Lets take a look back at last season's game between the Miners and Aggies.
It was a wild one. The final score was 29-24 but it might as well have been 45-41. It sure felt that way. I think the thing that stood out to me was the performance by receiver Chris Williams. He caught nine passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns on the evening, with most of his production coming in the second half. Both of his scores came on big plays. He really made the difference.
I also remember NMSU being fairly mistake prone throughout. Former Miner safety Quinten Demps returned an interception 104 yards for a score and Aggie kicker Paul Young missed two chip shot field goals from 34 and 22-yards out. Williams also dropped a few balls, including a sure touchdown. Still, the team persevered and got a gutsy win, culminated by a defensive stand with under three minutes remaining. It really was refreshing.
I seem to recall UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe being up-and-down throughout the game. He missed some open guys downfield. That could be the biggest difference this year — besides the game being in the Sun Bowl. How will Vittatoe play and will he capitalize when there are windows open in the secondary? He's a pretty good player. That game was literally one of his first starts — it may have been his first actually. He was a freshman last year. He should be more comfortable this time around, no doubt about it.
The lasting memory from the game was one of relief and the feeling that this was the “signature win” that the team had coveted under Hal. The atmosphere was great, the press conference afterwards was euphoric. I know it sounds cheesy, but there really was a lot of optimism after that game. Everyone was hugging each other. Frankly, it was a little weird. But the fans, players, coaches and, yes, the beat writers, really thought it was the “hump” game the team needed to win. Then, the season went, well you know, downhill. It was strange and disappointing. But here we are again. Fresh season again. And yes, I really think Saturday night will tell us a lot about this ballclub. A win will go a long way. Didn't we say that last year too?.....
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3 comments:
Last year we had a chance to step on their throats early in the game and stepped on their ear!
We need to jump on them early and get that crowd out of the game.
Last years game was a hump game. But then we had to go to Auburn and a week later. That would have been a momentum killer for any team. This year we got the money game out of the way, and hopefully we can get a win in EP and a win next week and the year will be off to a great start!
My prediction. This year's game will hinge on our ability to run the ball and hold on to it. If we can do both, we win going away. There's no way the Miners can contain the passing game if we can get some yards on the ground.
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