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GAME
3 - New Mexico State Aggies - PREGAME
Well
it has been a very long week. With all the chatter
going on about whether or not Derek Anderson deserves
to start this week .... what the disastrous performance
at Fresno State means for the rest of the season
.... is Mike Riley going to be able to keep winning
at OSU .... should Riley be fired .... whats wrong
with the Beavers .... I am just about fed up with
all the Bu.. Sh.. that has gone around this week
regarding the team.
I
must admit that I to was very upset by the performance
last week, but after I calmed down I realized that
I had picked OSU to lose to FSU as part of my 3
games they will lose this season. So I am better
now. I think we all forget that it is still very
early in the season and that the Beaver teams of
the past four years have struggled with early season
opponents, specially Fresno State on the road. After
all, we have never beat them at Fresno and not many
other teams have either.
So
with all that said, I will have another email later
tonight with a statistical comparison of this season
to date with other seasons and also I will have
a sophomore and two in junior season comparison
between Jonathan Smith and Derek Anderson.
Now
on to the New Mexico State
THE
LAST TIME THEY MET
#22
Oregon State 27, NM State 22
The Aggies rallied from a 24-9 deficit in the fourth
quarter, but it wasn't enough as the Dennis Erickson
led Beavers beat New Mexico State at Aggie Memorial
Stadium on September 8, 2001.
Ken
Simonton scored two touchdowns and ran for 169 yards
to lead the Beavers. Oregon State took a 14-0 lead
in the second quarter, but the Aggies cut it to
14-9 at halftime on a 26-yard field goal and a TD
1-yard run.
After
the field goal, New Mexico State intercepted Jonathan
Smith's pass at the Aggies 43. It took the Aggies
nine plays to drive 57 yards that culminated in
a touchdown run.
OSU
had 420 yards (213 rush, 207 pass) in total offense
while NMSU had 367 yards (161 rush, 206 pass).
The
Series Oregon State leads 1-0
New
Mexico State (1-1)
The
Aggies played Texas in their season opener and got
pounded 66-7, but actually led Texas 7-0 with 10
minutes to play in the second quarter before the
dam broke and Texas scored 31 points in the next
10 minutes on a 97 yard kickoff return, a 47 yard
interception return and a 2 other scores on short
field opportunities after turnovers.
The
Aggies second game was against Div. 2 Western New
Mexico. The Aggies pounded Western 48-3 in a game
the was a paycheck game for Western New Mexico.
New Mexico State scored 6 rushing touchdowns and
one passing in the route.
The
Aggies are a running team a heart but have some
weapons with 4 very solid wide receivers in Chris
Lumpkin,
Chris Duncan, P. Williams, Ronshay Jenkins. They
have one catch this season for over 60 yards.
NMSU does well running the ball, converting 56%
of third down opportunities and rushes for over
200 yards per game.
WHO
TO WATCH FOR NMSU
NMSU
has used two QB's this season in rotation. Dombrowski
scored two rushing TD's vs Western and is their
second leading rusher.
Running
Back Keith Mouton is their leading rusher with 144
yards on 26 carries this season for a 5.5 ypg average.
- Buck
Pierce - QB
- Paul
Dombrowski - QB
- Chris
Lumkin - WR
- Ronshay
Jenkins - WR
- Dario
Aguiniga - K
BY
THE NUMBERS
Looking
at the numbers for each team you would think that
New Mexico would be the favorite. They have the
advantage in 10 of 19 stats we looked at and have
the advantage in pass defense. Considering that
they have played Texas already, this might not be
a good sign for Anderson. However, the Beavers rushing
defense has been shutting everyone down so far and
New Mexico is a rushing team at heart. So the Beavers
should do well on defense again this week.
THE
BOTTOM LINE
This
is no tune up game. New Mexico is a solid team with
a solid coach in Tony Samuel. They have a good defense
with good players in skill positions on offense.
They gave the Beavers all they could handle two
years ago at New Mexico when the Beavers had to
come back late to put the game away in the fourth
quarter.
The
big question mark for this game is Derek Anderson.
How will he respond to his performance last week
and to all the fans bashing him all week long. He
will either fold under the pressure or he will raise
above it. The Beavers do have two quality QB's in
reserve but both are untested.
Look
for Steven Jackson to go big this week. I believe
he will gain over 200 yards this week in helping
to take the burden off of Anderson in the backfield.
If he can do this it should open up the passing
game. I think Riley will stay with short routes
and screens this week to build the confidence of
Anderson.
The
Beavers defense should dominate New Mexico on the
ground and do well against the pass as well.
Look
for the Beavers to rebound this week with another
victory in front of the home crowd.
FINAL
SCORE
Beavers
28
Aggies 10
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