno State Athletics and for being the presenting
sponsor of our program. Yeah, you can go nuts for
the American Pistachio Growers. So momentum momentum, momentum you feel
it from game to game? How big a difference does

(21:03):
that make to come off a game like you had
the other night and try to start the next game
with that same kind of confidence, swagger, and maybe more
importantly execution definitely. You know, you just feel better when
you're winning. When you're winning, you just feel good. Everything's better.
You know, water tastes better when you're winning.

Speaker 7 (21:23):
So we'll carry that over, you know, the good vibes
and good feelings. But I always tell people, once that
balls kick the hall, you forget about all that stuff
and you have to win now. I mean, it's the
most physical, competitive game you could ever get into as
a football game. So your mind is always on the

(21:43):
moment and what's gonna happen next. So you have that
momentum when you run down a ramp, you feel all
that and everybody's excited and ready to go.

Speaker 3 (21:49):
But now it's time to hit the field.

Speaker 7 (21:51):
Your mind locks into that and you are now out
there on that field, sacrificing everything for.

Speaker 3 (21:56):
The win and being one on zero on each play
and then want to know for each game, and that's
the goal. Saturday at four o'clock against the Rainbow Warriors
of Hawaii. They're making a long trip here from the Islands.
The trip ahead presented always by Golden Eagle Charter, the
preferred motor coach and executive transportation service to Presno State Athletics.
So when you make that trip down the ramp Saturday

(22:17):
and get going against the bows, what's something What's the
number one thing on your list offensively that your offense
did Saturday that you'd like to see even more of
this week.

Speaker 7 (22:30):
That's two things. Protect the football. I think we did
a great job with that. I thought Mikey did a
great job of checking the ball down and then running
when he needed to, So I thought he did a
good job with those things like that, and then establishing
the run game.

Speaker 3 (22:42):
We have to continue to get that.

Speaker 7 (22:43):
We got to get over one hundred yards rushing, and
we did that last week and we need to continue
that again this week. When we can run the ball now,
we can do so much more. So we're a better
team when we can run the football.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
Did you ever ask him if he felt past or
in the black.

Speaker 7 (23:00):
I think everybody felt faster because they were a little
bit more excited. It's kind of like if the dog's chasing,
you feel like you're running faster, but you were wearing
a red shirt on the sideline. I was I can
never match the team, so pregame I had black on,
but when the game starts, I don't match the team
so the officials can see me and all that stuff.

Speaker 3 (23:18):
Yeah, little things, you got to stand out little things.
You know. I didn't ask you about this Monday in
the news conference, but I think I am going to
ask you about it now. And I apologize in advance
if I'm putting you on the spot, But I'm just
I think people be interested in what this means to you.
So after the game, you guys win the game, You've

(23:38):
got the Valley Trophy back. They sing Bulldog Spirit, and
in the locker room the players start chanting, we want skip,
we want skip, we want skip. Now, it's not their
job to make that decision, and I'm not asking you
so you can campaign. We got enough campaigning going on
in the world right now, right But what I am
curious about is what that meant to you. To hear

(24:00):
your players taking that moment when they have so much
to celebrate, to show that kind of support and appreciation
for you.

Speaker 7 (24:07):
I mean, it's awesome, you know, I love those guys
could feel the love back.

Speaker 3 (24:12):
We've been through a lot, you know.

Speaker 7 (24:14):
I mean, like ten days before training camp, this happened
and we had to get ready to go.

Speaker 3 (24:18):
We didn't have time to have all that fou foo
nice stuff going on. We had to get ready to
go play, right.

Speaker 7 (24:24):
So in my mind, it kind of was a moment
to kind of express all the hard work we have
done for these last couple of months and getting over
the hump and overcoming adversity and not listening to the
noise of negativity out there and just staying the course
and always being on the rise, and the guys buying
into that, and the coaches also, and it just all
came out in the locker room and it felt great.

Speaker 3 (24:46):
But we still have a lot.

Speaker 7 (24:47):
Of work to do, and hopefully we can continue to
keep winning games and keep chanting whatever we need a chant.

Speaker 3 (24:54):
And one of the reasons I decided I was going
to ask you about it, and I didn't ask you
ahead of time because that wouldn't have been fair, right
was I think it reflects something that's happening with the team,
where a championship team you know better than I do,
but I've never seen a championship team that didn't have
a real, deep, enduring, consistent trust, trust among players, trust

(25:17):
among coaches, trust between coaches and players. And to me,
that seemed like a reflection of how much this team
has grown together just in the last couple of weeks
after those back to back losses.

Speaker 7 (25:27):
Definitely, Like I'll tell everybody, adversity brings you together. It
brings you together, and you hit it on the head.
Championship teams are going to go through some moment like that.
How you respond to it is everything. I like the
way our guys have responded. We still have some responding
to do, but we're in a good spot right now.

Speaker 3 (25:43):
The guys are just feeling good. I mean, like I said,
you just.

Speaker 7 (25:46):
One win that Nevada, Just get that one win. All
streaks start at one, and you got to get that one.
And then now it carries over and now we are
in the conference playoff type mentality where just want to
win the next one. Just want to win the next one,
so you hit it on the head.

Speaker 3 (26:01):
Though. It feels good.

Speaker 7 (26:02):
To hear that and see the guys having love for
each other and wanting to go play the next one.
So I'm excited for these guys. I love those the
locker room. We have a great locker room. They're great
dudes and just love football and love this community.

Speaker 3 (26:16):
Amen to that and love to see the place full
again Saturday at four o'clock when it kicks off against Hawaii.
If you don't have your tickets yet, go Bulldogs dot com.
It is going to sell out and we are going
to have Kavika Bombgartner with us in a few minutes.
We'll have Coach talk about him when we come back.
If you've got a question for Coach Skip or for
Kavika centered our way us that x app and the
hashtag ask fs or better yet, come join us at

(26:38):
the point you might win a T shirt. Here till
seven o'clock, Still watching the Yankees. They're still up five
nothing on the Dodgers. Sorry Dodger fans tonight we want
to see Aaron Judge keep repping Fresno State a little longer,
don't we. Well, we'll be right back the Bulldog Football
Hour on the Bulldog Sports Network.

Speaker 12 (26:51):
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Speaker 6 (27:20):
Go Dogs.

Speaker 8 (27:22):
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friends at American Pistachio GRS. It is my favorite time
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head to sky, the rooftop Tepanyaki restaurant with unbelievable views,
or eagles landing a one of a kind stakhouse sing
along with Headliner entertainment before returning to one of the
luxurious suits have your own Lucky day followed by an
epic night at Table Mountain Casino Resort.

Speaker 10 (28:23):
Here in the heart of California, traditions are as deeply
rooted as the abundant fields that drape our valley. They
link us across generations. They make us who we are.
So what does it mean when traditions unite, When a
beacon of hope meets a source of pride, When you
combine a place that's full of life with people who
can save the life, we call it a victory for

(28:45):
our valley, for our kids, for generations to come. Valley
Children's official healthcare partner of the Fresno State Bulldogs.

Speaker 4 (28:53):
For me.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
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Speaker 3 (29:58):
Hell, Welcome back to the Bulldog Football Hour. We're about
halfway through tonight here till seven o'clock talking Fresno State football. Yeah,
you can watch the World Series here too, on the
beautiful patio of the Point Patio Bar and Bistro, where
the food is fantastic. Well, i'd ask everybody here, but
their mouths are full, so they probably shouldn't say anything
about those tachos with the extra halapanios right on top.

Speaker 6 (30:18):
Right there. The Brussels sprouts.

Speaker 3 (30:19):
Anybody get the tacos tonight, yep, pad tie, anyone try
the pad tie steak bites New York State flank steak.
I'll stop. It's all good. We know what coaches getting.
He tells us every week, the wings and the wedge salad. Right, yes, sir, okay,
glad you're staying consistent. He's coached Tim Skipper. In a moment,
we're going to talk to one of the veterans on

(30:40):
his defense, which has been incredible lately. The Bulldogs have
the number one defense in the Mountain West if you
judge it by yards allowed. Hawaii has the number one
defense in the Mountain West if you judge it by
points allowed. So we're gonna find out who the best
defense in the league is Saturday, four o'clock at Valley
Children Stadium and coach a lot of times on a defense.

(31:01):
The unsung heroes, especially in a four man front, are
the interior defensive lineman. They don't get a ton of
sack numbers. They're usually not getting picks. If they bat
a ball and somebody else catches it, it's the guy
who catches it that gets the credit. But man, if
you don't have some beef in the middle to set

(31:23):
that tone up front, it sure changes the defense. So
tell me what you've appreciated about a big number ninety
eight Covika Bombgardner.

Speaker 7 (31:29):
Before I get to Kevika being a former linebacker, the
number one thing I appreciate about those guys is they take.

Speaker 3 (31:36):
Up the blocks so the linebackers can run and go
make tackles.

Speaker 7 (31:38):
So that kind of answers how I had four hunder
eighteen tackles, good teammates, good interior d linemen. But with
Kavika came over here from junior college last year kind
of was feeling his way through things and trying to
understand the defense and all that, and then this year
you talk about a big, major difference. You can see
he's very comfortable in the system. He's a very physical player,

(32:01):
doesn't take any mess in the trenches. He'll fight them
old lineman, four quarters, doesn't matter what it is. I
think the main thing to say about him is his motor.
He has a non stop motor. I mean he goes
all the time, so he can get off blocks, disengage
and make some tackles. He's running on, chasing down screenplays
and things like that. I know you'll get to his

(32:22):
interception or Cam's interception when he was blocking and he
blocked a guy out the screen, I mean completely gone,
which never happens for a D lineman. So he's playing very,
very well. He's one of the big reasons we're so
good against the rush this year. We've only given up
one hundred yard rusher one time in one game this
all season. So he's doing a great job. Glad he's

(32:43):
here and wish we had him for some more years
to come. This will be his last year. Well that's
a pretty good introduction. We're gonna hear from Kavika in
just a moment.

Speaker 3 (32:52):
But since you brought up your four hundred and eighteen
tackles and that the guys up front, you know, maybe
we're responsible for you getting that opportunity. Do you need
to take this moment to thank any of those guys
personally that maybe had a bigger hand than others. I
thank them enough over the years. They don't need anymore.
They don't need it anymore.

Speaker 7 (33:09):
But some really good players Alan Harper to beat Lockhart.

Speaker 3 (33:13):
I mean, I could keep going on and on on.
I can't get into all the names, but those guys
made it happen.

Speaker 7 (33:19):
They're awesome. I buy them drinks or dinner every time
I see them. So those are my guys. Yeah, and
that was twenty five years ago, coach. But who is
your defensive coordinator back then?

Speaker 3 (33:29):
Kevin Coyle? Kevin cole Game, same guy. Now, that was
my point. The guy that he played for when he
was a linebacker as the defensive coordinator is now the
defensive coordinator under coach Skippers leadership coaching up these guys.
Has he changed it all in that quarter century?

Speaker 7 (33:45):
Yes, he's wearing glasses all the time, saying though knowledge
though great coach, great ball coach. I mean, I could
go on and on about him, but I need to
be able to yell out on the marrow, so I
won't do it now.

Speaker 3 (34:00):
So the last thing before I let you go and
we get ready for Kavika to take the stage. Here,
you're up against a Hawaii team that, similar to an
offense that was coming in back when you played Hawaii
was just going to the run and shoot under June
Jones with Nick Rolovich at quarterback. After Rollo came Timmy Chang,
who's their head coach?

Speaker 6 (34:18):
Now?

Speaker 3 (34:19):
Similar to what you saw last week A little different
wrinkle and a different trigger man in Brayden Shaker. You
mentioned you guys have only given up one one hundred
yard rusher all year, but he ran for over one
hundred last week as the quarterback for Hawaii. So before
you step away, how would you encapsulate the challenge Hawaii's
offense represents for that great Bulldog defense this Saturday.

Speaker 7 (34:39):
Major challenge to run the run and shoot. Timmy Chang's
the head coach. He was, I mean, prolific passer in
the offense, so he understands it to a t. But
I'm gonna tell you right now, they don't run it
all that often, but when they do, it's always explosive plays.

Speaker 3 (34:52):
We have to limit that.

Speaker 7 (34:53):
We cannot let them get the running backs going and
hit these explosive plays whenever they run it, and it
always comes at a time we you don't think they're
going run the ball, and all of a sudden they
run it. So we have to handle that. We have
to stop their screen game. And then like all games,
we cannot give up give up explosive pass plays. They're
gonna read our leveraging coverages and try to sit and seams,
and if we're playing real tight. They're gonna try to

(35:14):
get over the top of us, so we just have
to be smart. We have to make them one dimensional,
but we cannot forget about the run game. And then
if we can get some sacks on a quarterback, that's
always a good thing. Quarterbacks played a lot of games.
He's beating Freslel State over there on the island before,
so he'll be ready to go against us, and we
just have to play ball. We have to try to
confuse him and just play the defense. That's all it
is is play the defense.

Speaker 3 (35:35):
Sounds like you're ready to play tomorrow.

Speaker 5 (35:37):
I am.

Speaker 7 (35:37):
I'm I'm not sitting down tonight because I've been watching
film and I was meeting with the linebackers before I
came in here, so my adrenaline's going a little bit,
so sitting down wasn't an option.

Speaker 3 (35:46):
So anytime I'm standing like this because I can't sit. Now,
you know what makes this guy go huh? He is
coach Tim Skipper. When we come back, we're gonna hear
from Keavika bomb Gardner Bulldog defensive tackle. If you want
to win some T shirts before Saturday's game, these are
the T shirts that are going to be giving away Saturday,
but we have ten of them to give away tonight.
You've got to be here at the Point Patio Bar

(36:06):
and Bistro.

Speaker 7 (36:07):
Any final comment before we let you go, Coach, You
know what, just let's get to that stadium early. Let's
have fun, Let's be loud and do whatever type of
pran you have to do to keep the rain away,
and we'll be good.

Speaker 3 (36:19):
Sounds like a plan. Four o'clock Saturday is when it
kicks off. We're back from the Point right after this
the Bulldog Football Hour on the Bulldog Sports Network from their.

Speaker 6 (36:26):
Field, Bulldog fans.

Speaker 8 (36:28):
Just the old coach here, Pat Hill, here to tell
you about our friends at Table Mountain two thousand slot machines,
Hi Gal, Blackjack and Mini baccarac on a smoke free floor,
head to sky the rooftop Tepanyaki restaurant with unbelievable views,
or Eagles landing a one of a kind steakhouse, sing
along with headliner entertainment before returning to one of the

(36:50):
luxurious suites. Have your own lucky day, followed by an
epic night at Table Mountain Casino Resort.

Speaker 10 (36:57):
Here in the heart of California, traditions are deeply rooted
as the abundant fields that drape our valley.

Speaker 6 (37:03):
They link us across generations. They make us who we are.

Speaker 3 (37:07):
So what does it mean when traditions unite? When a
beacon of hope meets a source of pride.

Speaker 10 (37:13):
When you combine a place that's full of life with
people who can save a life, we call it a
victory for our valley, for our kids, for generations to come.
Valley Children's official healthcare partner of the Fresno State Bulldogs.

Speaker 8 (37:27):
Hey, this is coach Pat Hill here on behalf of
my friends at American Pistacho Grs. It is my favorite
time of the year because Bulldog football is back. This
also means that California pistasher Gers are working hard to
harvest my favorite healthy and delicious Knot just like building
a winning team on the football field, American pistasher Gers
has the dedication and commitment to excellence you need to
protect your investment now and into the future. So this harvest.

(37:48):
Joined me in over eight hundred of my friends and
become a member of American Pistachio Growers. Visit American Pistachio
dot org to learn more about American pistachio growers.

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Speaker 2 (38:56):
I'll across from River Park.

Speaker 12 (39:00):
Central Valley is high and thirty two below keeps you chill.
As the official ice provider of Fresno State Athletics. Thirty
two below is a proud, locally owned packaged ice service
company with service across the San Joaquin Valley. We have
the largest fleet of event trailers of any provider, and
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Speaker 6 (39:26):
Go Dogs.

Speaker 3 (39:32):
Hey, we're back here at the Point Patio Bar and Bistro,
and it looks like the did the Dodgers have the
bases loaded. Garrett Cole just got a strikeout, so don't
worry about that for now. We're talking football though. Yes,
the Yankees lead the Dodgers five nothing. Aaron Judge has
Homer tonight. A guy that might want to arm wrestle
Aaron Judge and you know, might tip the scale even

(39:55):
more than Eric Judge is going to join us here
in a second Bulldog defensive tackle that I'm going to
let our guest announcer, Glenn Zimmerman introduced for us tonight.
Glenn is the longtime voice of Danuba Emperor Football not
too far from here.

Speaker 4 (40:08):
Thanks Paul, and again we're talking Bulldog football and our
next guest is a defensive tackle. And if you were
at the game last Saturday night, you saw what our
defense did to Santase State. And we've got defensive tackle
Cavica bomb Gardner and he's Kevica.

Speaker 5 (40:28):
You have two championships behind you already. One is high school,
which is a tell of people where that is.

Speaker 13 (40:33):
That was at Clayon Valley Charter High School in Concord, California.

Speaker 3 (40:36):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (40:37):
And then you had a junior college championship.

Speaker 13 (40:39):
Yeah, the junior college was a national championship at college
se mate out in the bar.

Speaker 6 (40:43):
Are both in the bear, all right?

Speaker 4 (40:46):
And he he is six foot one and he weighs
roughly three hundred pounds. He's number ninety eight, and let's
give a guy warm Welcome to senior number ninety eight.

Speaker 5 (41:04):
Covica bomb Guarder.

Speaker 3 (41:10):
That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, And the six one,
three hundred was before he pounds a steak from the
point Patti obarn Bistro tonight. I'm just gonna guess you
ordered a steak, am I Right?

Speaker 6 (41:19):
Dude?

Speaker 3 (41:19):
Yeah, Okay, isn't that a requirement if you played d
line then you have got to go to state? So
which one did you get I got.

Speaker 6 (41:26):
The New York strip. Yeah, good choice.

Speaker 3 (41:28):
Yeah, little marble ain't going there. Yeah, medium, medium, rare,
medium guy. You're a medium guy. Medium, all right. So
Kavika as as you heard when Glenn asked him, there
is from the East Bay. Have you ever figured out
how your high school came up with that nickname the
Ugly Eagles?

Speaker 6 (41:44):
I did.

Speaker 13 (41:45):
So It's kind of funny because we get a lot
of people making fun of us for it. So I
guess in like nineteen sixty something, the team was so
ugly the coach just said, you guys are the Ugly Eagles,
and it stuck, and we throw up the U for it,
like we took a lot of pride in it, and
it's carried on. We got a big U on our
uniforms to this day.

Speaker 3 (42:02):
So yeah, And I understood from another friend of mine
who went there, that for a while that nickname got
taken away, like somebody thought, oh, we can't call ourselves
the Ugly Eagles anymore, that's not nice enough. And then
there was a ground soul of support to bring it back.

Speaker 13 (42:17):
Yeah, And so when we brought it back, it was
our head coach, Tim Murphy kind of brought it back.
He brought a black field, kind of brought that ugly
like play style, just dirty, gritty play.

Speaker 6 (42:27):
Style, and we just embraced it.

Speaker 3 (42:29):
And you know, and Tim Murphy, a lot of people
here know he was at Clovis East before he went
back to the East Bay to Clayton Valley and his
coaching style is a little different from from coach Tim Skippers.

Speaker 13 (42:41):
I think, yeah, they're both great coaches, but like you said,
very different. Coach Murphy's like very old school, you know,
just I think we only passed the ball twice a
game at most, and at most so yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:56):
Yeah, well he was running the double wing double wing. Yeah, yep,
I remember it well. But when they did pass it,
nobody saw it coming. No one, kind of like what
coach Skip was saying about Hawaii running the football when
the Bows choose to do that. So you played it
at Clayton Valley High then you go to San Mateo,
home of the Bulldogs Sam Matteo Junior College, playing for

(43:17):
a national championship. Yeah, was that a pressure pack situation?
Was that all gravy? What did that feel like to?
You know, you were playing on that kind of moment,
it felt great?

Speaker 13 (43:26):
Like I truly believe I went to the best junior
college in the world. From my team to that twenty
twenty two team had thirty five guys get Division one offers.

Speaker 3 (43:34):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (43:35):
So we had a lot of pride.

Speaker 13 (43:38):
And you know, when you get to those types of games,
you made it that far, you just you sell out
on everything you got and you're just really proud to
be Then you got to finish the job.

Speaker 3 (43:48):
And so you'd accomplished that. I mean, a state championship
in high school with Clayton Valley, a national championship on
top of a state title in junior college. What was
it about the program here at Fresno State that drew
you here to the Valley? I just loved it because
you could feel the culture here.

Speaker 13 (44:02):
Like I came from two programs with strong culture, and
I went to other schools and visits, but nothing compared
to Fresno. The family culture. Yeah, but how much the
you could just feel it. You know, some schools say
it Fresno's really about it, and you could feel it.
They weren't faking it. It was the most authentic program
in my opinion that I went to. And everything they

(44:22):
told me when they were recruiting me is lived up
to the standard, nothing changed, which I appreciate, and I'm
happy that it stayed like that.

Speaker 3 (44:29):
You know, So Coach Skipper might want to get a
recording of what you just said and use that in
recruiting the most authentic program, because there's no substitute for authenticity,
is there. I think there was a famous quote when
time someone said, once you can fake sincerity, you've got
it made, but you really can't fake a genuine spirit.
And it sounds like that's what you felt from the

(44:50):
coaches and maybe even the players here right for sure.

Speaker 13 (44:53):
And just you know, I heard about him recruiting them
my first home game, hearing about the Red Wave.

Speaker 6 (44:58):
Like it was crazy. I felt the support.

Speaker 13 (45:00):
I could see it, you know, like I heard about it,
and it's just great seeing it and then being here
for a full year, it's like I really feel like
I'm part of the valley now, coming from the Bay Area.
Like you can feel the love out here that they
talk about.

Speaker 3 (45:13):
So yeah, I think that's music to a lot of
ears out here. At the Point Patio Bar and Bistro,
We're talking to defensive tackle Kavika Bombgartner and you know,
last week, you guys got to wear the black uniforms.
We were kidding on the air that Mikey Kane looked
faster in the black uniform, and Coach Skipp just said
everybody was faster in the black uniform. So did a

(45:33):
three hundred pound defensive tackle feel faster in a black uniform?

Speaker 6 (45:36):
I felt faster, but I think I.

Speaker 13 (45:37):
Felt a little slimmer too, like uh huh, Like, yeah,
we were all feeling a little slimmer, you know, with
the whole black.

Speaker 6 (45:44):
But I felt faster. I felt good, you know.

Speaker 3 (45:48):
And so this week is going to be interesting. The
helmet's right in front of you. Last year was the
debut of this but a Table Mountain Casino Resort, which
happens to be sponsoring our show tonight, have a Lucky Day,
followed by an epic night only a Table Mountain Casino resort.
They said, you need to do a Native American Heritage night,
and we're going to make the jerseys and or the
uniforms have a special Native American flair. They consulted the

(46:09):
other tribes around the area to make sure they weren't
offending anyone, and came up with this logo design where
the feathers are under the bulldogs there, So that's paying
tribute to our area and the native tribes that were
here before what we know today now. And if you've
got to comment on that, I welcome it. But I'm
also interested in kind of your heritage, because there are

(46:30):
a lot of players on this team that have Polynesian heritage.
Some of them are Tongan, some of them are Samoan,
some of them are from other places. And we can
kind of decipher your heritage just by your first and
last name.

Speaker 6 (46:44):
Here, right.

Speaker 13 (46:45):
So I was telling them earlier that I'm half Smow
and half German. So my first name is very Smoan
and my last name, Bombgerner, is very German. So I'm
very proud in both cultures. And i was raised in
Smollan culture. So, like I said, a moment, people got
a lot of pride so in their culture, and I
would say that carried on to how I lived my life,

(47:05):
just with respect, pride of my culture and representing who
I am, so.

Speaker 3 (47:12):
And have you you know. So there are a lot
of other guys on this team too, where maybe it's
their mom who has the Polynesian background, or it's dad.
A lot of times it's not both of them, right,
You're not alone in that Lavelle Bailey last year for instance. Right,
have you met anybody else that's half Samoe and half German.
That's kind of a different combo.

Speaker 6 (47:30):
I have, so like, maybe not exactly half.

Speaker 3 (47:33):
But they're cheering for the Dodgers. Yeah, they just tied
the score at five Dodger fans. Congratulations. Judge hasn't done yet,
just saying, so you have met some other folks besides
your little brother.

Speaker 6 (47:47):
Yeah, but yeah, they're being German for some reason.

Speaker 13 (47:51):
You know, a lot of simoons have some German in them,
so like Gyrostele, he's got a little bit of German
in him. So yeah, and we call it afakassi that
means half way half smong.

Speaker 14 (48:01):
So officasi Yeah, and then a f U k A
s i Yeah yeah, wait a f A k A
s i Okay Officasi Okay.

Speaker 3 (48:12):
I'll have to remember that saying we learned something every
week here at the Bulldog Football Hour, and we're going
to learn more from Kavika Bambgartner when we come back.
If you've got a question for him, send it our
way on the x app or Twitter with that hashtag
ask fs the Point Patio Barnbistro here till seven o'clock
on the Bulldog Sports Network from their field.

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Speaker 3 (51:34):
Welcome back to the Bulldog Football Hour. Coming down the
home stretch here at the Point Patiobarabistro. We've got t
shirts to give away. In about ten minutes, but until then,
we're talking Bulldog football. With Fresno State senior defensive tackle
Kavika Bombgartner. You heard him say he came from the
East Bay to the Valley and has fallen in love
with our community. You heard him say he's half Samoan,

(51:54):
half German. He's got some other Polynesian players on this team,
and you guys are playing the school in college football
that more than anyone else, is known for that Polynesian pride.
The hawk has been a big thing for a long
time with Hawaii. They've done it on Fresno States field.
I don't know if Bulldog fans appreciated that all that much.
Does that bring up a little extra for you and

(52:17):
your poly friends on the team to be going up
against the Rainbow Warriors.

Speaker 13 (52:20):
I think I approach every game the same. I do, though,
have an understanding of how those boys think, and I
have a lot of respect for them, and they carry
a chip on their shoulder because a lot of them
that may come from Samoa that's the only way out
to Division one football, and a lot again them get
offered by Hawaii. So I do respect that, and I
know they got a ship. But I treat every game

(52:41):
the same, So I'm coming the same every game.

Speaker 6 (52:44):
That's a good answer.

Speaker 3 (52:45):
Yeah, And you said before that growing up in the
Samoan culture has really been impactful for you, and maybe
you can give us those of us who didn't grow
up in that culture a taste of what that's really
meant for you. What are some of the things you
think you'd be missed if you didn't have that experience.

Speaker 13 (53:02):
I think it's just respect, Respecting your family, your parents,
your elders.

Speaker 6 (53:06):
That's very big. So I make sure disrespect everybody.

Speaker 13 (53:10):
So that appreciating your family, appreciating your loved ones because
you know, you never know. And I would say respects
a big one. Just treating people back. So I said,
just respect. I really, that's the first thing that comes
off my mind is just respect, hard working, humble, be humble.
You don't need to make a play and gloat, you know,
give it to God and you just stay humble and

(53:31):
you work.

Speaker 3 (53:32):
So boy, it's a novel idea. Make a play and
don't gloat. That seems like that's always seen these days anymore.
We won't be seeing Kavika get any celebration penalties.

Speaker 6 (53:42):
We'll put it that way.

Speaker 3 (53:44):
But you did go a little overboard on Saturday on
one particular play, and as a result, you did something
I can't remember ever hearing this happened before because every
game Special Teams coach John Baxter has a sledgehammer. He's
been doing this for thirty years, and whoever has the
best game on Special Teams is awarded the hammer after

(54:04):
the game. And you weren't playing Special Teams. You got
this for a defensive play, right, So tell us what
happened and how surprised were you that you were honored
by the Special Teams unit for what you did on
an interception?

Speaker 13 (54:18):
Yeah, so I was. I was very surprised. I was
confused because we usually give to a Special Teams guy
and we nominate, bring people up, cheer for them. And
then he called me up, and I was confusing. I
guess he counted cam Locke's return as a return. Returns
a return, so he called me up and then it
came down to me and the holder. We tied for
Special Teams Player of the Week, and you know, it

(54:38):
was a great feeling. Just you know, I got a
coin that you get and it had all the Special
Teams on and like I said, it was just great.

Speaker 6 (54:45):
It was a great feeling.

Speaker 3 (54:47):
So the reason Coach Baxter said discounts for special teams
is it was a return, right, you've got a punt return,
You've got a kick return. This was an interception return.
But explain to everybody what you did, because all Coach
Skip told us was you disappeared from v like you
blocked your guy off the screen. So from the start
of that play to the end of the play, what
do you remember it? How can you make us feel

(55:07):
it if we weren't there.

Speaker 6 (55:08):
Yeah, So I just remember quarterback throwing the ball.

Speaker 13 (55:11):
I turn around, Camlock gets a pig and I'm like, okay,
I see the first person in white. I'm like, I'm
taking him to the ground. So I've seen the first
guy in white, and I'm like, we're about to score.

Speaker 6 (55:20):
Take this to the house.

Speaker 13 (55:21):
And I just kept driving him, and I kept thinking
cam was behind me, and I turned around after the
play and he was tackled. So I was like, I'm
gonna just keep going. But I just kept driving him,
driving him, and I didn't realize how far, but they
said it was like twenty eight yards and on film
it was out of the screen.

Speaker 6 (55:36):
But I was just trying to take him as far
as I could and score.

Speaker 3 (55:40):
But yeah, defensive tackles typically don't have a reason to
move twenty eight yards in one direction or another on
the field, at least north and south. But that's what
Kavika did to earn that award. He took him for
a real ride. And we're brought to you tonight by
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(56:00):
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dot com. So maybe out of play some special teams
now that you've got that in.

Speaker 6 (56:09):
Your repertoire, wherever they need me. So yeah, little.

Speaker 3 (56:12):
Field goal block and a little push.

Speaker 6 (56:14):
Yeah, I'm gonna field goal block and that's fun. Like
we're going to block a kick this year, So yeah.

Speaker 3 (56:20):
This week might be a good week.

Speaker 6 (56:21):
This is a great week. Every week's a great week
to block a kid.

Speaker 3 (56:25):
And you know, I was talking to coach Skip earlier
about how the team just in the last couple of
weeks seems to have really taken a step forward in
terms of togetherness, trust and cohesion. If you disagree with that,
feel free, But if you do see some of that happening,
maybe you can help us understand how and why. What
are some of the things that you think have shifted
or changed or or maybe come into focus for you

(56:47):
guys as players.

Speaker 1 (56:48):
Right.

Speaker 13 (56:49):
I first, I'll give the credit to the coaches, because
the coaches are the leaders of the team and they
set the foundation.

Speaker 6 (56:55):
So when we came off to losses you n V.

Speaker 13 (56:58):
Washington State, it was really a lot of teams could
go in the tank from that, but Coach Ski kept
us the energy high and nothing changed anything. Everything elevated.
So and the chemistry of the team's always been there.
So I feel like that showed like how this team
really is because two losses, it's like we don't care.
We got to go want to know this week, knocked
off Nevada and now just want to know this week

(57:19):
san Jo, And I think now we're rolling and like
I said, the coaches, the coaches just keep us rolling.
And the chemistry is there. So that's that's what I say,
is there and it's growing, so.

Speaker 3 (57:29):
And let's keep it that way before we run out
of time. I've got to remind everybody we're brought to you
tonight by thirty two below Ice the official ice provider
of Fresno State Athletics and by Bulldog Bread, the official
nil collective of Fresno State Athletics. You can support student
athletes by visiting Bulldog Bread be our ead dot com.
One more question before we go. It's from Maddox who's
in eighth grade defensive tackle. So he wants to follow

(57:51):
in your footsteps and he wants to know what's your
favorite pass rushing move to get past an on lineman.

Speaker 13 (57:57):
Okay, so I would say my favorite pass rush removes
the bull rush and that will get them going backwards
and leaning, and then you can use to counter off
that a push pool. So once they start leaning, you
bull rush them. They're gonna start leaning, then you pull
them in.

Speaker 6 (58:11):
That's I would say, bull rush.

Speaker 3 (58:12):
To set up the push pool and then you're past
them and the quarterbacks feeling the steak that.

Speaker 6 (58:17):
You ate the night before.

Speaker 3 (58:18):
Yep, yep, Well, Kavika, we hope you enjoy that steak.
Thanks for giving us a little insight into your world
and this team. Have fun against the Bows on Saturday
night and keep representing.

Speaker 6 (58:29):
I will appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (58:31):
Kevika Bombgartner, Senior defensive tackle of your Fresno State Bulldogs,
who can become bull eligible Saturday with a win against Hawaii.
We'll see you there at Valley Children Stadium for that
four o'clock kickoff. Thanks for listening to the Bulldog Football
Hour tonight on the Bulldog Sports Network from their field.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
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(59:40):
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