VERIZON WIRELESS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE - Boise State wide receiver Austin Pettis, a junior from Anaheim, Calif. (Lutheran HS), caught eight passes for 123 yards and four touchdowns in Boise State's 63-25 win over Idaho.  The four touchdown receptions tied a school record and gave him a nation-best 14 on the season, also setting a new school record.  The touchdowns came from 4, 8, 20 and 14 yards with the first three coming in the first half.  It was the first time a WAC player caught four touchdown passes in a game since Hawai'i's Jason Rivers did it against Washington on Dec. 1, 2007.

DEFENSIVE - Nevada safety Jonathon Amaya, a senior from Diamond Bar, Calif. (Diamond Bar HS), recorded a team-high eight tackles (5 solo), including one for a loss, and forced a fumble in Nevada's 52-14 win over Fresno State.  The forced fumble stopped a Bulldog drive late in the third quarter at Nevada's 10-yard line.  Amaya's play during the game helped hold the nation's fifth-best rushing offense to just 112 yards, 138 below their average entering the contest.

SPECIAL TEAMS - Boise State kick returner Titus Young, a junior from Los Angeles, Calif. (University HS), returned three kickoffs for 130 yards in the game against Idaho.  After Idaho had scored with 27 seconds left in the first half, Young took the ensuing kickoff deep in the endzone and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown.  The return tied the school record set by John Broadous (also against Idaho) in 1981.

Others nominated on offense:
Greg Salas, Jr., WR, Hawai'i - caught a school-record 16 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown in the win over New Mexico State.
Offensive Line, Nevada - Alonzo Durham, John Bender, Kenneth Ackerman, Chris Barker and Steve Haley helped pave the way for Nevada to rack up 461 rushing yards against Fresno State.  Nevada averaged 9.2 yards per carry and did not allow a sack in the game.
Robert Turbin, So., RB, Utah State - rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns in the win over San Jose State.

Also nominated on defense:
Kyle Wilson, Sr., CB, Boise State - made four tackles and intercepted a pass, returning it 71 yards for a touchdown in the win over Idaho.
Blaze Soares, Sr., LB, Hawai'i - had five tackles and his first career interception in the win over New Mexico State.
Adrien Cole, So., LB, Louisiana Tech - recorded 11 tackles, including a sack for a loss of 11 yards, in the game at LSU.
Davon House, Jr., DB, New Mexico State - had a 58-yard interception return for a touchdown in the game at Hawai'i.
Rajric Coleman, Jr., S, Utah State - had nine tackles, including one for a loss, and recovered a fumble against San Jose State.

Additional special teams nominations:
Alex Dunnachie, Fr., P, Hawai'i - punted three times for a 57.3-yard average, including a career-long of 65 yards, in the game against New Mexico State.
Matt Nelson, Fr., PK, Louisiana Tech - made all three field goal attempts in the game at LSU.
Ricky Drake, Jr., PK, Nevada - made a career-long 40-yard field goal and all seven of his extra point attempts in the win over Fresno State.

SJSU'S TOMEY ANNOUNCES RETIRMENT - Following the completion of his fifth season at San Jose State on December 5, Dick Tomey will retire from coaching. His retirement will be effective January 15, 2010. The 71-year-old head coach - with 46 years in the coaching profession - made the announcement at the university's weekly football press conference.  Since Tomey took the Spartans' reins in December 2004, the team won the 2006 inaugural New Mexico Bowl, was bowl-eligible twice (2006, 2008), had the third best win-loss record in the Western Athletic Conference over a 39-game span from the end of 2005 through the 2008 season (22-17) and produced a .500 win-loss percentage in conference road games from 2006 to 2008. The Spartans also picked up their first win over a Pacific-10 Conference opponent, Stanford, in six years in 2006 and first victory in 31 years over San Diego State that same season. With three games remaining in 2009, Tomey has a 24-33 win-loss record as San Jose State's head coach.  Overall, Tomey is completing a 29-year college football head-coaching career and has a current coaching record of 182-143-7. A consistent winner, his teams never experienced two straight losing seasons.  All 332 games he has coached were with FBS schools: Hawaii (1977-1986), Arizona (1987-2000) and San Jose State (2005-2009). Tomey is the only coach who ranks in the top 10 in the WAC and Pac-10 for conference coaching victories.

ESPNU PICKS UP NEVADA-NEW MEXICO STATE GAME ON NOV. 21 - New Mexico State's home game against Nevada on Nov. 21 has been picked up by ESPNU and will kick off at 8:30 p.m. (MT).  The game originally was scheduled to begin at 6:00.  This is the last of four conference games (as stipulated in the WAC's new ESPN contract) that will be selected by ESPNU during the season.

WAC WITH FOUR BOWL ELIGIBLE TEAMS - The WAC has four bowl eligible teams in Boise State, Fresno State, Idaho and Nevada.  Hawai'i could still become bowl eligible but would need to win its final three games of the season.

BOISE STATE 6TH IN BCS RANKINGS -  In the fifth BCS rankings, Boise State remained 6th after beating Idaho, 63-25.  The Broncos have an average computer ranking of 7th as they are ranked 6th by Anderson & Hester, 6th by Billingsley, 7th by Colley, 7th by Massey, 8th by Sagarin and 7th by Wolfe.  The BCS poll throws out the best and worst computer ranking to get the average and factors in the USA Today and Harris polls to calculate the BCS rankings.  Boise State earns an automatic bid into one of the BCS bowls if it is the highest ranked non-BCS team ranked in the top 12 of the BCS poll at the end of the regular season or if ranked in the top 16 and is higher than that of a champion of a conference that has an annual automatic berth in one of the BCS bowls.  The Broncos' ranking of fourth four weeks ago was the highest a non-BCS team has ever been ranked (tied by TCU two weeks ago).

BRONCOS RANKED IN TOP 10 - Following its win over Idaho, Boise State remained 6th in the three major polls.  Boise State opened the season 14th in the AP poll, the highest a WAC team has been ranked in the preseason since Brigham Young was 10th in 1985 following its national championship season.  The Broncos have been ranked in the top 25 at least once in each of the last eight seasons.  At least one team from the WAC has been in the polls every week since Sept. 17, 2006 (58 consecutive polls).

BOISE STATE LAST WAC UNDEFEATED TEAM - Boise State is one of six teams in the nation without a loss and one of two from non-automatic BCS qualifying conferences (TCU).  The Broncos beat Idaho last week to improve to 10-0 on the season.  It's the fourth time since the 2004 season that Boise State has started a season 10-0.  The previous three times, the Broncos went on to finish the regular season undefeated (2004, 2006 and 2008).

IDAHO TIED WITH NATION'S BEST IMPROVEMENT - With seven victories this season, Idaho currently is tied for the nation's best turnaround.  The Vandals were 2-10 last year and have recorded five more wins this year.  SMU has also recorded five more wins than last year.  Idaho was picked last in the WAC preseason coaches' poll and is currently fourth with a 4-2 record in conference play.

PETERSEN, AKEY NAMED TO BRYANT WATCH LIST - Boise State's Chris Petersen and Idaho's Robb Akey were named to the Bryant Watch List, an award that goes to the national coach of the year.  Petersen is a past winner of the award (2006).

NEVADA, MATHEWS LEAD NATION IN RUSHING - Fresno State junior running back Ryan Mathews rushed for 32 yards at Nevada and continues to lead the nation in rushing with 149.1 yards per game.  Mathews leads UTEP's Donald Buckram who is averaging 142.2 yards per contest.  As a team, Nevada leads the nation in rushing with 353.1 yards per game, 39 yards better than the next best team, Georgia Tech (314.1).  The WAC features two teams in the top 10 in rushing as Fresno State is tied for sixth with 237.0 yards per contest.

MATHEWS, MOORE, SALAS LOOK TO FINISH IN NATIONAL LEAD - Fresno State junior running back Ryan Mathews,  Boise State sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore and Hawai'i junior wide receiver Greg Salas are trying to finish the season leading the nation in a couple of major statistical categories.  Mathews' 149.1 rushing yards per game are tops in the nation.  The last WAC player to lead the nation in rushing was Nevada's Chance Kretschmer in 2001 (157.5 yards per game).  WAC running backs have led the nation in rushing six times previously.  Moore leads the nation in passing efficiency with a 172.5 rating.  The last WAC player to lead the nation in passing efficiency was Hawai'i's Colt Brennan in 2006.  WAC quarterbacks have led the nation in passing efficiency six times previously.  Salas leads the nation with 136.0 receiving yards per game.  The last WAC player to do so was New Mexico State's Chris Williams in 2006.

NON-CONFERENCE - The WAC is 17-19 (.472) in non-conference games this season. WAC teams have competed against the Big East (0-1), Big Ten (0-2), Big 12 (0-2), Conference USA (1-1), Great West (4-0), FBS Independents (0-2), MAC (3-0), Mountain West (4-6), Pac-10 (2-3), SEC (0-2), Southland (2-0) and SWAC (1-0).  The WAC is 1-7 versus AP top-25 non-conference opponents as Boise State beat No. 16 Oregon on Sept. 3, Utah State lost at No. 19 Utah on Sept. 3, Nevada lost at No. 23 Notre Dame on Sept. 5, San Jose State lost at No. 4 USC on Sept. 5, San Jose State lost to No. 17 Utah on Sept. 12, Fresno State lost at No. 14 Cincinnati on Sept. 26, Utah State lost at No. 20 BYU on Oct. 2, New Mexico State lost at No. 17 Ohio State on Oct. 31, and Louisiana Tech lost to No. 9 LSU on Nov. 14.

WAC PLAYERS NAMED TO AWARD LISTS - Several WAC players advanced or were named to award watch lists earlier this month.  Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore and Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews were named two of the 16 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award given to the nation's Collegiate Player of the Year.  Fresno State safety Moses Harris was named to the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class and a finalist for the Campbell Trophy (academic Heisman).  Moore was named one of 15 semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien Award given to the nation's best quarterback.  Mathews was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award handed out to the nation's best running back.  Boise State cornerback Kyle Wilson was named one of 12 semifinalists for the Jim Thorpe Award given to the nation's best defensive back.  Fresno State sophomore Kevin Goessling was named one of 20 semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award given to the nation's best placekicker.  Utah State's Peter Caldwell was named one of 10 semifinalsts for the Ray Guy Award given to the nation's best punter.  Named to the Wuerffel Trophy watch list were Boise State fullback Richie Brockel, Fresno State safety Moses Harris, San Jose State linebacker Travis Jones and Utah State receiver Nnamdi Gwacham.  The Wuerffel Trophy is presented annually to the Football Bowl Subdivision player that best combines exemplary community service, with academic and athletic achievement.

ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT - A total of seven WAC football players were named to the 2009 first-team College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District teams.  Members of CoSIDA voted on the selections.  To be eligible for the teams, a player must have at least a 3.20 GPA and play in 50 percent of his team's games.  Those named will now move on to the Academic All-American ballot which will be released later this month.

Academic All-District First Team Members
Richie Brockel, Sr., RB, Boise State
Vince Pascoe, Jr., TE, Fresno State
Andrew Jackson, Jr., OL, Fresno State
Kevin Goessling, So., PK, Fresno State
Moses Harris, Sr., DB, Fresno State
Aaron Lavarias, Jr., DL, Idaho
Robert Malone, Sr., P, Fresno State

WAC TRIO WITH 245 WINS - Boise State, Hawai'i and Fresno State have combined for 245 victories since the 2001 season. That total is the third most of any FBS conference's top trio.

COACHES MOVING UP RECORD LISTS - A couple of WAC coaches are working their way up the NCAA coaching record lists. Nevada head coach Chris Ault is in his 25th season as a head coach and is 205-94-1, the sixth winningest active coach in FBS. San Jose State's Dick Tomey is the seventh winningest active coach as he is in his sixth year with the Spartans and 29th overall with a record of 182-143-7. Tomey previously won 63 games at Hawai'i from 1977-86 and 95 games at Arizona from 1987-2000. Tomey has coached 332 games, the fourth most among active coaches. In WAC games only, Fresno State head coach Pat Hill has 69 conference victories, the fourth most in league history while Tomey has 48 WAC wins, the sixth most.

TEAMS RACK UP VICTORIES - Since the 2001 football season, the WAC's top teams have established themselves as some of the most successful programs west of the Mississippi River. Boise State has won 98 games over the last nine years while Hawai'i has 75 wins and Fresno State has 72. Only Texas has won as many games as Boise State. There are 53 Division IA programs west of the Mississippi that include all of the teams from the WAC, Big 12, Mountain West and Pac-10 and several teams from the Big Ten, Conference USA, SEC and Sun Belt.

2009 BOWL LINEUP -  The WAC is affiliated with three bowl games this season. WAC teams will play in the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque, N.M. against a Mountain West opponent, the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl in Honolulu against a Conference USA opponent and in the Roady's Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho versus another team from the Mountain West.  The WAC also has an agreement for this season with the San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl that if the Pac-10 cannot fill its contracted spot in the bowl game, then the WAC will provide a team.  The opponent is also a team from the Mountain West.

WAC SIGNS DEALS WITH POINSETTIA AND EMERALD BOWLS - Beginning with the next four-year bowl cycle, the WAC has inked deals with both the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl and Emerald Bowl.  In 2010 and 2013, the WAC will send a team to the Emerald Bowl to play against a Pac-10 team, while in 2011 and 2012, the WAC will be represented in the Poinsettia Bowl against the Mountain West.  The WAC will have backup agreements in all four years should Army (2011-Emerald; 2013 Poinsettia) or Navy (2010-Poinsettia; 2012-Emerald) not be eligible in their respective years.  The agreements give the conference four guaranteed bowl slots through the 2013 season.

BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES -  Since 1997, the WAC has been an official part of the Bowl Championship Series.  The WAC's champion will receive an automatic berth in one of the five BCS bowl games if ranked in the top 12 of the BCS Standings (and is the highest ranked team from a conference without an automatic bid) or if ranked in the top 16 of the BCS Standings and its ranking is higher than that of a champion of a conference that has an annual automatic berth in one of the BCS bowls. The BCS Standings are determined by a formula involving polls and computer rankings. This year's National Championship Game will be played in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 7, 2010.

WAC FOURTH IN NATION IN ALL-TIME BOWL RECORDS - The WAC's nine teams have an all-time record of 34-31-2 (.522) in bowl games. That winning percentage is one of just four above .500 among all FBS conferences.  The Pac-10 is first at .533, the SEC is second (.531) and the ACC is third (.524).

TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES

(6/6) Boise State Broncos (10-0, 5-0 WAC)
Sophomore QB Kellen Moore is first in the nation in passing efficiency (172.5) and has thrown 32 touchdowns with just three interceptions ... he is 22-1 as a starter ... junior Austin Pettis has caught a pass in 31 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the WAC ... its 45 wins since 2006 and 118 wins since 1999 are the most in the nation ... has won 54 consecutive regular season home games ... its active 24-game home winning streak is currently the second longest in the nation ... has won 69 of its last 71 games (including bowl games) at home ... is the highest scoring team in the nation since 2000 averaging 40.70 points over 125 games ... is seventh in the nation in all-time winning percentage (.707), passing USC last week (.706).

Fresno State Bulldogs (6-4, 5-2 WAC)
Ryan Colburn passed for a career-362 yards against Nevada ... he completed his first four passes of the game to run his completion streak to 18 straight before finally missing ... Chastin West had a career-high seven catches for 77 yards ... Ryan Mathews left the game in the second quarter due to an injury ... the Bulldogs' four losses are against teams with a combined record of 35-5 with two of those teams currently in the top 10 (Boise State and Cincinnati) ... the Bulldogs have 48 blocked kicks since 2002, the most in the nation in that time ... has 14 BCS wins since 2000, the second most among non-BCS teams during that time ... the 'Dogs will have traveled 23,354 miles when the regular season ends.

Hawai'i Warriors (4-6, 2-5 WAC)
The UH defense shutout an opponent's offense for the first time since a 24-0 win at Idaho in 2005, a span of 58 games ... the Warriors did allow a 58-yard interception return for a touchdown ... junior WR Greg Salas caught 16 passes for 196 yards against the Aggies and is now tops in the nation in receiving yards per game with 136.0 ... he broke the old school record of 15 for most catches in a game set by Davone Bess in 2007 ... C John Estes has started 51 straight games, the longest active streak in the nation ... UH is 25-0 when scoring 40 or more points since 2005 ... has committed at least one turnover in 34 consecutive games ... is celebrating its 100th anniversary of its first football team.

Idaho Vandals (7-4, 4-3 WAC)
Has been outscored by Boise State in its current 11-game losing streak to the Broncos by an average score of 51-18 ... committed seven turnovers that led to four touchdowns  including on its first two series of the game ... Brian Reader started his second straight game for the injured Nathan Enderle and was 17-of-27 for 305 yards and a touchdown with five interceptions ... DeMaundray Woolridge rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries ... his 16 touchdowns this season are the most in the WAC ... Daniel Hardy caught four passes for a career-high 119 yards ... has seven wins against FBS schools in the same season for the first time since 1998 ... has won three road games for the first time since 1999.

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (3-7, 2-4 WAC)
Led 13-10 at halftime against LSU, the first lead for the Bulldogs against the Tigers since 1904 ... the 16 points scored against LSU were the most ever for Tech ... senior DB Antonio Baker's 352 career tackles are  the fourth most of any active player in the nation ... Daniel Porter's 64 rushing yards at LSU gave him 3,016 for his career, becoming the third player in Tech history to reach 3,000 ... Porter threw his first career pass and completed it for a touchdown at the end of the first half ... junior Phillip Livas has scored multiple TDs four different ways: reception (4), rush (3), kickoff return (3) and punt return (3) ... Derek Dooley is the only individual to hold the dual role of both athletic director and head football coach in the FBS.

Nevada Wolf Pack (7-3, 6-0 WAC)
Has won seven games in a row, tying its longest streak as an FBS member ... forced five turnovers in the win over Fresno State ... recorded its 40th rushing touchdown of the season, breaking the school record of 39 set last year ... has had five different players rush for more than 100 yards 18 times this season ... Vai Taua topped the 100-yard mark for the sixth straight game and the 15th time in his career ... both Colin Kaepernick and Luke Lippincott have rushed for a touchdown, thrown a touchdown pass and caught a touchdown pass this season ... Kaepernick is the sixth player in NCAA history to have scored at least 200 points and thrown for 200 points in his career ... Dontay Moch is the WAC's active career leader in TFL with 40.5.

New Mexico State Aggies (3-7, 1-4 WAC)
Tonny Glynn had a game-high 74 rushing yards on 11 carries against Hawai'i ... Jeff Fleming was 12-of-21 for 111 yards and two interceptions ... Davon House's 58-yard interception return for a touchdown was the second of his career, tying the school record ... he also broke the school record for most career interception return yards with 271 ... it broke a 28-year-old record set by James Ferebee ... Chris Buckner had a career-high 16 tackles against Hawai'i ... it was the most tackles in a game by any WAC player this year and the most by an Aggie since Derrick Richardson also had 16 on Oct. 25 of last year ... New Mexico State has not won more than four games in a season since joining the WAC in 2006.

San Jose State Spartans (1-8, 0-5 WAC)
In the Utah State game, played in snow for the first time since a 1986 win at Washington State ... Kevin Jurovich has caught at least one pass in 23 consecutive games played since switching from the defensive backfield to wide receiver ... he became the school's all-time leader in pass receptions with his first catch of the game and now has 151 ... Lamon Muldrow scored his first rushing touchdown since the September 26 win over Cal Poly ... he leads the team with three rushing touchdowns ... Devin Newsome and Tanner Burns are tied for fifth in the nation in fumbles forced with 0.44 per game ... Carl Ihenacho is third in the nation in fumbles recovered (0.38/game) ... head coach Dick Tomey is the president of the AFCA for 2009.

Utah State Aggies (3-7, 2-4 WAC)
Rushed for 381 yards in the game against San Jose State, the 14th most in school history and the most since gaining 388 versus Nevada in 1999 ... Robert Turbin's 190 rushing yards were the most by an Aggie back since Emmett White's 233 yards versus Weber State in 2001 ... it was his sixth 100-yard rushing game, the most since White had eight in 2001 ... Turbin topped the 1,000 yard rushing mark for the season, becoming the first Aggie to do so since White in 2001 ... Diondre Borel rushed for 73 yards and was 7-of-18 for 50 yards through the air ... Utah State scored on its opening possession for the third game in a row ... is 3-1 at home this year, guaranteeing the Aggies their first winning record at home since 2003 (3-2).