Aggies look to bolster defense with junior college players
After a tough year on the football field, New Mexico State faces a pivotal 2008 season.
The key to improvement could well be on the defensive side of the ball, where NMSU brought in three linebackers from the junior college ranks — Nick Paden (Butte JC), Jason Scott (Pasadena JC) and Justen Alford (Feather River College).
The team also added defensive tackles Anthony Smith (Red Mountain High School, Ariz.), Chris Romero (Snow College) and Jonathan Davis (Feather River College).
With new defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn on board, NMSU head coach Hal Mumme said that the junior college players will hopefully be able to make the transition to Division-1 football quickly.
"I think coach Dunn made a pretty smooth transition and helped with his new regime here in terms of some front-line players who we think can make an impact," Mumme said.
Mumme said that one player who stood out was Paden. NMSU's defensive leader last season, Dante Floyd, graduated and Paden could step in and fill his the void at middle linebacker.
Mumme also said that although Smith is small as a defensive tackle, the staff likes his upside.
"He's a terrific player," Mumme said. "He wasn't overly recruited but he's a 6-1, 200 pound guy who's gonna grow. He was on the track team, ran the 100 (meter) and 200 and is a tackle."
Speed to burn
Mumme's offensive system is a major selling point to receiver recruits and this offseason the team added four more to the roster who the staff believes can pay immediate dividends.
Mumme cited Marcus Anderson and LaVorick Williams as two receivers who could see the field and open some eyes with there burst off the line.
"If you can imagine our offense with Chris Williams and have two or three of them be as fast as Chris, that's what we've got now," Mumme said. "We've got speed."
Starters Williams and A.J. Harris return. Slot receiver Derek Dubois graduated and his spot will be up for grabs when spring camp opens.
Wes Neiman, who finished last season with 44 receptions, returns as well as Kenneth Buckley, who caught 29 balls last year to go along with five touchdowns.
Coach credits facilities with recruiting
NMSU has invested a lot in the facilities surrounding the program the last few seasons and Mumme said the result is a better recruiting class. A new Jumbotron was put into place last season, overlooking the north endzone, as well as new meeting rooms and renovations to the locker rooms.
"Tremendous," Mumme said of the impact the facilities have had in attracting recruits. "The Jumbotron, the meeting rooms, those things are really starting to pay dividends."
"Last week I flew out to Oakland to (running back) Marquell Colston's house to meet with his mom," Mumme added. "The first thing she did was go on the Internet and look at our facilities and Marquell bragged about our Jumbotron and you can tell there had been a lot of talk in that household about the progress of the program and the facility building."
No quarterback in recruiting class
The team did not add a quarterback to this year's roster but Mumme didn't seem concerned.
Chase Holbrook will be the undisputed starter with J.J. McDermott as the backup.
"We offered one in-state quarterback and he went out of state," Mumme said. "If we could have gotten him we would have taken him. Other than that, we didn't offer any others."
Last year, McDermott impressed in his only start, going 29-of-40 for 319 yards and two touchdowns in a 22-21 loss.
"J.J. performed great last year as a true freshman," Mumme said. "He'll have a whole spring and get more reps. We'll be a lot more comfortable if Chase goes down than we were last year at this time."
Mumme talked last season about possibly redshirting McDermott in 2008, giving him an additional year to play once Chase Holbrook graduated. Mumme didn't elaborate on that plan on signing day.
"We do have some ideas on that but rules prohibit me from talking about that," Mumme said.
Running back upgrades
Mumme said he believed the team improved the most at tailback. The Aggies added Seth Smith, who the staff thinks can be a good player in their system. Mumme also has been impressed with Colston.
Los Alamos native Ruben Martinez was also added as was Mansfield, Texas high school product Donavan Roberts.
Returning to the backfield is Tonny Glynn, who was having a strong year last season before an ankle injury in week 10 sidelined him for the final three games. Last year's leading rusher Justine Buries transferred to Hofstra in the offseason.
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