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Position: RB
Class: 2010 Big Board
Year: Junior
Hometown: Bakersfield, CA
Date of Birth: 05.01.87
Height: 5116
Weight: 217
Bench Press: 19
Vertical Jump: 36"
40 T: 4.50
Projection: 1st Round
Ordering: 12
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NEWS
12.21.09 - The NFL Draft Bible has learned that Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews has decided to forego his senior season and enter the 2010 NFL Draft.
12.21.09 - Mathews led the nation in rushing with 150.67 yards per game and finished the season 1,808 yards and 19 touchdowns on 276 carries. He rushed for more than 100 yards in all but two games this season and he missed most of those games because of a concussion. It was by far the best season of his collegiate career. “Basically I sat down with Coach Hill and Coach Wade and asked them what was going on,” Mathews told the Fresno Bee. “Coach Hill said, 'I think you need to go. You've done what you needed to do here.’” Hill’s recommendation is unusual, but it’s a prime example of Hill putting Mathews' best interest ahead of the team’s. Mathews not only plays a volatile position as a running back, but he has suffered multiple injuries while in college. He hasn’t gone through an entire season without missing at least one game because of an injury. This is the first season that he didn’t have an injury that nagged and limited him the entire year. – ESPN
12.18.09 - Pat Hill is a good person to ask what separates good running backs from great ones. That's because the Fresno State football coach has one of the nation's best in junior Ryan Mathews. "He's got great vision, and with that he's got explosive strength and top-end speed. He also has the ability to make things happen in a small area," Hill said prior to Friday's practice as his team prepares to play the University of Wyoming in Saturday's New Mexico Bowl. Mathews' numbers this season back that up. He ran for 1,664 yards and 17 touchdowns. He led the nation with 151.3 yards per game, averaged 6.8 yards per carry, and in 245 attempts, he lost only 40 yards. Earlier in the week, Mathews was named a second-team All-American by The Associated Press and Sports Illustrated. – Wyoming Tribune Eagle
11.18.09 - Fresno State junior RB Ryan Mathews, the nation’s leading rusher, will miss Saturday's game against Louisiana Tech after sustaining a concussion last week against Nevada. Mathews, who has 1,491 yards rushing this fall along with 14 TDs, is expected to return for the Bulldogs’ season-finale at Illinois on December 5th.
10.19.09 - Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews was named the Western Athletic Conference offensiveplayers of the week. Mathews, a junior from Bakersfield, Calif. (West HS), rushed for 233 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries in Fresno State’s 41-21 win over San Jose State on Saturday. Mathews averaged 11.7 yards per carry and scored on a 59-yard run during the second quarter. It was the eighth best single-game performance by anyone in the nation this year and one yard shy of tying his career-best set earlier this year against Boise State.