WAC countdown: NMSU
With football camp a week away, it’s time to take a look at the Western Athletic Conference. Check back daily for a look at each team, starting at the bottom of the WAC preseason coaches poll.
First up, the No. 8 New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State
2009 Record: 3-10 (1-7 WAC)
Returning starters: 14 (7 offense, 6 defense, punter)
Coach: DeWayne Walker, second year
WAC Preseason Polls: 8th coaches, 8th media
It’s hard to imagine a season ending worse than it did for New Mexico State.
After a promising 3-3 start — including wins over Utah State and New Mexico — the wheels fell off the bus for first-year coach DeWayne Walker’s Aggies.
With a non-existent passing game, NMSU struggled to move the ball and scored a total of 53 points over the final seven games of the season. New Mexico State failed to score more than 21 points in any game and averaged just 11.5 points per game for the season and had six games with seven or fewer points.
The total offensive numbers of just 229.3 yards per game ranked No. 120 in the nation. In case you were wondering, that ranked right at the bottom.
And with a new coach, new scheme and new players, the Aggies didn’t fair much better on defense — allowing 31.6 points, 220.7 rushing yards and 423.6 total yards per game.
Seth Smith is a strong running back and had more than 1,000 yards as a junior. But he was asked to carry the ball a lot more than any offense should. He’ll need help if NMSU is going to finish above the bottom this year.
Junior Matt Christian is the odds-on favorite to start at quarterback while part-time starter Jeff Fleming will also battle for snaps.
Walker brings in a new offensive coordinator and a second stud at running back, Kenny Turner, who was a JC All-American at Fullerton JC.
As far as the schedule goes, NMSU has its typical slate of rivalry games early against UTEP and New Mexico as well as a home game against San Diego State and a trip to Kansas. Though there is no I-AA team to take advantage of, it’s not impossible to imagine the Aggies with a confidence-boosting 2-3 record by the time they dive deep into the heart of the WAC schedule.
Defensively, NMSU loses five starters and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“There’s no question we have a better team,” Walker told Lindy’s College Football Preview talking about the difference from Year 1 of his tenure to Year 2. “I can see that even without all our recruits.”
Being better doesn’t always translate into more wins — especially when the Aggies were so bad a year ago.
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