Oct. 18, 2010
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State freshman running back Ronnie Hillman (La Habra, Calif.) has been named the National Freshman of the Week and MWC Player of the Week by the college sports portal Rivals.com for his performance in Saturday's upset of No. 23 Air Force.
Hillman helped the Aztecs to their first win over a top-25 team since 1996, as SDSU defeated the 23rd-ranked Falcons, 27-25, at Qualcomm Stadium. The freshman rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns, including a 65-yard scamper in the first half and the game-clinching 44-yard dash with two minutes left in the fourth quarter.
On the season, Hillman ranks seventh nationally in rushing yards per game (130.8). He also owns three of the top four rushing outputs in the MWC in 2010. His 228 yards at Missouri rank first, his 191 yards vs. Air Force take second and his 150 yards at New Mexico place fourth. With 785 yards in the season's first six games, Hillman has already posted SDSU's best rushing numbers since 2005.
The 5-10 freshman also picked up a "Helmet Sticker" from ESPN.com as one of the week's top players from non-BCS automatic qualifying conferences. By winning his third MWC Offensive Player of the Week Awards, Hillman is already tied with All-American linebacker Kirk Morrison for second in school history for the most career MWC player-of-the-week awards.
San Diego State (4-2, 1-1) continues its Mountain West Conference schedule this week when it travels to Albuquerque, N.M. for a Saturday evening game at the University of New Mexico. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. PT and the match-up will be televised live on The Mtn.