New Mexico St. will be no match for NU

By Jim Dolezal
Thursday, Sep 11, 2008 - 04:22:58 am CDT

Nebraska takes on New Mexico State Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. The game is set for a 6 p.m. kickoff and will be televised on a Pay-Per-View basis. The tests will become much more difficult for the Huskers after this contest.

The Aggies are opening their season against the Huskers. New Mexico State is 0-2 all time versus Nebraska. The Big Red has defeated the Aggies in 1979 and 1982 by a total of 125-0. Hal Mumme coaches the Aggies, who is 8-29 in his fourth season in Las Cruces. He is known for a wide-open passing game that has produced big offensive numbers in his 17 years as a head coach.

New Mexico State will look to throw the ball a great deal against Nebraska. The offensive catalyst is quarterback Chase Holbrook (6-foot-5, 240 pounds, Senior). He completed 381 of 543 passes (70.2 percent) with 26 touchdowns and 18 interceptions in 2007. Holbrook averaged 322 yards passing per game last season and gained a total of five yards rushing, with a long run of 13 yards all season. He will try to pick apart the Nebraska defense from the pocket.

The receivers are a small group that try to get open in one-on-one coverage situations. Wide receiver A.J. Harris (6-0, 208, Sr.) led the way with 81 catches in 2007. He had only 611 yards receiving and just two touchdowns last season. Williams is the classic example of a possession receiver for the Aggies. Chris Williams (5-9, 155, Sr.) is the big-play man in the passing game for New Mexico State, who had 56 receptions in only eight games a year ago and led the team with 772 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns. The Aggies had 10 receivers with more than 20 catches each in 2007.

The running attack is an after thought for the Aggies. Tonny Glynn (5-8, 190, Jr.) is a smallish back that likes to hide behind his linemen for the occasional big play. Glynn ran for 456 yards and only four touchdowns in 2007. As a team, New Mexico State averaged just over 91 yards rushing per game.

The offensive line will look to keep the Huskers away from Holbrook. The leader up front is right guard Polo Gutierrez (6-2, 304, Sr.). The biggest member of the line is left guard Chuck Taylor (6-3, 345, Sr.). As a unit, the Aggies average 6-3 and nearly 307 pounds per man. If the New Mexico State offensive line plays well, it could be a long night for the Nebraska defense.

Defensively, the Aggies employ a multiple set of defensive schemes. They have a history of giving up a great deal of both yardage and points. In 2007, New Mexico State gave up an average of 36 points and 430 yards of total offense per contest. This is a soft group overall that the Nebraska offense must be able to take advantage of.

The best defensive players returning for the Aggies are defensive end La’Auli Fonoti (6-4, 253, Sr.), who had 63 total tackles last season. In the secondary, cornerback Davon House (6-0, 168, So.) led the team with four interceptions. He also had one pick returned 100 yards for a score. As a team, the Aggies only intercepted seven passes in the 2007 season. The other leader in the defensive backfield is free safety Derrick Richardson (5-11, 190, Sr.), who was second on the squad a year ago with 108 total stops, which is the top returning total on the team.

Special teams is an untested group for the Aggies. Freshman Kyle Hughes (6-0, 182) is the punter and kicker for New Mexico State. Chris Williams has the speed to make a play as a punt returner, but overall this group not as impressive as many the Huskers will see later in the season.

The Aggies have a few weapons on offense. Holbrook is an extremely accurate passer with very good size. Coach Mumme will try to play keep away from Nebraska with the short passing game. The running game will not do enough to keep the Husker defense away from Holbrook. Nebraska appears to have advantages in all parts of the game over the Aggies. Nebraska will roll to a 55-24 win over New Mexico State.

Jim Dolezal is a local Husker football fanatic as well as a part-time sports writer for the Telegram. He will analyze the Huskers’ opposition from a hometown perspective every Thursday throughout the season.

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golfball
Sep 11, 2008 2:42 PM
Nebraska better not overlook this saturday. If things went like last week, it could come down to the 4th quarter again. Hopefully the Defense comes out with a spark ready to run and the offense ready for quick strikes to open the gap early! Go Huskers!
The Don
Sep 11, 2008 3:35 PM
You think? Of course, the Huskers will rule: It's just a matter of how consistent they are in doing so, but a victory by 4 or more touchdowns is certainly possible. The Don
umm
Sep 11, 2008 3:43 PM
So why will the huskers not have a challenge this weekend? What I'm I missing? When did we become unstoppable?
rog
Sep 11, 2008 4:14 PM
I agree with golfball in the "better not overlook this saturday" remark. And I only heard the game last week (don't have ppv capability), but if memory serves correctly, our power teams of yester-decade would usually pull away in the 4th. Could that be what we're facing?
KRIS
Sep 11, 2008 4:38 PM
I HOPE THEY DONT SCORE 24. IF THE HUSKERS DEFENSE ISN'T ABLE TO HOLD THEM UNDER 10, I'M GOING TO HAVE SOME SERIOUS STOMACH PROBLEMS THE REST OF THE YEAR, BECAUSE IF NMS IS ABLE TO SCORE 24 PTS, I SHUDDER AT THE THOUGHT OF WHAT THE LIKES OF MISSOURI, OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS TECH WOULD DO TO US.

IM STILL TRYING TO REMAIN OPTOMISTIC THOUGH....CAUTIOUSLY OPTOMISTIC, THAT IS.
goofball predictions
Sep 11, 2008 5:36 PM
I predict: NU NMS
1st downs 22 11
rushing 48/274 24/56
passing 23-37/319 24-55/221
int. 0 3
fumb./lost 2/1 3/1
FINAL SCORE: NEBRASKA 48,
NEW MEXICO STATE 7
Leighton
Sep 11, 2008 5:45 PM
The difference this week is a team that's played two games facing a team that is playing their first. Nebraska should jump on early mistakes and never look back. We'll see though...
funny
Sep 11, 2008 5:52 PM
We become 2-0 against cupcakes and all of a sudden the next team will be no match for us. This seems to be a LITTLE arrogant don't you think? I am curious if he thinks Ou, Mizzou, and Tech will be no match for us either. Get Real.
Deserthusker
Sep 11, 2008 6:05 PM
Right now, the huskers really aren't sure who they are. And they know they have a new coach, but when the game starts they are easily reverting back to passive Callahan ball. Pelini may have to wait a few years until the young guys he has worked with psycologically and physically, will contend again. These players from Callahan's system, have been taught so many bad habits, I don't think they can change. I think the Huskers will go 8-4 at best this year. If Pelini can't teach the old dogs new tricks, it could be worse. Thanks for the article, and I think your assessment of Saturday's game with New Mexico State is right on.
Central Figure
Sep 11, 2008 7:08 PM
I've only got one thing to say to the Dozemeister...KDKA Pittsburgh!
You people...
Sep 12, 2008 12:04 PM
Let's see, the Huskers are 2-0 after playing Wisconsin State of Diesel Technology and Troy College of Hair Design. This week they have New Mexico State School of Acting.

They DO have to play real teams eventually, you know.

5-7, no bowl game. DA DA DA DA DA, go Huskers.
who cares
Sep 12, 2008 4:41 PM
I am female who was brought up by my superstar athlete dad. Learning football plays and making touchdowns all day was part of life not to mention basketball, tennis and softball, volleyball I did on my own. But, with all the other things to worry about in this world WHO CARES!!!! about husker football and what the outcome will be. This world would be a much better place if the HUSKER FANS would worry about something of substantial proportion. The duke at the Pawnee doesn't count either!!!!!!!! Who cares!!!!!!!!
huskerdiddy
Sep 12, 2008 4:54 PM
goofball, if we actually get 85 offensive plays I would be amazed especially if we hold them to 48 plays GBR
Kenny Pfister
Sep 13, 2008 11:29 AM
Pelini has inherited a soft Cornhusker team. Calling this team soft is an insult to the Dallas Mavericks. They looked great AJ Evans walking off the team bus until you noticed that they were carrying a playbook the size of Anais Nin’s diaries and that their head coach was wearing ladies glasses. Former coach Bill Callahan brought 250 plays into each game, using around 60.