Sunday, November 22, 2009

Not close

The New Mexico State Aggies weren't even close Saturday night against the University of Nevada.

The Wolf Pack have been putting up points this season - particularly recently - at a dizzying pace. NMSU simply doesn't have the athletes to keep pace with Nevada, at least not at this point.

The Aggies go to San Jose State this weekend in what is a winnable game. But they will need to score at least 24 points. Can the Aggies get that number? If so, they should beat the Spartans. Judging from the way this season has gone, they will not reach that level.

....

I would like to say that I have been to some amazing high school football games this year, particularly in the last month.

The Mayfield vs. Las Cruces High game was out of control and last Saturday's Mayfield vs. Eldorado playoff game was just as good - minus the in-town drama. Back-and-forth action, big plays on both sides of the ball and drama. Great game and great win for the Trojans, in a contest where Eldorado could have, maybe even should have, won.

....

I went to the Aggie men's basketball game last week against New Mexico.

This team should be farther along than it is. Part of that has to do with the ineligibility of Wendell McKines and Troy Gillenwater. Some of that has to do with simply playing poor basketball.

I will say this though. What I thought was a deep team at the beginning of the year, is not. This early-season stretch has proved that. Once - if - Wendell and Troy get back, this team will have a pretty decent starting five and not much behind that. Maybe a decent player or two coming off the bench, but that's it. There's no denying that having both of those guys on the court last week against UNM would have helped.

The Aggies need to step on the defensive end of the floor. No question about that. Wendell and Troy would have helped - only if they played strong, and smart, defense. It's been an Achilles heel the past two years.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

If NMSU is to beat SJSU, Fleming and the wide receivers need to show up...something they haven't done all damn year!

The basketball team really stinks!
They come out flat and can't play defense and that is strictly on Menzies who, can't coach and has a bland personality.
Get ready to swept by our rivals as this has been Menzies forte!

Is it baseball season yet?!

Anonymous said...

I agree with Teddy. The Mens BB team is not very deep and sorely miss the two that ineligible. No inside game will kill them against UTEP. This is a team loaded with point guards and shooting guards. Does anyone on this staff know how to coach inside play? Sure does not look like it. Most of the "big men" are works in progress and none appear to have real skills.

High School football rules in this town, unfortunately for the Aggies. MHS was lucky against El Dorado. Hooker threw interceptions but came through in the end.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Teddy. The Mens BB team is not very deep and sorely miss the two that ineligible. No inside game will kill them against UTEP. This is a team loaded with point guards and shooting guards. Does anyone on this staff know how to coach inside play? Sure does not look like it. Most of the "big men" are works in progress and none appear to have real skills.

High School football rules in this town, unfortunately for the Aggies. MHS was lucky against El Dorado. Hooker threw interceptions but came through in the end.

Anonymous said...

Aggies football team will lose this weekend. Aggie basketball team will win, but not impressively.

The best game to watch will be the game with the football game with the Mayfield Trojans.

Anonymous said...

I want to be supportive of the Aggies. The defense is gradually wearing down, and the offense has been no help whatsoever. I really cannot see that the offense has made progress over the year. It looks as if it has regressed.

It is hard to lay it at the feet of the players. Coaching has been a big part of it. The TR experiment has been a disaster. He has managed to dismantle the offense the same as he did when he was OC at Eastern Washington and to a large degree as quarterbacks coach at Washington State.

Coach Walker is loyal to his staff, and rightly so. However, it is time to evaluate performance and to make the tough calls. Unless there is something that most of us are not able to see, bringing in a dynamic OC needs to be top on Coach Walker's list if he is to find success at NMSU. It is every bit as important as the recruiting of players.

Anonymous said...

Teddy, your assesment of the depth of the BB team is right on, and has me wondering if MM is the "great recruiter" we have been told he is. Personally I think it is a case of the emperor's new clothes.

Anonymous said...

Aggie football is Aggie football. Same yesterday, today and tomorrow. The bad part is the basketball team is now starting to resemble aggie football. Way to go Boston and Menso.

Onate football this year had the best players, but had a Menso level coaching staff. Oh well,,,,go MHS.

Anonymous said...

What are the possibilities of NMSU dropping down to FCS status? They cannot even begin to compete in the FBS. I've only lived here since '06, but I know enough about Aggie football history to know the program hasn't been good in many generations. Also doesn't have attendance requirements for FBS teams. I was at the Nevada game on Saturday and there couldn't have been more than 2,500 people there at the peak. By game's end, there were about fifty people in the stadium, most were wearing blue. It's a horrible situation that doesn't have the potential to get better.

Anonymous said...

Anon. 11:38
As bad as attendance looked vs. Reno. NMSU has met the D1 minimum attendance for the 2nd straight year..it's not pretty but they got it done.

As far as FCS is concerned, if we go that rout, so does every other sport...it's not even an option.

You all have to remember a few dates; Decemeber 31st and February 4th.
One was the date Coach Walker was hired, the other was national signing day.

That means he only had one month to recruit, put a staff together and get his family down here!! Couple that with the fact that Dumme left the cupboard pretty bare!
Talk about walking into a tough situation!

Coach Walker has had a staff and able to recruit for a year now.
The most impressive part is that he's won 3 games w/o a QB, and new schemes on both sides of the ball.
Better days are ahead!

Jefe

Anonymous said...

Boys it is simple, NMSU is not very good offensively. Saying that should put me in line for OC next year. Did not take a genius to figure that out.
Frist terrible choice for QB. It is understandable though. Coaches at the College level have a very short shelf life. You bring in a guy that does not play repeatedly and your standing as a recruiter is damaged. Flemming fine young man but has no upside as a QB. But he was the OC pick and despite the little time given to Walls Flemming was going to play. Bad Choice and will hurt us for the long run. Walls upside much better but when you waste a scholarship on your pick you are in trouble. Walls the Mumme Pick, the outcome was never in doubt despite the upside. Can't blame the OC his job is on the line and he brought him in, so he has to play. Never going to help much. Is Rust still planning to play baseball in the spring? Another problem for the offense if he does.

Anonymous said...

Has making excuses for losing and subpar performance of both the football and basketball teams become the new NMSU athletics attitude? If I were Coach Walker-for the last two games,throw away the starting lineups,and see who among the underclassmen still has the desire to play for this program,and go from there.As for basketball-if these two come back and they STILL keep losing-THEN WHAT?-is there NO ONE among the rest of the team that can step up as a team leader? EXCUSES-the most WORTHLESS invention man has ever created!!And as far as going 1-AA in football?-I was saying that back in the Big West days-the football team is broken from deep within,and no one seems to have the cajones in the Las Cruces sports community to find out as to why NMSU hasn't gone bowling since "Ike" was President!!..Tired of Losing

Anonymous said...

IMO Fleming is not the problem on offense. The play calling is the problem. Specifically in the passing game. We don't have the right schemes. When do you see wide open recievers??? Our QB's are always having to squeeze the ball into tight spots. We need to get a few 6' plus recievers and guy's who can catch the ball. Way too many drops.

Anonymous said...

Flemming is a part of the problem, not the whole problem, I do agree the OC and more to the point the "LACK OF A SCHEME" is more to the problem.

Looking at Flemming that is a JUCO transfer guy you would think a little more of a passing ablitly. It is not there. Walls a true Red Shirt Freshman you would think needs a little more time.

Confusing that you would take a QB that really early on has proven that there is no upside in his passing gamne and bench the kid that has the upside to make things happen. Maybe not now, but QB's are not made in a day, so allowing a QB to work his way out of mistakes is a must. I don't undestand the OC offense and truely the switching back and forth did not help ethier QB. Once again I am not John Madden, nor any of my friends that have watched the NMSU games have Super Bowl Rings, and I guess that is our problem, we can see the lack of an offensive scheme, and bad choice at QB, but supposed experts on the staff can not. We are running an offense that could be defended by a Pizza guy, with a days prep. Opps that me, but I still think I could give us all the defensive game plan for Saturday that would shut down our offene.

I will tell you firmly, majority of the AGGIE fans will honestly say the OC has locked his choice on job security of his guy he brought in. Flemming is only a part of the problem but nothing will get better until we have a new thoughts on offense.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Anonymous said...

Teddy,
Please do one thing while you are off on Thanksgiving: watch Derek Roback of Waverly on ESPN's recruiting page. Derek was Trevor Walls' back up QB (Big Time Receiver for Mr. Walls) in high school. He is 6'3" 225 lbs with 4.5 speed. Sorry Rosenbach, he is what you call a "mobile QB". The point is: Roback (#3 rated QB in OHIO), who is committed to Toledo (for now)received an official offer from Coach Brian Kelly of the UC Bearcats this morning. Yes, that is right the #5 Bearcats. For those of you who bash us Waverly supporters on this blog here is some crow (just joking). We do know our QB's!

I want to thank some of the above posters for their analysis of the offense and the QB spot. I wish Jeff Fleming the best, but he is driving a tri-cycle on a major interstate highway. When you have no confidence in your offensive players, this is what happens. It is very likely that Trevor Walls' (my opinion only and I have no information to confirm this)days as an Aggie QB may be over (Rosenbach file stamped that one). To be honest, it does not matter which QB you play, I just wish that the coaches showed confidence in their kids and help guide them through their mistakes.

I hope all of you posters in the Las Cruces area have a great Thanksgiving.

Joe
Waverly, Ohio

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you are acknowledging high school football in this area Teddy. For all you uninformed people that say the local prep football is not good....just to let you know El Paso Chapin, a team Mayfield beat 38-0, is 10-2 and beat a previously undefeated Wolfforth Frenship 33-14 and now have made it to the third round of the 4A playoffs in Texas...which is the sweet 16. Anyone that knows Texas football knows that Frenship has a great program...so my point is that local prep football can compete with the best of them. Don't try to tell me that there aren't any quality college recruits on the local prep teams.

Anonymous said...

I think people are misinformed about the FCS. All your other sports would maintain their Division 1 status. FCS is for football only. Montana, the state I grew up in, has two FCS teams and the University of Montana basketball team has been in the tournament several times, both mens and women's. FCS only affects football, so I see no reason not to do it. I'd say pride, but there's none of that left with the football team.

Anonymous said...

Any word on Wendell and Troy finals have already been completed?