Sept. 29, 2014 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State football players Donnel Pumphrey (Las Vegas, Nev./Canyon Springs High) and Joel Alesi (El Cajon, Calif./Christian High) have each been named Mountain West Players of the Week, the league announced today. Pumphrey was chosen as the MW Offensive Player of the Week, while Alesi was picked as the MW Special Teams Player of the Week.
The duo helped the Aztecs (2-2, 1-0 MW) down UNLV, 34-17, Saturday night in the conference opener for both teams. It is the first career weekly league award for Pumphrey and the second for Alesi.
A true sophomore, Pumphrey set career highs with 22 rushing attempts and four touchdowns, while equaling a career best with 167 yards, averaging 7.6 yards per carry. He had 107 yards and all four of his touchdowns in the first half as SDSU raced out to a 28-10 lead. It was his third 100-yard game of the season (in four contests) and sixth of his career, which is tied for the 14th most all-time at San Diego State.
The four rushing touchdowns (and four overall scores) were the most by an Aztec player since Adam Muema had four at Wyoming on Nov. 24, 2012 and tied for the fifth most in a game in school history. Pumphrey's four rushing touchdowns also were tied for the fifth most in a game in Mountain West history and the second most in a game in FBS play this season.
It was Pumphrey's third game of the year with multiple rushing (and overall) touchdowns, fourth game of his career with multiple rushing scores and fifth overall with at least two touchdowns. SDSU improved to 5-1 over his career when he reaches 100 yards rushing and 7-3 when he scores at least one rushing touchdown.
On the season, Pumphrey has 467 rushing yards and a league-high nine rushing touchdowns on 75 attempts (6.2 avg.). He also has 10 catches (tied for the team lead) and 60 receiving yards. Among the national leaders, he ranks in a tie for second in the country in rushing touchdowns (9) and points per game (13.50), 17th in rushing yards per game (116.75), 30th in rushing yards per carry (6.23), 33rd in all-purpose yards per game (131.75) and 50th in points responsible for per game (13.50).
Alesi, meanwhile, punted five times for 191 yards for a 38.2 average. Three of his five punts landed inside the 20-yard line and only one was returned. Two of the five punts pinned the Rebels inside the 6 (3-yard line and 5-yard line), two were fair caught and none of the five went for a touchback.
On the season, Alesi has punted 18 times for 668 yards (37.1 avg.). Seven of the 18 boots have finished inside the 20, five have been fair caught and only one has resulted in a positive return.
San Diego State returns to action Friday night when it travels to back-to-back Mountain West champion Fresno State. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. PT.