We have met the enemy and he is us
In a battle of the two worst teams in the WAC, New Mexico State came out of their locker-room pumped up and ready to go. Utah State came out like they were expecting to get a fifth practice quarter before the real game started and found themselves down 28-0 right away.
It would not have mattered if NMSU hadn’t scored for the rest of the game, as USU only managed 20 points, losing by a final of 42-20 to a team which had lost 21 straight Division I games coming into Saturday.
USU Head Coach Brent Guy said, “It’s been a long, hard, tough year. I told the seniors I am sorry they had to endure that. I’m sorry we finished the season like we did. New Mexico State obviously deserved to win the football game.”
The other Aggie quarterback, Chase Holbrook, did his best Colt Brennan imitation on his team’s first three possessions, zeroing in on his favorite target, Chris Williams, for three touchdowns and a 21-0 lead.
Paul Igboeli, who led USU in tackles with six unassisted, said, “All I know is you can’t spot somebody 21 points in the first quarter, in the first couple of minutes. You can’t spot people 21 points in Division I. It just doesn’t happen.”
NMSU jumped ahead right from the opening kickoff, which Derek Dubois returned 50 yards to set up a short field for Holbrook. He needed only one play to find Williams for a 47-yard touchdown.
Igboeli said Williams’ speed caused the Aggies problems.
“We knew he was fast but there’s no way to get a gauge of that in practice because we don’t have anybody as fast as him,” Igboeli said. “We just said, ‘hey, he’s fast, stay on him.’ And bam, it was like, he’s real fast.”
USU punted quickly on their first possession, allowing Holbrook and Williams to go right back to work. An Aggie fumble by Antraun McDaniel ended their next possession and allowed Holbrook and Williams to make it 21-0. Next time USU was only able to run two plays before a tipped Nelson pass was caught by NMSU’s Courtney Bryan, who streaked back the other way for six.
Bryan, a senior who said he just had to feel what it was like to get a win on the road to finish his career, said of the Aggies, “I respect them a lot, they have quality players. They’re just going through rough times like we are.”
Guy said, “I told the guys I felt it was a lot like the La. Tech game. You lose by 22 and you spot them 21 in the first quarter.”
Holbrook finished the first quarter nine out of 11 passing for 200 yards. Leon Jackson III finished up the first quarter for USU after Guy said Nelson took some hits in the first quarter and wasn’t making good decisions. Jackson was stopped for a loss on third down and ended his first series in at quarterback by punting.
Nelson said, “It’s a tough way to head out for two years, leaving on a sour note like this, especially playing the way I did. But I’m not worried about the program at all, there’s a lot of young talent with a lot of heart.”
Nelson finished three for six passing for 51 yards.
After starting the game as poorly as possible, USU gave it’s fans a glimmer of hope as Terrence Washington forced a David Romaka fumble and gave Jackson another chance to direct the offense. After a few running plays for minimal gain, Jackson aired it out to top-receiving threat Kevin Robinson, and Robinson climbed the ladder to haul it in for a score – his second circus catch in a crowd of the game. Robinson would finish with four catches for 101 yards.
Jackson said playing well individually (he led the team in rushing and passing) was no solace when the team lost.
“I don’t look at things in an individual prospect, I look at it as a team. We lost and we’re 1-11. You can’t really draw any individual positives out of that,” he said.
On NMSU’s next possession, Holbrook took a big hit from the smallest linebacker in Division I, USU’s Daryl Fields, forcing the visitors to call a timeout while they revived him. Holbrook couldn’t recover enough to covert on third down and USU had the football again.
Again Jackson led the Aggies on a scoring march, with Robinson playing a big part. Robinson hauled in another 30-yarder and drew a costly 15-yard pass interference penalty on NMSU to set up Jackson’s four yard strike to Otis Nelson. Unfortunately, after a poor snap prevented USU from converting their previous extra point, Bryan Shields missed this one to make it a 28-12 ballgame.
Guy credited Jackson with getting USU back into the game, saying, “Leon came in and got hot and we decided to stay with him. Riley could have finished the game but we talked to Riley at halftime and he said ‘he’s hot, leave him in.’ That’s the type of kid Riley is.”
David Romaka’s runs fueled the next NMSU drive down for a touchdown, which was scored by A.J. Harris’ one-yard catch from Holbrook. Jackson led USU on a last drive to end the first half but his last pass fell incomplete in the end zone, intended for an outstretched Robinson.
“We went in at halftime and said we’ve got to come out and get three eights, score three times and go for two,” Guy said. “That’s what our plan was to get back in the football game. But in the end they did a nice job converting and they did a good job running the football.”
After exchanging punts to begin the second half, Jackson had USU in business again, leading a drive which set up Chris Forbes’ three-yard touchdown carry.
With the score 35-20 and Alex Gibson in at quarterback for the other Aggies, the game was far from over, particularly when Caleb Taylor picked Gibson off early in the fourth quarter. NMSU’s defense refused to cave in, however, stopping both USU fourth-quarter drives on downs.
The other Aggies also scored an insurance touchdown off a scramble by Gibson and ran the ball effectively to bleed the clock.
“They did a good job of running the ball and keeping it out of our hands,” Jackson said. Romaka and Jeremiah Williams combined to carry the ball 29 times for 119 yards for NMSU.
“We could not run the ball on a finesse team and a finesse team ran the ball on us,” Guy said. “That’s probably for me the most disappointing thing to watch, especially on third down.”
Nine seniors played their last time in Romney Stadium, QB Bryan Black, WR Tarell Richards, OL Malik Cin, OL Brent DeLadurantey, PK Justin Hamblin, DL Kerry Shepherd, DE Ryan Taylor, S Terrance Washington and DS Ryan Wilson.
Guy said, “We’ve got to be tough and physical to play this game of football in the WAC and we got worn down this year. We played some young kids and they got beat up. We’ve got to get bigger, stronger, more physical and more confident in what we do.”
-graham@cc.usu.edu