Fresno State Athletics
Mathews, Jefferson Honored by the WAC
10/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 8, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. - Coming off a dominating performance at Nevada's Mackay Stadium last Saturday, two Bulldog football players earned WAC Player of the Week honors.
The Western Athletic Conference announced Monday freshman running back Ryan Mathews was named the WAC Offensive Player of the Week, and Fresno State's multi-talented sophomore cornerback A.J. Jefferson was named the Special Teams Player of the Week.
Fresno State defeated Nevada 49-41, in a game that the Dogs led 49-20 with just over six minutes remaining in the game. It was Fresno State's fourth win in the last five games at Mackay Stadium, as the Dogs have beaten the Wolf Pack seven times in the last eight games overall. The Dogs improved to 3-2 on the season and 2-0 in the WAC.
Mathews, a freshman from Bakersfield, Calif. (West HS), rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries in Fresno State's 49-41 win at Nevada. He had a three-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter and then added a 54-yard scoring run in the second quarter and a 67-yard touchdown on the first offensive play of the second half. Mathews averaged 12.2 yards per carry and finished six yards shy of tying the school freshman single-game rushing record set by Derek Ward in 1999.
Others nominated on offense: sophomore wide receiver Jeremy Childs, Boise State; junior quarterback Tyler Graunke, Hawai`i; freshman quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Nevada; and junior wide receiver Kevin Jurovich, San Jose State.
Jefferson, a sophomore from Bakersfield, Calif. (West HS), returned three kicks for 108 yards and returned a blocked field goal 40 yards for a touchdown in the Bulldogs' win at Nevada. His 36-yard average on kick returns put the Bulldogs in good field position each time, enabling Fresno State to score a touchdown on all three drives. His touchdown gave the Bulldogs a 28-13 lead in the second quarter just as Nevada was trying to cut the lead to 21-17 on the attempted field goal.
Other special teams nominations: senior punt returner Marty Tadman, Boise State; sophomore kick returner Malcolm Lane, Hawai`i; sophomore kick returner Dwayne Sanders, Nevada; and senior kick returner Kevin Robinson, Utah State.
Hawai`i linebacker Solomon Elimimian was selected the defensive player of the week. Also nominated on defense: sophomore cornerback Kyle Wilson, Boise State; freshman linebacker Ben Jacobs, Fresno State; junior cornerback Weldon Brown, Louisiana Tech; and senior linebacker Matt Castelo, San Jose State.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - Fresno State Football travels to play at Idaho on October 13th at 2 p.m. See the game on BSN, the Bulldog Sports Network (KFRE CW 59, KUVI in Bakersfield, and Comcast Sports Net) starting at 12:30 p.m. with Bulldog Blitz pregame show. The game can also be heard on the radio on KMJ 580AM, the flagship station for Bulldog football and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes 1600AM. The next home game is Saturday, October 20th on Homecoming as the Bulldogs take on San Jose State at 2 p.m. For tickets, go to the ticket page at www.gobulldogs.com, call 559-278-DOGS or stop by the Bulldog Ticket Office.
