Thursday, November 8
BYU 27, Colorado State 22 (Provo, Utah; Attendance - 64,241)
Saturday, November 10
Air Force 41, Notre Dame 24 (South Bend, Ind.; Attendance - 80,795)
New Mexico 26, Colorado State 23 (Albuquerque, N.M.; Attendance - 27,031)
Utah 50, Wyoming 0 (Salt Lake City, Utah; Attendance - 42,477)
San Diego State 38, UNLV 30 (Las Vegas, Nev.; Attendance - 18,837)
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (NOV. 12, 2007)
Offensive Player of the Week JOHNNY WALKER, COLORADO STATE
Senior, WR, Lancaster, Calif./Antelope Valley
Johnny Walker collected 177 receiving yards on seven catches (25.3 yards per catch) and scored
two touchdowns in Colorado State's last-second 26-23 loss at New Mexico. Late in the first half,
Walker made two key grabs to keep the Rams in the game. His 9-yard catch to convert a thirdand-
9, and a 31-yard touchdown to cap the drive knotted the game at 17 apiece. In the second
half, he converted three third downs to help Colorado State tie the contest, 23-23. Walker's 177
yards and two touchdowns are both career-highs, and his 64-yard grab for a touchdown in the
first quarter was the longest reception of his career. The 177 yards also mark the second-most
receiving yards in the Mountain West this season.
Defensive Player of the Week KELLY POPPINGA, BYU
Senior, Linebacker, Evanston, Wyo./Utah State
Kelly Poppinga recorded with a career-high 17 tackles and his first interception of the season
in BYU's 27-22 victory over TCU. He was credited with seven solo and 10 assisted takedowns,
a four-yard tackle for loss, a quarterback hurry and a 22-yard interception. Poppinga's
performance marked the most tackles by a BYU defender in a single game since Rob Morris
registered 17 tackles against San Diego State in 1998. Poppinga was most effective against the
TCU rushing attack, recording 11 tackles on plays that had a net gain of five yards or less. His
22-yard interception return to the TCU 3-yard line came in the beginning of the third quarter
with BYU leading 17-9. The Cougars scored on the next play after a Harvey Unga 3-yard run,
extending BYU's lead to 27-9.
Co-Special Teams Players of the Week JOHN SULLIVAN, NEW MEXICO
Senior, Place Kicker, Tehachapi, Calif./Tehachapi
John Sullivan tied a career-high for the second time this season with four field goals, including
the game-winner from 43 yards as time expired to give New Mexico a 26-23 triumph over
Colorado State. Sullivan also connected from 34, 39 and 46 yards, the latter being a career long.
He has a nation-best 23 field goals in 2007, a new Lobo record, and it ties the Mountain West
record set by Colorado State's Jeff Babcock in 2002.
MEKELL WESLEY, SAN DIEGO STATE
Sophomore, KR, Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton
Mekell Wesley had a career day returning five kickoffs for 178 yards (35.6 yards per return),
including an 89-yard touchdown in San Diego State's 38-30 win at UNLV. The 178 yards rank
second in SDSU single-game history. Wesley's 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown is the
first in the Mountain West this season and the first for the Aztecs since 1997. His five returns
gave San Diego State an average starting field position of the 36-yard line, which is an Aztecs
best since Oct. 29, 2005.
A CLOSER LOOK AT BYU'S WIN STREAKS
BYU set a new MWC record for most consecutive home wins, recording its 11th straight
victory at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Thursday against TCU. The Cougars, who have not
lost in Provo since dropping their home finale to Utah on Nov. 19, 2005, set the original
record with 10 straight wins from Oct. 26, 2000 to Oct. 19, 2002.
BYU has also set a new MWC record for most consecutive MWC victories with 13. The
Cougars have not lost to an MWC opponent since dropping their MWC finale to Utah on
Nov. 19, 2005. The previous record of 10 consecutive MWC wins was shared by Utah
(11/1/03-9/15/05) and Colorado State (10/23/99-11/11/00).
BYU currently has a nine-game road win streak in MWC contests. The current streak
breaks the old MWC mark of eight held by Utah from Nov. 16, 2002 through Nov. 13, 2004.
BYU's streak started with a 27-24 win at New Mexico during the 2005 season.
WEEK 12 PREVIEW
All nine teams will be in action in Week 12. On Saturday, BYU travels to Wyoming and New
Mexico visits Utah in an MWC doubleheader on The Mtn. - MountainWest Sports Network,
while Air Force closes out the regular season at home against San Diego State and TCU
entertains UNLV. In a non-conference match-up, Colorado State hosts Football Championship
Subdivision opponent Georgia Southern.
WEEK 11 RECAP
Week 11 football action saw league-leading BYU run its win streak against MWC opponents
to 13 games, while New Mexico won a thriller in Albuquerque. Utah pitched a shutout in Salt
Lake City and San Diego State was victorious in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Air Force rolled to an
impressive non-conference win over Notre Dame. Last Thursday, BYU (7-2, 5-0 MWC) pushed
its win streak to six games with a 27-22 win over TCU (5-5, 2-4 MWC). The Cougars have won
13 in a row over league opponents and 11 straight at home overall. Air Force (8-3) opened
Saturday's slate of games on a winning note, handing Notre Dame (1-9) its school-record sixth
consecutive home loss, 41-24. It was the largest margin of victory for the Falcons in six wins
over the Fighting Irish and the biggest by a military academy since Navy beat Notre Dame,
35-14, in 1963. New Mexico (7-3, 4-2 MWC) kicked a 43-yard field goal as time expired to lift
the Lobos to a 26-23 win over visiting Colorado State (1-9, 1-6 MWC). It marked the second
straight year the Lobos defeated the Rams on the final play of the game. Last season in Fort
Collins, Kenny Byrd booted a 33-yarder for the final margin in a 20-19 victory. Utah (7-3, 4-2
MWC) forced five turnovers and had six sacks en route to a 50-0 blanking of Wyoming (5-5,
2-4 MWC). The Utes won their sixth straight game while registering their first shutout of an
MWC opponent since a 3-0 win over BYU in 2003. It marked the first time the Cowboys had
been held scoreless since a 31-0 loss to Texas A&M in 2004. San Diego State (4-5, 3-2 MWC)
jumped out to a 21-0 lead, then held off a late UNLV (2-8, 1-5 MWC) rally to collect a 38-30
victory Saturday in Las Vegas. The triumph gives the Aztecs back-to-back victories for the first
time since the 2005 season.
TCU ONE OF THREE TEAMS WITH TWO SHUTOUTS THIS SEASON
TCU recorded its second shutout of the season with a 37-0 win over New Mexico on Nov. 3.
The Horned Frogs also shut out Baylor, 27-0, to start the season. It was the third shutout in the
Frogs' last seven home games, while also marking their first season with two shutouts since
2000 (Navy, Rice). TCU is the third team in MWC history to record two shutouts in the same
season. In 2003, San Diego State won 34-0 at UTEP on Sept. 13, and 7-0 at UNLV on Nov. 8.
Also in 2003, Utah won 3-0 at BYU on Nov. 22 and blanked Southern Miss, 17-0, on Dec. 31 in
the Liberty Bowl. There have been 27 shutouts in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season.
TCU, LSU and Boise State are the only three teams in the FBS with two shutouts at this point
in the season. LSU's came on Aug. 30 (45-0 vs. Mississippi State) and Sept. 15 (44-0 vs. Middle
Tennessee), while Boise State's came on Oct. 7 against New Mexico State (58-0) and last week
against Utah State (52-0).
1,000-YARD RUSHERS
The Mountain West Conference is on pace to equal the league record of five 1,000-yard
rushers set in 2001. Air Force's Chad Hall of Air Force leads the MWC with 1,264 yards,
followed by New Mexico's Rodney Ferguson with 1,011 yards, Utah's Darrell Mack with 995
yards and Wyoming's Devin Moore with 874. Frank Summers of UNLV is fifth with 865
yards and BYU's Harvey Unga is sixth with 799. Hall is the only senior among the Top 10
rushers in the league.
AIR FORCE TANDEM RUSHES INTO MWC RECORD BOOK
Air Force WR/RB Chad Hall (2,392 yards) and QB Shaun Carney (2,376 yards) are currently ranked
seventh and eighth, respectively, on the MWC's all-time list for rushing yardage. Carney and Hall
are the second QB/WR-RB combo from one team to be listed among the league's all-time rushers,
joining the Colorado State tandem of QB Brad Van Pelt (2001-03) and RB Cecil Sapp (1999-02).
HALL CONTINUES RECORD-BREAKING SEASON
Air Force senior WR Chad Hall rushed for 142 yards at Notre Dame to record his eighth-career 100-
yard rushing performance. The 100-yard effort is his second straight and fifth in the last six weeks.
Hall has rushed for 1,106 yards on 164 carries and scored nine touchdowns over the last six weeks,
which is an average of 184.3 per game. Only Matt Forte of Tulane has rushed for more yards over the
last six weeks than Hall. Forte has rushed for 1,305 yards on 210 carries and scored 11 touchdowns.
Hall has 1,264 rushing yards in 2007 which ranks sixth in Air Force history for a single season. He set
a school single-game rushing record with 275 yards versus Army on Nov. 3 and became the third
player in Air Force history to record multiple 200-yard rushing games. Hall's 275 rushing yards are
the second-most in MWC history. SDSU's Larry Ned holds the MWC record for rushing yards in a
game with 285 vs. Eastern Illinois in 2001. Hall is the first player in the league to top the 200-yard
rushing mark twice in the same season since SDSU's Lynell Hamilton did it in 2003.
HALL LEADS FALCONS IN RUSHING, RECEIVING AND ALL-PURPOSE YARDS
Air Force WR Chad Hall is the only player in the FBS this season that leads his team not only in
rushing (1,264 yards) and receiving (457 yards), but also in all-purpose yardage (2,233 yards).
SINGLE-GAME RECORD UPDATES
Utah scored 30 points in the second quarter of its shutout win over Wyoming on Saturday,
setting a new MWC record for most points scored in a single quarter of a conference game. It
also marked the third-highest single-quarter scoring effort in MWC history overall.
The Cowboys' 50-point win over the Utes marked the fifth-largest margin of victory in MWC
history, falling short of the league record for a conference game by two points [TCU (52) vs.
San Diego State (0), 11/18/06].
MWC NOTABLES
Air Force is 8-0 this season when holding its
opponents to 24 or fewer points. In each of its three
defeats, AFA has allowed 31 or more points.
The 2007 season marks the first winning season for
Air Force since 2003 when the Falcons were 7-5
overall. The Falcons' five wins in conference play
are the most in Mountain West play, matching the
2000 team that finished 5-2. A win against San
Diego State would put Air Force at 6-2, which
would be its best league mark since the 1998 team
finished 7-1 in the WAC.
BYU WR Austin Collie led all receivers with 109
yards against TCU. It was Collie's third 100-yard
game this season.
In five starts, Colorado State RB Gartrell Johnson
has 644 yards on 117 carries (5.5 avg.) and three
TDs, including three 100-yard efforts and one 95-
yard game.
Colorado State had a 100-yard rusher (Gartrell
Johnson) and a 100-yard receiver (Johnny Walker)
for the fourth time this season in the loss at New
Mexico. The Rams also did it against Colorado
(Kyle Bell, Kory Sperry), vs. Cal (Bell, Damon
Morton) and at UNLV (Gartrell Johnson, Morton).
New Mexico is 6-0 this season when scoring on its
opening possession.
New Mexico has won four home games in a season
for the first time since 2003 when they went 5-2.
The Lobos had five sacks against Colorado State
after going the previous four games without a sack.
San Diego State is 2-1 in its last three road games
after losing the previous nine road/neutral games.
SDSU QB Kevin O'Connell has 15 career rushing
touchdown and seven on the year. O'Connell
owns the school career record for most rushing
scores by a QB, which he previously shared with
Matt Kofler, who had 14 from 1980-81. O'Connell
tied Kofler's season record of seven rushing TDs,
which Kofler posted in both 1980 and 1981.
TCU TB Aaron Brown has recorded five career
100-yard rushing games. The Frogs are 5-0 in those
contests.
TCU has blocked six punts in its last 13 games and
four in eight games this season.
UNLV has lost six consecutive games and 13 in a
row overall in MWC road contests heading into
this week's contest at TCU.
Utah QB Brian Johnson is 6-0 since returning to the
starting lineup after an injury.
Utah has 23 tackles for loss in the last two games,
including 13 against Colorado State and 11 versus
Wyoming. The Utes also had 13 sacks in those two
contests (CSU-7 and WYO-6).
Wyoming collected just two tackles for loss against
Utah after averaging 6.8 through its first nine
games.
Wyoming had a season-low 85 yards passing and
the second-lowest rushing total of the season with
37 yards on the ground at Utah.
