ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews led the nation in rushing, but he wasn't invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York.
He'll have to settle for the New Mexico Bowl instead.
Mathews and the Bulldogs (8-4) open the 2009 college bowl season today against Wyoming (6-6).
"He's a very good football player, and I think a lot of people will be watching this game just to watch him," said Fresno State coach Pat Hill, whose team won seven of its last eight games to reach a bowl game for the 10th time in 11 seasons.
Mathews was No. 1 in the country in rushing yards per game, averaging 151.3, and he runs over defenders as easily as he zips around them. He's the Bulldogs go-to player - "The horse we ride," says Hill - as they seek the school's fifth bowl victory since 2002.
Mathews ran for 235 yards against Boise State - with touchdown rns of 69, 68 and 60 - and logged at least 150 in games against Illinois, Wisconsin and Cincinnati. He's always a big-play threat, leading the nation with seven runs of at least 50 yards.
"You won't shut him down, but you can't give up the 60- or 70-yard runs that he's been having," said Wyoming defensive tackle John Fletcher. "He's a real patient back, but he's also a big guy that runs hard. You're going to have to hit him in the legs, not take him out up top."
For a time this fall, there was even talk of Mathews making a Heisman Trophy run, but the junior from Bakersfield - a second-team Associated Press All-American - never expected to be invited to the Big Apple for the award show, sharing the stage with winner Mark Ingram of Alabama and runner-up Toby Gerhart of Stanford.
"All that stuff is politics, what school you go to, things like that," Mathews said. "Those guys who went are wonderful running backs, but I think I deserved to be up there with the best of them. It's fine. It gives me more to prove, more to work for."
Bulldogs center Joe Bernardi insisted Mathews is just as good as better-known stars.
"We know deep down that he's one of the top two or three running backs in the country," Bernardi said. "Put the stats up there. Put the film on. Ryan's right up there with Ingram and Gerhart, no doubt."
Mathews was recruited by UCLA, Arizona State, Colorado and Washington but chose the Bulldogs to play for Hill and so his mother, Tricia, could watch.
"My mom goes to all the games," he said. "She hasn't missed one yet." Wyoming, under first-year coach Dave Christensen, makes its first bowl appearance since 2004 . The Cowboys are led by quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, the Mountain West's freshman of the year. He started the last nine games, completing 59 percent of his throws for 1,752 yards.
Fresno State's coaching staff is familiar with Carta-Samuels, who last season was playing high school football in San Jose.
"His greatest strength is his toughness and ability to make plays when things break down," Hill said. "He does a great job. He's a tough guy, and I admire, more than anything, toughness in a football player. I don't think you can rattle him. You have to contain him."
