NCAA Football Preview - New Mexico State Aggies

Aug 25, 2011 - 2:03 PM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - 2010 SEASON IN REVIEW: New Mexico State entered the 2010 season with one of the longest losing streaks in the nation, after closing out 2009 with seven straight defeats.

Unfortunately for head coach DeWayne Walker, 2010 began in similar fashion as the Aggies dropped four straight decisions before picking up a narrow 16-14 win in non-conference action against in-state rival New Mexico at home the second week of October. The 14 points were by far the fewest allowed by NMSU the entire season as the team ranked last in the Western Athletic Conference and 115th in the country with 39.5 ppg permitted. The Aggies managed to earn a 29-27 win against San Jose State a few weeks later for their lone conference win of the season, but considering the Spartans finished with a grand total of just one victory, that decision isn't exactly something the staff and team should be highlighting on their list of accomplishments.

New Mexico State closed out 2010 with four straight losses, giving it a record of just 2-10 overall and 1-7 in conference as it continues to deal with a 12- game slide on the road. NMSU was on the losing side of three of the top offensive performances by WAC teams in 2010, bowing to Boise State (59-0), Nevada (52-6) and Hawaii (59-24) which explains why the Aggies ranked 112th in the country in total defense with 453.3 ypg allowed.

Looking for a silver lining in an otherwise dismal and stormy 2010 season, defensive back Davon House became the first New Mexico State player to be named to the All-WAC First Team in consecutive years.

2011 ANALYSIS:

OFFENSE: Quarterback Matt Christian showed some signs of consistency in the pocket a year ago, throwing for 1,372 yards and eight touchdowns, against just two interceptions, but he appeared in only eight games and that opened the door for Andrew Manley to make an impression at the position as well. Unfortunately for Manley, his efforts resulted in just one TD and six picks, and that's the main reason why the squad ranked 99th in the country with a mere 167.4 ypg through the air. Christian, who attended Palomar Junior College before arriving in Las Cruces, missed four games last season due to injury so not only did the team suffer without his arm in the game, they also had to pick up the pace running the ball as well because Christian was fourth on the unit with 218 yards and a pair of TDs.

Even though he struggled last year, Manley is still the one that coach Walker intends on leaning on when the season begins.

"I know one of the areas that we definitely wanted to improve in spring ball was our passing game. Our quarterback, Andrew Manley, I thought he had great spring. Coach Martin (first-year offensive coordinator) did a good job kind of moving our offensive players around a little bit so we can get more explosive."

Kenny Turner is the top returning running back for the program after putting up 461 yards and scoring twice on 115 carries. With a total of nine touchdown passes thrown by the collective NMSU QBs a year ago, there were not many celebrations made by Aggies' receivers, something that Todd Lee and Taveon Rogers aim to change this time out. Lee was fourth on the team in receptions with 24, but he was actually first with three TDs, so he's familiar with where to go. Rogers, who appeared in all 12 games for the squad as both a receiver and kick returner, was named Second-Team All-WAC after setting new school records with 1,410 kick return yards on 52 attempts. Being so productive bringing the ball back is certainly a positive, but having to field so many kickoffs actually says a lot more about how weak the NMSU defense was a season ago.

DEFENSE: The scoring defense for the Aggies has been brutal for several years now and it doesn't appear to be getting any better in the short term for the squad. A big part of the problem is getting adequate pressure on opposing quarterbacks, something that didn't happen much at all in 2010 when the team ranked 119th in sacks with just 0.75 per game. That lack of intensity at the line of scrimmage was further highlighted by the fact that the Aggies also placed second-to-last in the country in tackles for loss as well with just 3.5 per contest. If not for back-to-back games against New Mexico and Fresno State in which NMSU posted six and seven TFLs, respectively, the numbers would have been even worse and that's something that the coaching staff is keenly aware of.

"Defensively, we've definitely gotta get back to playing a Dwayne Walker style of defense. Coach (Dale) Lindsey, our coordinator, he's implemented some things that I think will help our defense this year."

B.J. Adolpho and Donte Savage were the biggest contributors in the TFL department with 7.5 and 6.5 TFLs, respectively, and are back on the roster again this year to try and improve those numbers, but the fact that the latter is listed as a backup in early depth charts has to be puzzling. Hopefully freshman Stephen Meredith, who sits in front of Savage at one of the linebacker positions, is an incredible talent that demands that he be on the field as much as possible. One of the other high profile defenders for the Aggies heading into the new season is defensive end Pierre Fils, who played in 12 games a year ago and provided a solid presence at the point of attack. Now a senior, Donyae Coleman led the team in tackles a year ago with 92 from his safety position.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Considered one of the standout players on the NMSU roster, kicker Tyler Stampler will be called on quite a bit again this season as the offense sputters and the team is in need of putting points on the board. Stampler led the team in scoring last season, as he converted 16-of-19 field goals and all but one of his 19 PATs, his accuracy on his field goals (84.2 percent) ranking him first in the WAC. Sophomore Jake Capraro will assume the role of punter for the Aggies again this time around after booting 63 kicks a year ago, although his average of 36.9 yards was somewhat disappointing.

In addition to being a key part of the offense, Rogers will again handle kickoff returns after averaging a stellar 27.1 yards per return a year ago. The team forced just 17 punts, of which nine were handled by Todd Lee who is again on the hook for similar action in 2011.

OUTLOOK: "Just a lot of soul-searching this off-season, a lot, from A-to-Z in terms of our team chemistry, our staff chemistry," coach Walker said of the preparation for 2011. "Anything you can think of, that's what I tried to really focus on this past off-season and I like where we are."

Walker is due some good news and he might just get it in the season opener when the Aggies host the Ohio University Bobcats, a squad that should be on the decline in 2011 after winning eight games a season ago. Walker needs all the positive vibes he can get right now because he is definitely on the hot seat and slim wins over New Mexico will only get you so far before fans start calling for your job.

This season NMSU has to make the trip to Albuquerque for the annual battle, which will certainly work against the Aggies, as will the fact that they will be coming back from their conference opener at San Jose State the week prior. The team does get to host both Nevada and Fresno State, probably still huge defeats, but at least the Aggies don't have to carry disappointing efforts with them on return trips to Las Cruces.

When all is said and done, 2011 could look a lot like 2009 and 2010 to the New Mexico State faithful.