Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews was named the Western Athletic Conference offensive player of the week Monday.
But another less-heralded Bulldog also was rewarded by the conference: punter Robert Malone.
Malone won the WAC's special teams player of the week award after booming four punts for 216 yards Saturday in the Bulldogs' 41-21 victory against San Jose State. Along with the Bulldogs' blocked punt near the end of the first half, it was the second week in a row that Fresno State's special teams unit has turned heads.
"He's come a long way in his development," coach Pat Hill said of Malone. "He's starting to really master the type of punts you need at the college level."
Malone's punts mostly were a side note to the rest of the action the Bulldogs served up, and their significance was slight considering how badly the Bulldogs beat the Spartans. In a close contest, though, his bombs will come in handy.
Fresno State punter Robert Malone (42) won the WAC's special teams player of the week award after booming four punts for 216 yards Saturday in the Bulldogs' 41-21 victory against San Jose State.
The senior from Riverside helped the cause early in the first quarter by pinning San Jose State on the 6-yard line to help keep the Spartans from gaining any more early ground on the Bulldogs. The Spartans already had scored a quick touchdown to grab a lead.
Malone's prize piece of the night came in the second half. With the Bulldogs on their 6, Malone launched a 69-yard punt over the head of returner Michael Avila. The booming punt was the longest by any WAC punter this season, and Malone's 54-yard average is tied for sixth nationally. The Bulldogs also rank eighth in the country in punt coverage, with a net average of 40.6 yards per punt.
Malone and his punt team buddies have done it from different formations this season.
The Bulldogs altered their punt formation before the Hawaii game, going with a formation Hill calls "the shield" in which three blockers stand between the line of scrimmage and the punter. As punt team players allow a few rushers to stream through the line in order to get downfield to cover the punt, the three blockers pick up the blocks. It's a formation that many, if not most, college teams have gone to, Hill said.
Hill said the formation allows teams to directional kick, release downfield earlier and thus cover punts more quickly and efficiently.
"We decided we could get more out of an average kicker [with the formation], and even twice as much out of a real good kicker," Hill said.
The other big special teams play came on a punt return, where the Bulldogs at times can cause heartburn with how they catch -- or don't catch -- punts. The Bulldogs blocked their second punt of the season against the Spartans.
With less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half, the Bulldogs rushed 11 players, running punt returner Marlon Moore up to the line of scrimmage. Anthony Harding broke through the middle to block the punt, which set up a field goal as the half expired to make it 31-14.
"We put that one together on the sideline," Hill said. "We brought Marlon up and overloaded the one side, and Anthony came through free. It's something they [San Jose State] hadn't seen and something we hadn't even worked on."
Mathews rushed for 233 yards against the Spartans -- 1 yard shy of his career-best, set earlier this season against Boise State. It was the junior's second WAC player of the week award.
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