Chargers RB Ryan Mathews has nose cauterized

Not Wyoming related but the Cowboys faced Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl last year and I like to keep up with him. I think he'll have a great career in the NFL but still very glad that he couldn't get past the Pokes Defense Line in overtime of the NM Bowl. Plus the Bulldogs are joining the Mountain West.

So apparently Mathews has had an issue with nose bleeds throughout his career and the his most recent gusher occurred after taking a hit against the Dallas Cowboys over the weekend. So the solution to this problem was to have his nose cauterized in what is described as an "uncomfortable" procedure.

So what exactly does it mean to have one's nose cauterized? Well since you asked...

According to Wikipedia:

If a person has been having frequent nose bleeds, it is most likely caused by an exposed blood vessel in their nose. Even if the nose is not bleeding at the time, it is cauterized to prevent future bleeding. The different methods of cauterization include burning the affected area with acid, hot metal, lasers, or silver nitrate. Such a procedure is naturally quite painful. Sometimes liquid nitrogen is used as a less painful alternative, though it is less effective. In the few countries that permit the use of cocaine for medicinal purposes, it is occasionally used topically to make this procedure less uncomfortable, cocaine being the only local anesthetic which also produces vasoconstriction, making it ideal for controlling nosebleeds.

So I doubt they coked him up to help deal with the pain since that would violate the leagues drug policy. I'm sure it hurt plenty to have a white hot poker or acid stuck up your nostril. Yes, I would say that does qualify as uncomfortable.

Fresno State RB Mathews declares for 2010 NFL Draft

After finishing the season with 144 yards and two touchdowns in the New Mexico Bowl RB Ryan Mathews has decided to forego his senior season at Fresno State and enter the 2010 NFL Draft. According to the Fresno State Bee Mathews has hired an agent named Frank Bauer out of Stockton, CA.

The talented RB was leaning towards staying Fresno but in a meeting with Coach Pat Hill and Mathews, Hill encouraged Mathews to take the next step in his career. Hill and Mathews now share the same agent.

This is really smart move for Hill for several reasons. Already ranked as the fourth best RB in the draft Hill should go in the mid to late second round. Throughout his career Hill has been labeled as injury prone after being hurt both his fresman and sophomore years. This year Mathews was beastly with the only blip being a concussion that caused him to miss one game.

For the year Mathews totaled 1,808 yards rushing and has 35 career touchdowns. Watching him in the New Mexico Bowl I came away impressed. A powerful runner Mathews never went down with just one tackler, a group would have to bring him down. He also gained a bunch of yards are contact. I'm excited to see what Mathews can do in the NFL and think he'll suprise alot of folks like Chris Johnson did when he came out of East Carolina.

Ryan Mathews will eat your children

He is so tough that he spells his last name with only one "T". The RB from Fresno State is a beast and stopping him will vital if the Cowboys hope to pull off an upset over the Bulldogs.

Listed at 5'11 220 Mathews is a strong powerful runner with a low center of gravity that is tough to bring down. After leading the nation in rushing for the entire year Mathews suffered a concussion against Nevada that caused him to miss their game against Lousiana Tech. Cleared to play in the season finale against Illinois he posted 173 yards and three TD's.

The concussion is the one wrinkle on a fantastic season by Mathews who had battled the "fragile" label his first two seasons. Due to the missed game Toby Gerhart grabbed the NCAA rushing title this year for FBS. Still an incredible year for the Junior who may be playing his final game for the Bulldogs. If Mathews decides to forgo his Senior year some project him going as early as the second round.

For the year Mathew's has totaled 1,664 yards on 245 attempts for 6.8 YPC. Add 17 touchdowns and the fact that he has NEVER fumbled in his collegiate career makes Mathews by far the toughest running back the Pokes have faced this year.

The key for the Cowboys will be containment. Once Mathews gets into the open field he is incredibly tough to bring down. Fletcher, Unrein and Givens need to attack him in the backfield and slow him down at the line of scrimmage. The linebacker corps needs to make sure they finish off their tackles and not Mathews slip out.


Here are the game by game stats for Ryan Mathews this year:

2009 Regular Season Game Log			Rushing					Receiving
DATE	OPP	RESULT	ATT	YDS	AVG	LNG	TD	REC	YDS	AVG	LNG	TD
9/5	UC Davis	W 51-0	11	106	9.6	60	1	0	0	0.0	0	0
9/12	@Wisconsin	L 34-31	19	107	5.6	55	0	2	9	4.5	9	0
9/18	Boise State	L 51-34	19	234	12.3	69	3	0	0	0.0	0	0
9/26	@Cincinnati	L 28-20	38	145	3.8	11	1	2	32	16.0	20	0
10/10	@Hawaii	W 42-17	24	149	6.2	19	1	0	0	0.0	0	0
10/17	San Jose State	W 41-21	20	233	11.7	59	1	0	0	0.0	0	0
10/24	@New Mexico State	W 34-3	25	157	6.3	68	2	1	27	27.0	27	0
10/31	Utah State	W 31-27	23	185	8.0	46	2	2	26	13.0	15	0
11/7	@Idaho	W 31-21	26	143	5.5	77	3	3	18	6.0	9	0
11/14	@Nevada	L 52-14	8	32	4.0	20	0	1	10	10.0	10	0
11/21	Louisiana Tech	W 30-28	Did Not Play or did not accumulate any stats.
12/5	@Illinois	W 53-52	32	173	5.4	42	3	0	0	0.0	0	0

Highlights from Mathews and his three TD game against Boise this year.