With New Mexico State’s college football season less than two weeks away, we take a look at five keys entering the new year:
• Survive and advance: Lets just say it - the Aggies are over-scheduled for the 2013 season. With that, keeping the team’s health and confidence intact through the year will be a top priority for the coaching staff and players. There’s some winnable games on the independent docket - Abilene Christian, Idaho, UTEP and Florida Atlantic, to name a few. But the team will need to be ready for such competition once it rolls around, and needs to capitalize if it wants to avoid another one- or two-win season. Not getting beat down physically and mentally by elite competition will be a chief challenge, and key, throughout the 2013 campaign.
• Aggie defense: Spring and fall practices saw the Aggie offense have considerable success running the ball on the NMSU defense. While it does signal an improved attack in 2013, it’s also worth asking: if the Aggies are having trouble containing the run during practice, how will it stop the University of Texas in Week 1? In the secondary, while an experienced group does return, the unit will not be coached by DeWayne Walker and Mike Rutenberg anymore, who now both tutor defensive backs for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. The entire Aggie defense will be tested throughout the season, and it at least needs to be a respectable unit that can keep the team in games.
• Aggie offense: NMSU is implementing a new offensive scheme as well, albeit one that appears to be improved from recent years. The quarterback-option run game is a focal point, and with that the rushing attack and offensive line has looked better during spring and August practices. Such a performance will need to transfer over into the season, however. If the quarterbacks fit the scheme well, and the Aggies can generate a more balanced offense with a productive ground game, the team might be able to win some time-of-possession battles, which would provide a nice boost. That and, of course, NMSU can’t afford to turn to football over to the opposition.
• Special teams: The Aggies at least seem adequate in the kicking game. Punter Cayle Chapman-Brown was a good player for NMSU in 2012, and the team plans on having Maxwell Johnson as place kicker and Brock Boca handling kickoff duties. Who’ll handle punt returns? That’s an entirely different question, although the Aggies need to find someone to fill the role. Last year the team averaged just 1.2 yards per return, which ranked No. 119 our of 120 FBS teams. As said numerous times, the Aggies need to be better in the special team’s department if they want to field a better team. One thing to watch: head coach Doug Martin will be coordinating such units in 2013, so hopefully an uptick in production will follow.
• The 2014 season: In many respects, this upcoming campaign is as much about the future as it is the present. After playing an independent schedule in 2013, the Aggies will move into the Sun Belt Conference as a football-only member in 2014, a more suitable fit for the program to begin with. The hope is that in the Sun Belt, NMSU will have a shot at a .500 season (even if that particular conference is considerably improved from years past as well). That means this year could be used as much as a spring board than anything else. If the Aggies can pocket a handful of wins and be competitive in some other contests (tall orders nonetheless), it would provide considerable momentum heading into their new league. That, and perhaps the upcoming year will give the program a chance to get young players on the field against quality competition (the coaching staff has already talked about getting true freshman quarterback King Davis III some playing time, and such a sentiment could increase as the 2013 season moves along). In short, as much as the Aggies are playing for today, they’re also playing for tomorrow.
Follow me on Twitter @TeddyFeinberg
11 comments:
hey teddy i thought brock baca quit the team.
He did but has since returned this past offseason
Good write up! Yes, 2013 will be tough but, it's also springboard for next year!!
Glad to see the comments are being update the same day!
I took it to heart....
No offense, but maybe not having Walker and Rutenberg coach DBs is a good thing. I mean honestly, Walker was a stubborn coach who ran man only and refused to make adjustments despite getting routinely burned deep and often. He's gone, good riddance, so please stop with all the love for him. 4 and 40 doesn't deserve it.
It will be a tough year...no doubt about it!
I'm looking for 4 wins. I think we can beat Utep, Unm, Abilene Christian, FAU and Idaho.
Teddy's right, this season should help us get ready for the Sun Belt.
One week and a wake-up before the season opener!!
VG
Totally agree with you with all the Walker love. 1-11 enough said. To be honest the Seniors on this team have no idea on what it takes to win week in and week out. And this year will show that. As the season goes on and if the Seniors don't produce I look for more Jr soph and freshman to get on the field. For experience. And just because the AGGIES go to Sunbelt doesn't mean they will automatically be winners. Especially if the young players have yet to play in a FBS game. So let's hope the Seniors show they know how to win.
Secondary wasn't beaten deep often. Also a good tackling unit last handful of years. Put three players in NFL over the past three years.
Not saying it was all world, but it was usually strength of defense with good personnel.
Walker was good at knowing good DB talent Plus coachin em up technique wise. The Senior DB's have talent as do the Seniors on both sides of the ball. But will they mail it in like last year if things go bad. A TRUE winner competes til the End. Sometimes losing teams need a few winning players new to the program to show them how to win. So time will tell.
I think the biggest key to a decent season is getting thru the Texas,UCLA games with a sense of ok, we got beat but we were in it for a long time, never giving up.
If the Seniors dont lead the team to victory in the UTEP game,they wont lead the team in the last half of the season when there is chances for multiple wins. I echo the other post about winning. Since the Seniors have never beat UTEP, they should blow them out. A big win could catapult this team into the winning mindset mode they have been lacking since they were freshmen.
...Involved but not committed-a very accurate description of this football program and local and student "support"...
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