Staley Named MWC, National Player of the Week

PROVO -- For the second consecutive week, (and third time this season) BYU junior running back Luke Staley has been named the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week. In addition, Staley was selected as the Sporting News Nissan Frontier National Player of the Week. The Tualatin, Ore., native racked up 172 yards and four more touchdowns on Saturday, leading BYU to a 41-34 win over Wyoming. The win assured BYU of at least a share of their second MWC Championship and improved the eighth-ranked Cougars' season record to a perfect 10-0.

Staley leads the Mountain West Conference and ranks fourth in the nation in rushing, averaging 140.4 yards per game. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound speedster also leads the nation in scoring, producing an amazing 17.33 points per contest. He also ranks second nationally, averaging an impressive 8.4 yards per carry.

With his 172-yard performance at Wyoming, Staley has recorded eight career 100-yard games, including seven this season. Staley has racked up over 100 yards rushing in seven of the nine games he has played as a junior. As only the seventh player in BYU history to record over 1,000 yards in a single season, Staley has posted 1,264 yards this season, ranking third on BYU's all-time single-season rushing list. He needs just 123 yards to overtake Pete Van Valkenburg's 29-year old single-season rushing record (1,386). With three games remaining, Staley is on pace to produce over 1,685 rushing yards this season.

As BYU's all-time touchdown scoring leader, Staley has produced at least one touchdown in 21-of-28 games throughout his career. Including his four-touchdown performance at Wyoming, Staley has produced multi-scoring games 13 times throughout his career, including seven games this season with two or more touchdowns. Staley has scored a single-season record 26 touchdowns this year, increasing his career total to an amazing 46.