DeWayne Walker insists on maintaining a glass-half-full approach with his New Mexico State University football team.

What’s actually in the glass is another matter.

A week after getting steamrolled by a larger, more physical Auburn team, the Aggies come home to face speedy, explosive San Jose State. It’s a matter of picking your poison for NMSU, which is trying to avoid a ninth consecutive loss.

	Today San Jose State at NMSU, 1:30 p.m. My50 TV, AggieVision, 101.7 FM Abq., 103.9 FM Las Cruces, espn3.com.

The Spartans (7-2, 3-1 Western Athletic Conference) are enjoying one of their best seasons in recent memory. The Aggies (1-8, 0-4) can only hope to spoil the visitors’ fun.

“It’s a challenge,” conceded Walker, NMSU’s fourth-year coach. “San Jose State’s been rolling, and we just want to win a game.

“But our coaches and players are still excited. We’ll come up with a game plan and continue to work hard and fight.”

To the Aggies’ credit, that fight has not wavered during this forgettable season. They outplayed Auburn for much of last week’s first half, three times driving into Tigers territory in a then-scoreless game.

But those three possessions ended without points. An NMSU run came up short on a fourth-and-2 play, a penalty and sack forced a punt, and a long field-goal attempt missed.

Auburn led 7-0 at halftime and dominated the second half on its way to a 42-7 home win.

“I still love this team,” Walker said, “which may sound odd considering we’re a 1-8 team. But this could be a disaster if the players decided to let it. These guys keep fighting every week, and we as coaches are going to do everything in our power to help them out.”

On the glass-half-full side, San Jose State has little in common with Auburn – an SEC program that had NMSU outsized and overpowered on both sides of the line.

The Spartans, at least on offense, more closely resemble the Louisiana Tech team that visited Las Cruces two weeks ago. The Bulldogs’ pass-oriented offense came in averaging an FBS-best 56 points per game and managed just 28 against the Aggies.

San Jose State is averaging 33.8 points and more than 600 yards of offense per game and does most of its damage through the air.

“Their quarterback (David Fales) averages 300 yards a game, and it’s an explosive offense,” NMSU cornerback Jeremy Harris said. “We’ve got to defend the deep ball, but they give you a lot of different looks. We’ve all got to know our assignments and execute.”

The Aggies’ glass looks decidedly less full on the other side of the ball. Even when NMSU’s defense has kept games close, the offense has been unable to keep up its end of the bargain.

Despite moving the ball effectively against nearly every opponent, the Aggies have consistently self-destructed when they reach scoring range. New Mexico State has scored more than 14 points just once in its last six games.

Now the Aggies must find a way to produce against a high-pressure San Jose State pass rush that’s geared to test opponents’ patience.

“Not a lot of teams have gotten explosive plays on them,” NMSU quarterback Andrew Manley said of the Spartans. “They don’t blitz a lot, they just play coverage and wait for their ends to provide pressure.”

The approach forces opponents to be content rushing the ball or throwing short passes. In NMSU’s case, extended drives have frequently ended with penalties or turnovers.

Still, Walker expects his team to have its opportunities.

“They’re not a fancy team at all,” he said, “especially on defense. They’re blue collar. They just line up, play and say, ‘Beat us.’ It’s up to us to find a few holes.”

Standout Aggies wideout Austin Franklin hopes to create some of those holes, whether for himself or for teammates. Franklin, who ranks third nationally in receiving yards per game (123.3), has been drawing double coverage on a regular basis.

“That’s fine because we have other guys who can do the job,” Franklin said. “Auburn tried to put two (defensive backs) on me, but when they saw Trevor (Walls) and Kemonté (Bateman) getting involved, they had to back out of it.

“I don’t care how we do it, we just have to finish (drives). Receiving yards are nice, but points win games. We have to score more points.”
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