Oct. 20, 2009

Fresno State (3-3, 2-1 WAC) vs New Mexico State (3-4, 1-2 WAC)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009
Kickoff: 7:15 p.m. PT
Site: Aggie Memorial Stadium (30,343); Las Cruces, N.M.
Radio: KMJ (AM 580); Bulldog Live (5 p.m.) Countdown to Kickoff (6 p.m.)
Play-by-Play: Paul Loeffler; Analyst: Jordan Christensen; Sideline: Ralph Wood
ESPN Deportes (1600 AM) in Spanish
Play-by-Play: Erwin Higueros; Analysts: Raul Rios and Jesse Beltran
Television: ESPNU
Play-by-Play: Carter Blackburn; Analyst: JC Pearson

Fresno State vs. New Mexico State Release

Dogs Return to the Road to Face Aggies
The Fresno State football team rides a modest two-game winning streak to Las Cruces, N.M. this week to take on much improved New Mexico State team. The Aggies have three wins this season already, matching their 2008 win total after just seven games. The game will be televised live on ESPNU and available on ESPN360.

Dogs End Brutal Road Trip Stretch
Not many teams in the nation will undertake the travels of the Fresno State football team. Through the first five games, the Dogs completed a journey that saw them play in four different time zones and log close to 15,000 miles. The journey began on Sept. 12 at Wisconsin, followed by a Friday night clash with preseason WAC favorite Boise State in Fresno on Sept. 18. The Dogs them hit the Eastern Time Zone for a game at No. 10 Cincinnati before an even longer road trip to Hawaii. Fresno State has road trips remaining to Moscow, Idaho, Las Cruces, N.M, and Champaign, Ill. During the 2009 season, Fresno State will play in five of the six United State's time zones and travel over 23,000 miles. This week, the Dogs will play in the Mountain Time Zone, which traditionally has not treated them well. Since 1990 the Dogs are 16-20-1 in games played in the Mountains.

About New Mexico State
First-year head coach DeWayne Walker has guided the Aggies to three wins in the first seven games of the 2009 season. Walker's background, which includes eight years in the NFL, has been on defense. He spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator at UCLA before taking over the Aggies and has made a serious philosophical shift as the Aggies went from a pass-happy offense called "Air Raid" to a more ball-control offense. The Aggies were among the nation's top passing and total offensive teams a year ago but enter this week ranked last in the nation in total yards (250.1 ypg). However, they are much improved on defense, allowed 27 points per game, down from 34 last season, and have the WAC's third-stingiest defense.

Against the Aggies
Despite never losing to New Mexico State in the sport of football (15-0), the last three games in this series have been decided by a touchdown or less. The Bulldogs won 24-17 last season in Fresno, and the previous year won 30-23 in Las Cruces. The Dogs are 8-0 at games played in Las Cruces. Under Pat Hill, the Dogs are 4-0 against the Aggies with two wins at Aggie Memorial Stadium.

Mathews Dominates NCAA in Rushing, Record Books Assault On
Just six games into the 2009 season, Bulldog running back Ryan Mathews is just 26 yards shy of the 1,000-yard milestone. For the third straight week he leads the nation in rushing, and not just barely. Mathews, at 162.3 yards per game, has a commanding lead (nearly 26 more yards per game) over No. 2 Darius Marshall of Marshall (136.7). In just three quarters of action he had his second 230-plus yardage game of the season against San Jose State last Saturday. He has two of the NCAA's top eight rushing performances this season, and those rank third and fourth, respectively, in Bulldog history. He's powering a Fresno State ground game that ranks third in the NCAA in rushing yards, 279.7 yards per game. After last week's performance he jumped into fifth place on the Bulldog career rushing yardage list (see page three for updated list). The most impressive part is that he's done it against good competition. His career-high 234 rushing yards against No. 5 Boise State was amazing considering he alone has accounted for almost half of the entire rushing yards the Broncos have allowed this season (598).