What’s the story with the Fresno State football Takeaway Money Cape? Players, coach explain
There are turnover chains and belts and thrones and robes and beads and all manner of rewards across the college football landscape. A few years ago Kennesaw State broke out a turnover plank, which, basically, was a piece of wood with wide eyes and a thin smile drawn on it.
Apparently, that’s a big-time party on a budget.
So the Takeaway Money Cape that the Fresno State Bulldogs unveiled last week in their victory at UNLV has some company out there. Grab an interception or a fumble and the prize awaits on the Bulldogs sideline.
It is an interesting sartorial choice, being a cape and all. It’s a bright lime green or chartreuse and emblazoned with dollar signs, which is another matter altogether.
It’d probably be endorsed by former Bulldogs quarterback Derek Carr, who aside from setting 27 school records is the biggest “Batman” fan to ever walk through the locker room doors and in fact tried very hard to convince some of his teammates that, yes, he was in fact the Caped Crusader.
Takeaway Cape – easy to spot, hard to explain
Cornerback Chris Gaston, who intercepted two second-half passes at UNLV, tried to explain it after the game.
“If you get a takeaway in the game, you get the cape put on you. I don’t really know what the dollar signs mean. I think it just means you’re getting paid. You’re getting money. That’s it.”
The Bulldogs didn’t appear to know what to make of it, at first, but it’s meaning wasn’t to be missed on a defense that is tied with San Diego State for third in the Mountain West Conference with five takeaways this season.
“Coach (William) Inge just brought it in one day and we all kind of looked at each other like, ‘What is going on?’” said safety Evan Williams. “That’s his thing. He’s bought into it and the guys have to buy into it, as well. We all want a piece of that cape, of course.
“Not much has been coming my way these first few games, but I’m thirsty to get my first turnover this year. I’m going to be ripping at the ball and just ripping and running, trying to make every play that I can.”
Takeaway Cape traveled a long way to Fresno
The Takeaway Cape has been with Inge, the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator, since he was at Buffalo, then at Indiana and now at Fresno State. It’s the creation, he said, of former Buffalo defensive end Steven Means, who now plays for the Atlanta Falcons and is a teammate of former Bulldogs linebacker Mykal Walker.
“He’s the individual who brought it in and said, ‘Coach, we need to do this,’” Inge said. “We were always talking about how critical third downs were – it was the quote-unquote money down. So the individual who made the most plays on third down was the person who got the cape.
“Obviously, over the years, knowing the importance and how you stress takeaways, it has kind of evolved into our money Takeaway Cape.
“That is the history and tradition of the Money Cape. It has been folded, locked away and kind of hidden for a number of years. We did use it at our previous place at Indiana with some special teams guys who did their job exceptionally. The main premise is, indirectly, when you do your job very well, it puts kind of the indirect money in your pocket.”