Gridders to face off
In 2005, Utah State and New Mexico State will leave the Sun Belt together to join the Western Athletic Conference.
Thursday night’s Aggie Showdown, however, features two teams heading down different paths this year.
The Utah State Aggies (3-6, 3-1), have won their last two games by a margin of 90-20, shutting out Arkansas State 49-0 and shutting down Middle Tennessee 41-20. With the two victories, USU moved into sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt.
The New Mexico State Aggies, on the other hand, are 2-7 on the year and just 1-4 in Sun Belt games. NMSU fell to Arkansas State 28-24 last week and slipped into a three-way tie for last place in the conference.
Utah State Head Coach Mick Dennehy said USU’s last win should be a boost to the team.
“Middle Tennessee is as good a football team as there is in the league and to have our kids come out and play as good as they did against them is a real confidence builder,” Dennehy said.
New Mexico State comes into the game leading the Sun Belt in rushing and total offense, but USU will probably see a different look than the option offense NMSU usually runs.
Because of an injury to quarterback Paul Dombrowski, New Mexico has turned to QB Buck Pierce, who Dennehy sees as a passing threat as well.
“They are an option team and we have got to prepare for that, but with only one quarterback healthy, they have kind of backed away from that a little bit and become more of an I-formation, power team that throws play-action very well,” Dennehy said. “Pierce demonstrated against Arkansas State last week what kind of arm he has. He is a very good drop-back passer.”
Pierce threw for a career high 314 yards in NMSU’s loss to Arkansas State. He also has a 68-yard touchdown run on the season.
Pierce’s primary target is senior wideout Ronshay Jenkins, who is second in the conference in receiving yards. Jenkins had a big day against Arkansas State as well, hauling in six catches for 126 yards.
Four of New Mexico State’s losses this season have been by less than a touchdown.
NMSU and USU have a history of close games, despite Utah State’s commanding 23-4 series lead. The last four games between the two teams have been decided by a total of 20 points.
Last year against New Mexico State, USU won 32-30, avoiding a third straight overtime game in the season by stopping NMSU’s two-point conversion attempt with 19 seconds left in the game.
After two games at home where Utah State’s offense, defense and special teams fired on all cylinders, USU will have to find out if it can take its momentum on the road, where the team is 0-5 on the season.
USU quarterback Travis Cox was named Sun Belt offensive player of the week for his 301-yard, three-touchdown effort against Middle Tennessee, while running back David Fiefia is second in the Sun Belt in all-purpose yards.
Tight end Chris Cooley is second in the nation in catches per game for a tight end, trailing Miami’s Kellen Winslow 5.5 average with a 5.43.
Utah State’s defense has also been dominating at home, keeping Arkansas State from scoring and only allowing Middle Tennessee to score in the fourth quarter, when the game was firmly in hand and mostly backups were playing.
USU linebacker Robert Watts said it’s important for his team to pick up a win on the road.
“If we can win out, we still have a chance for a conference title,” Watts said. “We haven’t won any on the road yet, so there is another challenge right there.”
North Texas will have to lose to a conference foe in order for the Utah State to have a chance to win the Sun Belt title.
Even though the game will be played on Thursday, Dennehy downplayed the importance of the short week.
“We have as much practice time in a short week as we generally do in a long week for the most part,” he said. “At this time of the year, with daylight savings time, with the weather, with kids being banged up, we generally spend a little bit less time on the practice field anyway.”
The team does have the benefit of being able to practice in the Laub indoor practice facility, Dennehy said, so the coaches have more time to teach the game plan before heading to the field.
The last time the two schools met in Las Cruces, former USU running back Emmett White set an NCAA record with 578 all-purpose yards and a school record 322 yards rushing en route to a 44-37 win in 2000.
The game will be shown on KJZZ at 6 p.m.
-royburton@cc.usu.edu