MWC Football Press Release Week No. 13

WEEK 12 RECAP
Offensive fireworks lit up Week 12 football action as Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, TCU and Utah combined to outscore their opponents by a 194-87 margin en route to victories on Saturday. BYU (8-2, 6-0) clinched at least a share of its second straight MWC crown with a 35- 10 win over Wyoming (5-6, 2-5) in Laramie. The Cougars, who racked up 497 yards of offense in the contest, have now won 14 consecutive MWC contests and seven straight games overall while also pushing their MWC road win streak to 10 games. Air Force (9-3, 5-2) and San Diego State (4-6, 3-3) combined for 1,176 yards of total offense as the Falcons closed out their regularseason schedule with a 55-23 win over the Aztecs in Colorado Springs. The Falcons, who rushed for a season-high 569 yards in the contest, finished undefeated (6-0) at home for the first time since 1998. Utah (8-3, 5-2) posted its seventh consecutive win with a 28-10 victory over New Mexico (7-4, 4-3 ) in Salt Lake City. The Utes capitalized on four Lobo turnovers to end New Mexico's two-game win streak in the series. TCU (6-5, 3-4) became the fifth MWC team to reach bowl-eligible status this season with a 34-10 win over UNLV (2-9, 1-6) in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs rushed for a season-high 251 yards while handing the Rebels their seventh consecutive loss and 14th straight in conference road outings. Colorado State (2-9, 1- 6) ended a three-game slide with a 42-34 win over Georgia Southern (7-4). The Rams amassed 365 yards of total offense over the first two quarters to build a 28-3 halftime lead, then held off a late Eagle rally to secure the victory. LAST WEEK'S RESULTS (NOV. 17)

Saturday, November 17
Air Force 55, San Diego State 23 (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Attendance - 34,227)
Colorado State 42, Goergia Southern 34 (Fort Collins, Colo.; Attendance - 14,332)
BYU 35, Wyoming 10 (Laramie, Wyo.; Attendance - 19,827)
Utah 28, New Mexico 10 (Salt Lake City, Utah; Attendance - 43,788)
TCU 34, UNLV 10 (Las Vegas, Nev.; Attendance - 26,425)

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (NOV. 19, 2007)

Co-Offensive Players of the Week
JIM OLLIS, AIR FORCE
Senior, TB, Columbia, N.C./Polk County
Jim Ollis rushed for a career-high 163 yards on 15 carries (10.9 yards per carry) and scored two touchdowns in Air Force's 55-23 win over San Diego State. His touchdowns came on runs of 54 and 31 yards and seven of his carries went for first downs.

MAX HALL, BYU
Sophomore, QB, Mesa, Ariz./Arizona State
Max Hall totaled 331 yards passing on 26-of-37 attempts and had three touchdowns in BYU's 35-10 victory at Wyoming. Hall completed over 70 percent of his attempts and had touchdown tosses of 3, 23 and 10 yards. After the Cougars took a 35-10 lead with 11:42 left in the fourth quarter, Hall did not play the remainder of the game. His 331-yard performance was the first time this season the Cowboys had allowed an opponent to pass for over 300 yards. Hall eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark during Saturday's game, became the Mountain West Conference's all-time sophomore passing leader with 3,121 yards this season, breaking Wyoming's Casey Bramlet's previous mark of 3,069 yards.

Defensive Player of the Week
CHASE ORTIZ
Senior, Defensive End, League City, Texas/Clear Creek
Chase Ortiz recorded seven tackles, including five solo, in TCU's 34-10 win over UNLV. Ortiz also had three tackles for loss, two of which were sacks, forced two fumbles and had a fumble recovery. He led a Horned Frog defense that held UNLV to 12 rushing yards on 22 attempts. Ortiz became the MWC career leader in tackles for loss with 19.5 and is a half sack shy of tying the sack record with 19.5 on the year.

Special Teams Player of the Week
MICHAEL HUGHES
Senior, Place Punter, Moreno Valley, Calif./Canyon Springs
Michael Hughes tied a 24-year-old school record by averaging 54.8 yards per punt in San Diego State's loss at Air Force. Hughes had punts of 47, 64, 61 and 47 yards, two of which were downed inside the 20-yard line, and allowed just 41 return yards. The 54.8 yards per punt average is the fourth-most in a single game in MWC history.

A CLOSER LOOK AT BYU'S WIN STREAKS

• BYU has won 11 consecutive games at home to set a new MWC record. The Cougars broke their own record of 10 set from Oct. 26, 2000 to Oct. 19, 2002. Over that span, the Cougars have beaten their opponents by an average of 28 points per game. During that stretch, BYU is allowing just 11.8 points per game. The 11-game streak is currently the third-longest among Bowl Subdivision teams. LSU has the longest active streak at 19, followed by Wisconsin with 14 and Boise State with 13.
• BYU has also set a new MWC record for consecutive MWC victories with 14. 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). The 14 straight victories are currently tied for the second-longest active conference win streak in the country with Hawai`i. Boise State leads the list with 17 in row.
• BYU currently has a 10-game road win streak in MWC contests. The current streak eclipsed 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 13 PREVIEW
Two rivalry contests highlight the Week 13 schedule as Wyoming and Colorado State square off Friday afternoon in the annual Border War, a 12 p.m. MT contest that will be televised on The Mtn. On Saturday, BYU hosts in-state foe Utah in a 12 p.m. MT match-up that will be simulcast on VERSUS, CSTV and The Mtn. Other MWC action on Saturday features UNLV at New Mexico (3:30 p.m. MT on The Mtn.) and TCU at San Diego State (5 p.m. PT).

MWC CLOSES IN ON FOUR EIGHT-WIN TEAMS
The Mountain West Conference will have four eight-win or better teams for the first time in league history if New Mexico (7-4) wins Saturday at UNLV. BYU is currently 8-2, followed by Air Force at 9-2 and Utah at 8-3. The MWC has had three teams record at least eight victories in a single season on three occasions since its inception in 1999 (1999, 2000, 2006).

BYU AND UTAH PUT SEVEN-GAME WIN STREAKS ON THE LINE
BYU and Utah are both entering Saturday's match-up in Provo with seven-game win streaks on the line, along with Conference title implications. The seven consecutive wins by both the Cougars and Utes are currently tied for the fourth-longest win streaks in the country behind Hawai`i (11), Kansas (11) and Boise State (9). Utah has won four of the last five contests against BYU, including the last two games in Provo. In fact, over the last seven games, the Utes are 6-1 in LaVell Edwards Stadium. Utah's only loss during that span was by a 24-21 count in 2001. Utah is the last team to beat BYU both overall and in Provo (41-34 ot, Nov. 19, 2005) BYU won last year's contest in Salt Lake City, 33-31. The Cougars outscored the Utes 19-7 in the fourth quarter and ended the game with a 10-play, 75-yard drive in 1:19 to capture the victory. With 11 seconds remaining in the game and BYU facing a third-down and 10 from the 11- yardline BYU QB John Beck scrambled in the pocket for 10 seconds before hitting TE Jonny Harline in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown as time expired.

TCU ONE OF THREE TEAMS WITH TWO SHUTOUTS THIS SEASON
TCU has recorded two shutouts this season. The Horned Frogs opened the season with a 27-0 win over Baylor and then blanked New Mexico, 37-0, on Nov. 3. TCU has pitched shutouts in three of its last eight home games. This is the first season the Frogs have recorded 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 28 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 1,415 yards, followed by Utah's Darrell Mack with 1,072 yards, New Mexico's Rodney Ferguson with 1,062 yards and BYU's Harvey Unga with 909. Wyoming's Devin Moore is fifth with 889 yards and Frank Summers of UNLV is sixth with 880 yards. 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 (2,543 yards) and QB Shaun Carney (2,453 yards) are currently ranked fifth 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 alltime rushers, joining the Colorado State tandem of QB Brad Van Pelt (2001-03) and RB Cecil Sapp (1999-02).

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 (1,415 yards) and receiving (488 yards), but also in all-purpose yardage (2,504 yards).

TCU'S ORTIZ BECOMES MWC TACKLES FOR LOSS LEADER
TCU DE Chase Ortiz became the MWC's all-time tackles for loss leader with 39.5. New Mexico's Michael Tuohy is fourth on that same list (36.5), while TCU's Tommy Blake is tied for seventh (35.0). Ortiz also moved into second place on the league's all-time list for total sacks (19.5). The record is 20.0, held by BYU's Brady Poppinga (2000-04). New Mexico's Tuohy is in third place on that same list (19.0), followed by TCU's Blake, who is in fifth (17.0).

MWC NOTABLES

• Air Force is 9-0 this season when holding its opponents to 24 or fewer points. In each of its three defeats, AFA has allowed 31 or more points.
• Air Force concluded the regular season with a 9-3 overall record and a 6-2 mark in the MWC. Air Force's nine wins are the most since 2000 (9-3). The nine wins are the most since 1998 when it posted 11. The Falcons' six conference wins are the most in school history as a member of the MWC and tie as the third-most in conference play all-time and are the most since the 1998 team was 7-1 in the WAC.
• Air Force CB Carson Bird forced and recovered a fumble vs. San Diego State to record his ninth turnover this season. Bird has six interceptions and three fumble recoveries to go with his first forced fumble.
• BYU is 8-2 on the year, marking the 24th season (since 1976) BYU has posted eight or more wins in a season. It's also the second straight year the Cougars have had eight or more wins in back-toback seasons since the 1998-99 seasons.
• In six starts, Colorado State RB Gartrell Johnson has 780 yards on 136 carries (5.7 avg.) and five TDs, including four 100-yard efforts and one 95-yard game.
• 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 the Lobos went 5-2.
• New Mexico has recorded eight sacks over the last two games after collected none in the previous four contests.
• San Diego State WR Chaz Schilens recorded his second career 100-yard receiving game against Air Force with a career-best 215 yards (prev. best 119 yards at Hawaii in 2005). The 215 receiving yards are the most in the MWC this season.
• SDSU QB Kevin O'Connell set a school record for most rushing touchdowns in a season by a quarterback with his eighth of the year. O'Connell beat the previous high of seven posted by Matt Kofler, who had seven in both 1980 and 1981. O'Connell has 16 career rushing TDs, already an SDSU career record. Seven of his 16 rushing scores have come against MWC opponents.
• TCU TB Aaron Brown has recorded five career 100-yard rushing games. The Frogs are 5-0 in those contests.
• TCU is 8-1 in November games over the last three seasons.
• TCU set a season-high with four rushing touchdowns in the first half against UNLV. The Frogs' previous was three rushing TDs at Stanford.
• UNLV has lost seven consecutive games and 14 in a row overall in MWC road contests heading into this week's contest at New Mexico.
• Utah QB Brian Johnson is 7-0 since returning to the starting lineup after an injury.
• Wyoming allowed over 300 yards passing to an opponent for the first time this season as BYU threw for 362 yards against the Cowboys.
• Wyoming had its best passing day of the season against BYU with 268 yards. Wyoming's previous season high was 260 yards at Air Force.

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