At top of WAC, Hawkins
keeps his poker face

BOISE doesn't rhyme with poise, but it looks like it does in print, so work with me.

Maybe that's the biggest difference between the Boise State and Fresno State football programs -- their respective levels of composure.

The talent is similar, and some would argue it's better at Fresno. Just two weeks ago the Bulldogs were ahead of the Broncos in the polls. Pat Hill's boys didn't become worse players since.

But Fresno State, after blitzing past BCS conference big-names, suffered an early Western Athletic Conference meltdown the likes of which we haven't seen since ... well, since 2001, by Fresno State.

Remember Boise's bushwacking of the No. 8 Bulldogs in their own kennel? Remember Nate Jackson's sack of David Carr and Ashley Lelie's game-winning touchdown?

This year's collapse might be worse, considering it happened against lower caliber -- at least in the national perception -- league competition.

Still, losing to Louisiana Tech isn't so bad if you can follow it up by getting back on the horse and beating Texas-El Paso. (And it would've helped if LaTech didn't follow its big win by being slaughtered by Auburn, as predictable as that might have been.)

Fresno State coach Pat Hill likes to use poker analogies. He proclaimed the Bulldogs to be "all-in" at Washington and Kansas State, and his chip count increased both times.

But after losing a big pot to LaTech, Fresno was on "tilt" -- poker-ese for off-balance, flustered and vulnerable. A bad time to meet up with Mike Price's pickaxe, even if it was in Fresno.

I like Hill's emotion, his fire, his willingness to risk all. I bet his players do, too. But his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. The higher the highs after wins, the lower the lows after losses. And the players follow the coach's lead.

Boise State coach Dan Hawkins' approach is more clinical and slick. Yesterday, he managed to tell a reporter that winning every game isn't that important with a straight voice (remember, this was not a video conference).

He sounded like a financial advisor/psychologist:

"We don't really put our aspirations into that. Maybe deep down that's the goal for every team. We expect to get better, compete. Not so much heavy emphasis on the product, we try to invest in the process."

A major component of the portfolio strategy is partnering with players, judging from Hawkins' comment on dealing with former wild-child quarterback Jared Zabransky:

"Every coach has to respect those guys in the arena. I yield to him to some degree with what he's seeing, what he likes. It's a situation where we respect each other, work with each other."

Not that Hill doesn't. But he was asked yesterday if team dissension is a concern, following reports of internal malignancy after the loss in Louisiana.

"Absolutely. It's been addressed," Hill said. "We've got kids who are highly competitive and want to win. But there's no place for it. The team played hard and played together (against UTEP).

"We have fingers pointing from outside (now), not from inside."

Hill may have righted the ship, but it doesn't matter anymore to anyone outside of the WAC. And at 0-2 in the conference, even a league championship is a near impossibility.

All Hill can do now is rebuild his bankroll for next year. He can start Oct. 23 by sending Hawkins' blue-chip stock crashing. But I wouldn't bet on it.