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Bulletin report
The Aggie football team has a message.
“Everybody’s still got their heads up,” New Mexico State University wide receiver Greg Hogan said. “We had good preparation this week.”
NMSU (0-3) comes off a bye week and heads 200 or so miles to the north to take on in-state rival the University of New Mexico Lobos.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3.
The game can be heard on the radio in Las Cruces on 570 AM. It will be televised on ROOT Sports.
Defensive end Noah Brown will be playing near his Los Lunas hometown and he wants to see UNM’s University Stadium jammed with Aggie fans.
“This is a big game; we’d love to pack in that stadium,” he said. “We want to see as many Aggie fans as possible.”
The Aggies used their off week to wipe the taste of an overtime loss to their other rivals, the University of Texas-El Paso Miners, out of their mouths and prepare for a triple option offense attack by the Lobos (2-2).
Aggie coach Doug martin said his defense will have to stay disciplined against UNM’s option offense. He said linebackers will be crucial to make plays “sideline to sideline.”
One other thing the NMSU defense must do: “Punish the quarterback,” Martin said.
UNM has the 15th-best rushing offense in the nation and quarterback Lamar Jordan is the team’s second- leading rusher with 247 yards, just one yard back from leading rusher Jhurell Pressely. Jordan, a 5-10, 190-pound redshirt sophomore, averages 7.1 yards per rush.
“We have to let him know it’s going to be a long night,” Martin said.
The Aggies offense has been able to put up points as they’ve lit the scoreboard for 32 and 47 points the last two games respectively.
Quarterback Tyler Rogers has aired the ball out for an average of 288 yards per game with seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
Tyrian Taylor leads the team in receiving with 264 yards and three touchdowns on 14 catches.
Running back Larry Rose III has averaged nearly 110 yards per game to give NMSU balance.
Martin said big plays will be important and NMSU will look to be “explosive.”
NM State and New Mexico have a long history, with their first meeting occurring on New Year’s Day in 1894, eight years before the first Rose Bowl. The teams played six games against each other before New Mexico became a state. New Mexico leads the series 69-31-5 and has won the last three meetings. NM State last defeated the Lobos on Oct. 1, 2011 as they captured a 42-28 win in Albuquerque.
