Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Karl Benson suspended Louisiana Tech freshman safety Chad Boyd for the first half of the upcoming Fresno State-LaTech game as a result of a flagrant foul he committed against an LSU receiver in last weekend's 24-16 Tech loss.

On the play, which occurred close to the 13-minute mark of the third quarter with the Bulldogs leading 13-10, Boyd leapt into LSU receiver Terrance Toliver and appeared to lead with his helmet.

The play made YouTube, but went undetected by the game officials.

"A flagrant personal foul should have been called by the game officials, and Boyd should have been ejected from the game at that time," said Benson.

"By NCAA rules, I am required to review these types of situations and it was determined that the player clearly committed a flagrant foul, and thus will be suspended. Protecting a defenseless player from a hit to the head has been a point of emphasis for two years and cannot be tolerated even if it goes undetected by the game officials."

The suspension should hurt Tech, who is already suffering from a number of injuries, including the loss of senior All-WAC safety Antonio Baker for the season.

The Bulldogs are going to have their work cut out for them this week with Ryan Mathews out because of his concussion.

There's a reason the coaching staff ran him 213 times and the next back 56 times. There's a reason they passed four times at the goal line in the last game when Mathews was sitting the bench and some aren't really convinced it was because they were behind and needed to score quickly.

The "other" running backs -- particularly seniors Anthony Harding and Lonyae Miller -- have been limited in action this season, and many say rightfully so.

"Mathews", as freshman RB Robbie Rouse said Tuesday, "is a beast."

Rouse has rushed 56 times for 381 yards. Miller has run 53 times this year for just 276 and Harding has had 14 carries this season for 30 yards.

The Bulldogs are 6-4, and regardless of the outcome in their last two games against Louisiana Tech and Illinois, they will be headed to a bowl game.

Which one? The New Mexico Bowl. Here's why.

Boise State (No. 6 in the BCS) will win the rest of its games and enter a BCS game as an at-large bid because automatic-qualifying schools like USC keep losing.

Idaho is going to the Humanitarian Bowl because the game is in Boise and the Vandals don't have a large fan base that's guaranteed to travel outside the state. So you keep the team, which hasn't been to a bowl since '98, in-state.

Nevada, which hosted Hawaii in Reno during the regular season, will be sent to the Hawaii Bowl after losing to Boise in Boise on Nov. 27.

That leaves Fresno State headed back to the N.M. Bowl because no other WAC team will be bowl eligible.

Nevada's Vai Taua has Ryan Mathews-like numbers and Ryan Mathews is out.

Taua, Nevada's lead back, has 160 yards and two touchdowns at the half as the Wolf Pack lead 24-14 at the half.

Mathews, the nation's leading rusher, left the game with about 3 minutes left in the half after a hit by safety Jonathon Amaya.

He has not come out to the field for the second half.

The Bulldogs could be in trouble here because Nevada has the ball first in the second half.

Neither defense could stop the opponent on the first drives of this Fresno State-Nevada game.

Colburn hit Hamler on a blown coverage for a 57-yard score three minutes into the game. About two minutes later Vai Taua hti a dive for a 50-yard score to tie the game.

This one is looking like a shootout early. Let's see if the defenses make an adjustment.

Andrew Jackson's 31-game starting streak is expected to end Saturday when the Bulldogs take the field inside Nevada's Mackay Stadium.

Fresno State's starting right guard sprained his left knee against Idaho last week and coach Pat Hill said he expects Jackson to sit.

Jackson dressed in shorts, warmups and helmet like the rest of the team Friday inside the stadium, but he went through workouts on his own during special team drills, seeming to test the knee out.

Leslie Cooper, a sophomore guard from Compton, will get his first start in Jackson's place.

Almost every time Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick has a good game, it's a blow to Fresno State's recruiting efforts.

How did a player who was just 90 miles from Fresno, not become a Bulldog and instead join Western Athletic Conference rival, Nevada?

I received an e-mail message today to fill out my ballot for the Doak Walker award, which goes to the top running back in the nation.

Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews made the list of 10.

Mathews originally was not on the Doak Walker Watch List during the preseason and for about four weeks into the season.

But at some point last month, his name was added and he now has made the final top 10.

Here's a video found on youtube.com of Mathew's best game this season, against Boise State.

So Fresno State faces a mobile quarterback this week in Nevada's Colin Kaepernick and that's immediately bad news.

The Bulldogs almost always struggle against quarterbacks who can run. Just think back late last month against Utah State's Diondre Borel. Or go back to Oregon's Dennis Dixon, Washington's Isaiah Stanback or Colorado State's Bradlee Van Pelt.

But should the Bulldogs lose, could a loss spiral into a length losing streak?

This clip was taken from the Associated Press ...

Associated Press

MOSCOW, Idaho -- The Boise State vs. Idaho rivalry has taken to some not-so-friendly skies.

Idaho athletic director Rob Spear says he declined to board a Horizon Air flight after learning the airplane was painted in Boise State's blue and orange colors.