Matt Weir / The Collegian

Fresno State will need to play as underdogs Saturday at Wisconsin

“Let It Be.” I am not exactly sure if Sir Paul and The Beatles were talking about college football 39 years ago when they wrote these lyrics that have transcended all the way to my generation. But isn’t that the beauty of music?

Each person can interpret it his or her own way. And this particular song struck me on my way home from Fresno State’s 51-0 thrashing of UC Davis.

Following the press conferences after most Fresno State home games, I hop in my car and turn on sports talk radio. OK, sports talk is on nearly all the time in my car. I don’t even have to think about it anymore.

So I started the engine after a 10-minute walk and KMJ-AM 580 is already in full “Dog Talk” mode. There were rabid Bulldog fans calling in from across the Valley ecstatic about the victory.

“This is the year … finally!”

“That was a special team I saw out on that field tonight … this is going to be a special season.”

“I can’t wait to see Boise State and Fresno State play in two weeks. I guarantee both teams will be undefeated!”

And that was only one guy.

Man, I wanted to listen to all the fans enjoying the moment and I really did want to believe it. But I don’t think that right now is the time to say it.

So instead, I switched my car stereo from AM radio to CD player a couple of miles from home. I had put in a Beatles’ CD a few days earlier and it just happened to still be in the player. And the switch offered me “words of wisdom.”

Matt Weir / The Collegian

Yes, Red Wave, the Fresno State football team looked stellar Saturday night. And yes, coach Pat Hill’s squad looked ready to take on Wisconsin and, maybe, even Boise State.

But take it from the Fab Four and just “let it be.” Let’s not get crazy here.

I am not saying because the ’Dogs only beat UC Davis, a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team, that the victory means nothing.

Fresno State handled its business. In his first start, quarterback Ryan Colburn captained an offense that couldn’t be stopped. And the defense played with a bend-but-don’t-break-mentality. But there wasn’t more than a couple inches of give in their bend.

And that was the 20-second synopsis. The game was brutal for UC Davis.

But rather than going out and shouting to the whole world, or all of your Facebook friends, how good the Bulldogs are, just keep it under wraps. That may even be part of the game plan.

In Hill’s 13-year tenure with the Bulldogs, his team has relished in the “us against the world” attitude. That’s what a giant killer has to do.
On Monday, Hill said, “I don’t really worry about underdog or favorite.”

And with that, I’ll take the man at his word. I don’t think he really cares that Wisconsin is favored by eight points.

But at the same time, I know there are plenty of people that do care about being an underdog. I would have to guess that there are 65 of them boarding a plane for Madison, Wis. Friday morning at 6 a.m.

You may think that Fresno State is going to go undefeated this season and is on track for a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) birth. But take a page from Hill’s playbook and simply say, “Wisconsin is a good football team.”

For the time being, let your Bulldogs keep the tenacity and drive an underdog needs and keep those corn-fed Wisconsin boys fat, happy and not knowing what’s coming.

Dust off your Beatles albums or look them up on iTunes and just “let it be.”