Mountain West Conference Football Press Release Week No. 2

Sept. 2, 2008

Mountain West Conference Football Press Release Week No. 2

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS (AUG. 30 & 31)

Saturday, August 30
Air Force 41, Southern Utah 7 (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Attendance - 39,180)
Wyoming 21, Ohio 20 (Laramie, Wyo.; Attendance - 20,430)
Utah 25, #24 Michigan 23 (Ann Arbor, Mich.; Attendance - 108,421)
#16/17 BYU 41, Northern Iowa 17 (Provo, Utah; Attendance - 64,108)
TCU 26, New Mexico 3 (Albuquerque, N.M. Attendance - 31,583)
UNLV 27, Utah State 17 (Las Vegas, Nev.; Attendance - 18,815)
Cal Poly 29, San Diego State 27 (San Diego, Calif.; Attendance - 26,851)

Sunday, Aug. 31
Colorado 38, Colorado State 17 (Denver, Colo; Attendance - 69,619)

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (SEPT. 1, 2008)

Offensive Player of the Week
BRIAN JOHNSON, UTAH
Senior, Quarterback, Baytown, Texas/Robert E. Lee HS
Brian Johnson helped lead Utah to a 25-23 season-opening win on the road at No. 24 Michigan. The senior quarterback threw for 305 yards and a touchdown, while completing 21-of-33 passes. In the first half, Johnson completed 15-of-23 passes for 253 yards to help Utah build a 22-10 lead at the break. He led the Utes to a score on the first offensive series, highlighted by a 55-yard pass to Jereme Brooks, after Michigan had scored to take the early lead. Johnson helped Utah keep Michigan's offense off the field via a 35:54-24:06 advantage in time of possession.

Defensive Player of the Week
JERRY HUGHES, TCU
Junior, Defensive End, Sugar Land, Texas/Austin HS
Jerry Hughes keyed a TCU defense which limited New Mexico to nine first downs and 186 yards of offense in the Horned Frogs' 26-3, conference-opening win over the Lobos in Albuquerque. The junior defensive end totaled six tackles, including 1.5 for a loss and one sack to go with an interception, forced fumble and fumble recovery.

Special Teams Player of the Week
LOUIE SAKODA, UTAH
Senior, Place Kicker/Punter, San Jose, Calif./Branham HS
Louie Sakoda accounted for 13 of Utah's 25 points in the win at No. 24 Michigan. The senior place kicker/punter converted all four field goal attempts (28, 43, 41 and 53 yards) and tied his own school record for field goals in a game. His career-long 53-yard field goal in the third quarter proved to be the difference in the game. With his efforts, Sakoda moved into second place in Utah's record books for career made field goals (39). Sakoda also had an outstanding night punting, averaging 47 yards on six punts while placing three of those inside Michigan's 15-yard line. Three of his kicks went for 50 yards or more, including a long of 59 yards and a 52-yarder kicked from Utah's end zone.

WEEK 1 RECAP
The 2008 football season kicked off Saturday as TCU and New Mexico got an early start to the Mountain West portion of their schedules, while the remainder of the league posted a combined 5-2 mark in non-conference play. In Albuquerque, the Horned Frogs took an early MWC lead with a 26-3 victory over the Lobos. Meanwhile, the league's non-conference slate was highlighted by Utah's 25-23 road win over No. 24 Michigan. In other action, Air Force thrashed Southern Utah (41-7), BYU beat Northern Iowa (41-17), UNLV held off Utah State (27-17), Wyoming edged Ohio (21-20), Colorado State lost to Colorado (38-17) and San Diego State fell to Cal Poly (29-27).

WEEK 2 PREVIEW
All nine teams will be in action in Week Two with two Mountain West and five non-conference contests scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 6. In Conference play, Air Force travels to Wyoming (1:30 p.m. MT, CBS C), while UNLV visits #22/23 Utah (6 p.m. MT, The Mtn.). On the non-conference side of the schedule, #15 BYU plays at Washington (12 p.m. PT, FSN), Colorado State hosts Sacramento State (1:30 p.m. MT), San Diego State heads to Notre Dame (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC), New Mexico entertains Texas A&M (3 p.m. MT, VERSUS) and TCU welcomes Stephen F. Austin (6 p.m. CT).

THE MTN.'S ON DIRECTV
DIRECTV, the nation's leading satellite television service provider, launched the MountainWest Sports Network - The Mtn. on Aug. 27. The Mtn. is available on Channel 616 on DIRECTV CHOICE^TM and above packages for the states servicing Mountain West Conference institutions (Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and the designated market areas of Dallas/Fort Worth and San Diego). Customers throughout the remainder of the country are able to access The Mtn. with a subscription to DIRECTV's Sportspack.

FOUR QUARTERBACKS MAKE MWC DEBUTS IN OPENING WEEKEND
Four quarterbacks made their first Mountain West Conference start last weekend: Air Force's Shea Smith, Colorado State's Billy Farris, San Diego State's Ryan Lindley and Wyoming's Dax Crum. The four QBs posted a record of 2-2 and combined for 62 yards rushing and 816 yards through the air.

MWC DEFENSES STAUNCH AGAINST RUN IN WEEK 1
Four MWC teams held their opponents to under 60 yards of total rushing in the first weekend of action. Air Force limited Southern Utah to just seven yards, Utah kept Michigan to 36 yards, Wyoming allowed Ohio 39 yards and TCU gave up just 56 yards on the ground.

MWC HAS THREE 300-YARD PASSERS IN WEEK 1
There were 16 quarterbacks in the FBS that passed for 300 or more yards in the opening weekend of the college football season. The MWC tied the Big 12 and Pac-10 for the most 300-yard passers with three. BYU junior Max Hall posted 486 passing yards and a touchdown in the 41-17 win over Northern Iowa; San Diego State freshman Ryan Lindley threw for 352 yards in a 27-29 loss to Cal Poly; and Utah senior Brian Johnson put up 305 passing yards in the 25-23 win at #24 Michigan.

BYU'S PITTA POST HIGHEST NCAA RECEIVING TOTAL IN WEEK 1
BYU sophomore tight end Dennis Pitta recorded 11 receptions for a career-best 213 yards in the #16 Cougar's win over Northern Iowa. Pitta set the MWC record for receiving yards by a tight end with his performance, breaking Jonny Harline's record of 181 yards against Oregon in the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl against Oregon. Pitta's performance against Northern Iowa also marked the top receiving performance during the opening week of the 2008 season.

UTAH'S SAKODA SHINES AT MICHIGAN
Utah senior kicker/punter Louie Sakoda was one of five kickers in the FBS to hit four field goals in the opening week of the season. Sakoda connected on all four attempts, tying his own school record for field goals in a game. His field goals were from 28, 43, 41 and a career-long 53 yards. His 53-yarder was the third-longest over the week behind Leigh Tiffin of Alabama and Aaron Pettrey of Ohio State, both of whom hit 54-yard field goals.

BYU AND UTAH IN TOP 25 NATIONAL RANKINGS
BYU and Utah are both currently ranked in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll. The Cougars are ranked 15th in both polls, while Utah is 22nd in the Associated Press and 23rd in the USA Today Coaches poll. This is the first time the MWC has had two teams ranked in both polls since Dec. 3, 2006 when BYU (19th/20th) and TCU (24th/25th) were in the Top 25. The MWC equals the ACC and Big East with two teams ranked in this week's polls.

BYU HOLDS NATION'S LONGEST WIN STREAK
BYU has won 11 consecutive games, which currently ranks as the longest active win streak in the country. The Cougars have also won an MWC-record 13 consecutive home games, a mark that broke the school's previous record of 10 set from Oct. 26, 2000 to Oct. 19, 2002. During the current streak, BYU has defeated its opponents by an average of 26.1 points per game and is allowing just 11.6 points per game. The 13-game stretch is currently the fourth-longest among Bowl Subdivision teams. Oklahoma has the longest active streak at 18, followed by Wisconsin with 15 and Boise State with 14. The Cougars have also won an MWC-record 16 straight league contests. BYU has not lost to a league opponent since dropping its MWC finale to Utah on Nov. 19, 2005. The 16 straight victories is currently the longest active conference win streak in the country, one ahead of Hawai`i with 15.