Fresno State Athletics
Mathews Honored by WAC
9/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 2, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. - Ryan Mathews emerged for his sophomore season in a big way in Fresno State's win at Rutgers. In doing so, Mathews was named the WAC Offensive Player of the Week, the second time in his career he's won the award.
Mathews, a sophomore from Bakersfield, Calif. (West HS), rushed a career-high 26 times for 163 yards and scored all three Fresno State touchdowns in a 24-7 win at Rutgers on Monday. Mathews rushed for 106 yards and scored all three touchdowns in the second half of a game that was tied 0-0 at the intermission. He also had his first career reception that went for 20 yards to rack up 183 all-purpose yards in the game.
"Ryan Mathews is a special, special young man," said head coach Pat Hill. "He's a good person and an extremely gifted athlete. I think as this season goes on you will see that we have some really good offensive players in our program. Ryan was the hot hand against Rutgers and we rode him in the second half."
The Dogs are off until Sept. 13 when they will host No. 12 Wisconsin at Bulldog Stadium. Tickets for the game are available by clicking the tickets icon at the top of the this page.
Louisiana Tech safety Deon Young and Louisiana Tech placekicker Brad Oestriecher were named the Western Athletic Conference defensive and special teams players of the week, respectively.
Others nominated on offense: freshman quarterback Kellen Moore, Boise State; senior running back Patrick Jackson, Louisiana Tech; sophomore running back Vai Taua, Nevada; and junior quarterback Kyle Reed, San Jose State.
Also nominated on defense: freshman linebacker Aaron Tevis, Boise State; junior safety Marvin Haynes, Fresno State; and sophomore defensive end Dontay Moch, Nevada.
Other special teams nominations: sophomore punter Brad Elkin, Boise State; sophomore punter Robert Malone, Fresno State; sophomore punter Brad Langley, Nevada; and sophomore placekicker/punter Peter Caldwell, Utah State.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The first Big Ten team will travel to the Valley on September 13 as the No. 25 `Dogs take on Wisconsin in the home opener at 7:30 p.m. The game can be seen nationally on ESPN2. All tickets are on sale now. Get your official Wisconsin game day t-shirt at the Bulldog Shop for only $10 with any purchase. To purchase tickets, click on the tickets icon at the top of this page, call the Bulldog Ticket Office at (559) 278-DOGS, or stop by the Bulldog Ticket Office.
