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Saturday, September 13, 2008

Finally, a Game

By Randy Harrison
Journal Staff Writer
      At long last, football season has arrived at New Mexico State.
       Through circumstances beyond their control — Hurricane Gustav forcing the cancellation of the opening-night matchup with Nicholls State — the Aggies today become the last major-college team in America to begin its season. As a result, they have a throw-down, not a tune-up, for their 2008 debut.
       It's at 2-0 Nebraska, trying to rebuild itself to national-power status under first-year coach Bo Pelini. And fourth-year New Mexico State coach Hal Mumme said he sees no “glass half full” scenario beginning the season this way.
       “We're gonna be the guys with the opening-game jitters, and we're playing at their place,” said Mumme. “The `reps' advantage is what I'm worried about the most. Usually, you improve the most between the first and third games. Nebraska's had a chance to do that.”
       But there are at least two factors working in NMSU's favor against the 25 1/2-point favorite. One is the $800,000 payday that makes it well worth its while for Aggie football to travel to Lincoln.
       Another: no games means at least no game casualties. New Mexico State is as healthy as it will be all season. Injuries, their fans will recall, sabotaged the Aggies' chance for a breakthrough in 2007. Nine starters missed 35 games; NMSU wasn't nearly deep enough to hold up to that pounding and limped to a 4-9 finish.
       In the meantime, the Aggies recruited more speed offensively. Three of the new receivers — Marcus Anderson, Julius Fleming and LaVorick Williams — all have been timed at 4.39 or faster in the 40-yard dash, NMSU says. Mumme was intent on adding speed to complement that of 2006 All-American receiver Chris Williams, the fastest Aggie at 4.24.
       It doesn't necessarily convert to football success, but it's a big help, and the unproven newcomers' prowess came up in an early-week news conference gab. Aggie cornerback Davon House said, “We believe our receivers are 10 times better than their receivers.”
       In context, he meant it as a tribute to his NMSU teammates and how they sharpen his skills during practice. But of course it has worked its way to Lincoln as bulletin-board material. Told of House's comment, Huskers senior wideout Nate Swift let out a chuckle, but otherwise bit his tongue.
       Defensively, the Aggies' impact recruit is older and presumably much slower. At age 62, Joe Lee Dunn is resuming the collegiate portion of a coaching career that began in 1980 when he was an assistant at New Mexico.
       Dunn is the creator of the 3-3-5 defense that Mumme wanted to run anyway. It makes speed positions out of virtually every position on the defensive side of the ball. And when anything goes with the eight guys beyond the three down linemen, it could become a preparation nightmare.
       “It looks like a defense I play against in Madden,” Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz said, referring to the popular video game.
       Ganz has put up great passing numbers himself in the West Coast attack that has signaled the extinction of the era when Nebraska pounded people with its rush-oriented Power-I option offense.
       The Aggies were, for the eight years (1997-2004) that former Husker Tony Samuel coached them, essentially Nebraska Lite. And the residue of Samuel's stay in Las Cruces can be seen today on the Cornhuskers' sideline.
       Huskers long snapper T.J. O'Leary started every game at NMSU his freshman year (2004), the last for Samuel. He transferred to Nebraska after NMSU fired Samuel, walking on in Lincoln and receiving a scholarship for this year.
       Several former Aggie assistants on Samuel's staff are now at Nebraska: offensive line coach Barney Cotton, secondary coach Marvin Sanders and director of football operations Jeff Jamrog.
       It's also a homecoming for longtime Aggie play-by-play announcer Jack Nixon. He's a native of Omaha, where “everybody knows me as John,” he told the Omaha World-Herald. He said he changed to Jack when he was young because he thought it more fitting for a sports announcer.
       

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