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SALT LAKE CITY - Utah kicker Joe Phillips found himself handling punting, kickoff and placekicking duties last Saturday as Utah recorded a 38-34 victory at San Diego State.
Phillips, a senior from Salt Lake City, connected on a 32-yard field goal as well as converting all five of his point-after attempts.
Making his debut at punter, Phillips placed his first collegiate punt attempt at the San Diego State two-yard line. For the night, he averaged 35.0 yards per punt, while booting four of his five attempts inside the 20-yard line. The only punt returned by the Aztecs resulted in no gain.
Phillips also averaged 60.0 yards on two kickoffs.
The full press release is below.
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Alvester Alexander and Josh Biezuns (Wyoming) and Joe Phillips (Utah) are the Mountain West Conference Players of the Week for games through Nov. 20. Alexander earns the Offensive Player of the Week award, while Biezuns claims the Defensive Player honor and Phillips garners Special Teams recognition. This marks the second career player of the week honor for Phillips and the first weekly honor for Alexander and Biezuns.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
ALVESTER ALEXANDER, WYOMING
Sophomore, Running Back, Houston, Texas/C.E. King HS
Alvester Alexander amassed 147 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 23 carries to help Wyoming record a 44-0 victory over Colorado State. The Houston, Texas, native recorded touchdown runs of 34, 29, 21, 8 and 1 yards, tying him for the Mountain West Conference single-game record for rushing touchdowns. Alexander, who averaged 6.4 yards per carry, also caught three passes for 15 yards to finish the contest with 162 all-purpose yards. His five touchdown runs broke Wyoming's single-game record of four rushing scores in one game, previously held by Dabby Dawson (vs. San Diego State in 1988) and Myron Hardeman (vs. Utah State in 1977). ### DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JOSH BIEZUNS, WYOMING
Junior, Defensive End, Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS
Josh Biezuns registered a career-high 3.5 sacks (-22 yards), 4.0 tackles for loss (-23 yards), a forced fumble and a pass breakup to lead a Wyoming defense that posted a shutout in a 44-0 victory over border-rival Colorado State last Saturday. A product of Prior Lake, Minn., Biezuns also tallied seven tackles (three solo) and a quarterback hurry in the contest. Two of Biezuns' sacks came on third down, forcing Colorado State punts. The junior's pass breakup and quarterback hurry also came on third-down plays, ending other Ram offensive possessions. ### SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JOE PHILLIPS, UTAH
Senior, Kicker/Punter, Salt Lake City/Snow College
Joe Phillips handled placekicking, punting and kickoff duties as Utah recorded a 38-34 victory at San Diego State last Saturday. In the kicking game, Phillips connected on a 32-yard field goal, while also converting on all five of his point-after attempts. Making his debut at punter, Phillips placed his first collegiate punt attempt at the San Diego State two-yard line. For the night, the Salt Lake City, Utah, native averaged 35.0 yards per punt, while booting four of his five attempts inside the 20-yard line. The only punt returned by the Aztecs resulted in no gain. Phillips also averaged 60.0 yards on two kickoffs.
