Trying to salvage the season
Technically, in order to consider the 2007 season an improvement from what happened in 2006, the USU football team must win two games.
Last season the Aggies ended at 1-11. Right now they are 0-10 with two games remaining.
Well, things aren’t looking so bad. With a combined record of 5-16, the New Mexico State Aggies (Saturday at noon in Las Cruces, N.M.) and the Idaho Vandals (Nov. 24 at 1:30 p.m. in Moscow, Idaho) are the only two things to prevent the Aggies from a two-win season.
Saturday’s game at NMSU will be televised on Altitude (Comcast Channel 61). The NMSU Aggies are 1-5 in Western Athletic Conference games and are the only conference team to give up more points to Boise State – 58 – than USU did last week.
“(NMSU has) won more games than we have, but they’re a lot like us,” USU Head Coach Brent Guy said. “They played Boise about like we played Boise and ended up the final like we did. They played Nevada to a field-goal game, about like we did.”
Since defeating the Vandals at home Oct. 20, 45-31, NMSU is on a three-game losing streak. That includes a 51-17 loss at San Jose State last week.
“That shocked me,” Guy said. “I thought it would be a lot closer game than it was. They had three interceptions and San Jose State played very well in the first half and got a pretty extended lead and made some big plays on them. I was surprised to see that score. I think (NMSU is) pretty banged up with quite a few injuries right now, but they still have (Chase) Holbrook in there at quarterback. As long as he’s in there, their offense moves the football and scores some points. They just threw some interceptions that hurt them last week.”
Holbrook is second in the WAC in passing yards per game (317.6) and total offense (314.9). With 318 passing yards versus San Jose State, Holbrook became the school’s all-time leader in passing yards.
The key absence for NMSU is wide receiver Chris Williams. He is the team’s leading receiver, averaging seven receptions and 96 yards each game. NMSU was without him in last week’s loss.
NMSU Head Coach Hal Mumme said he is very aware of the problems Utah State has but isn’t planning on spotting USU any sympathy points.
“Yeah, they really want a win,” Mummy acknowledged. “I have been in that situation, I know how they feel, (but) we have to take care of business. We have to have good practices, and we will start that today.”
Meanwhile, it’s difficult to tell how USU is feeling about this Saturday’s match-up with the southern Aggies.
“I think if we do what we’re coached to do every play and play hard and just match the other team’s intensity, I think we can move the ball on anybody,” Aggie junior wide receiver Otis Nelson said.
Guy said the crux of the game will be for his team to keep Holbrook and the NMSU offense off the field and to score more points than them. For that to happen, Guy said the offense needs to iron out its plethora of problems.
“We’re not getting better (at the running game),” Guy said. “That’s where it all fits together, and we can’t be one-dimensional. We want to be balanced. We’ve got to run the ball better to throw the ball better.”
The Vandals, like USU, are winless in the WAC, but they have won one game – 20-13 over California Polytechnic State University on Sept. 8. The only statistic in which the Vandals rank first in the WAC is in PAT attempts. They are 27-of-27.
COACHES NOT TO BLAME?
Nelson said none of the blame for Saturday’s blunder against Boise State – or what has happened in any of the other nine games – should fall on the shoulders of the Aggie coaching staff.
“It’s definitely on us,” Nelson said. “Boise State might have been better than us, but they’re not 52 points better than us … I don’t blame any of it on coaches. It’s all been players’ fault. Not fielding the ball, not making the extra block. We watch film every Sunday and if one extra person would do their job on a certain play, what would’ve been a five-yard play would have been a touchdown.”
ROBINSON STILL LEADS THE WAC
Although only collecting 77 all-purpose yards versus the Broncos, Aggie wide receiver/return specialist Kevin Robinson still leads the WAC and is fifth nationally in this category with 197.3 yards per game.
-samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu