Another test awaits: Aggie defense hopes to rebound against explosive UTEP attack (11:45 a.m.)
There is no rest during the college football season.
The New Mexico State Aggies are currently finding that out.
A week after losing 41-21 to San Diego State, the Aggies will take the field again on Saturday night to face longtime rival UTEP in the Battle of I-10. The 2010 matchup will be played in El Paso, and it's a critical game for both clubs.
The Miners are coming off a 54-24 loss at Houston to fall to 1-1 on the year, and will be looking to get on track versus an NMSU team that UTEP holds a 50-35-2 series advantage against.
The Aggies stand at 0-1 on the season, and are hoping last week's performance was an aberration, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
San Diego State brought an explosive offense to Las Cruces, led by quarterback Ryan Lindley, receivers Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson and a trio of running backs headlined by freshman Ronnie Hillman. The result was 563 total yards of offense surrendered by the Aggies and 28 second-half Aztec points that ultimately put the game out of reach by the fourth quarter.
Still, NMSU head coach DeWayne Walker isn't licking his wounds. As far as he's concerned, the Aggies played a decent first half on the defensive side of the ball. And, although things didn't go according to plan down the stretch, Walker believes better days are ahead for his unit.
"I think we have a good defense, I really do....I don't want these guys to get discouraged because they played one quarter of bad
football, for the most part," Walker said. "It was our first game against an explosive offense. (The Aztecs) had a good quarterback, good receivers, arguably they'll have the newcomer of the year as their starting running back. First game out, for us."
Week 2 for the Aggies doesn't figure to get any easier, however, as the Miners come into the contest with their own offensive artillery. Quarterback Trevor Vittatoe is a four-year starter, while star running back Donald Buckram sounds confident that he'll be back in the fold, after missing the first two games of the 2010 season with a bruised knee.
Senior wide receiver Kris Adams is a big target — 6-foot-3, 195 pounds — who's capable of making the big play — seven catches for 114 yards and a touchdown in last week's loss. His sidekick, junior wideout Donavon Kemp, is an underrated weapon in the passing game, while a senior-laden offensive line provides protection up front.
"They're a great offense," NMSU middle linebacker Boyblue Aoelua said. "They run....one-back formations with all the receivers spread out. But I think we'll be prepared for it. Coach Walker's got a pretty good scheme for us to run against them."
Scheme or no scheme, the Aggies need to get off the field on third downs. Last week, San Diego State went 9-of-19 on third down conversions — 5-of-7 in the second quarter and 2-of-4 in the third.
"When we need key stops, we have to do that more consistently," Walker said. "Too many third-and-7, too many third-and-8 conversions....We need to make plays in those situations."
In the week-to-week business of college football, sometimes its best to put a bad game in the rearview mirror and focus on the present. Walker spoke about his three years as defensive coordinator at UCLA, prior to him coming to NMSU, and leading defensive units that ranked 35th, 29th and 47th in the nation, respectively.
"(While at UCLA), we had some games where gave up a lot of yards rushing and a lot of yards passing," Walker said. "Can (the Aggies) flip it in the next game? Those three defenses that we had at UCLA....We were able to flip it the next game. We didn't repeat those (previous) games, from a yardage standpoint....(The Aggies) have a better defense (than last Saturday showed)."
Another test awaits. It's back to the grindstone for NMSU.
"We gotta be more focused....We'll be in the film room hard and we'll be on point," safety Alphonso Powell said. "We need to have a lot of chemistry and focus on all our plays and do things right. Do one man's job and get the job done."
