WNMU at NMSU - Albuquerque Journal

50
D2
ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2003
Reluctant rival
CY
MK
CY
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Western New Mexico is getting paid to play NMSU,
but its head coach isn’t too excited about it
BY DENNIS LATTA
Journal Staff Writer
AS CRUCES — Perhaps
the unhappiest man in
New Mexico today is
Charley Wade, and he
feels he has good reason
to be disgruntled.
Wade is the head football
coach at Western New Mexico.
He has a program that has
struggled at the NCAA Division II level and is struggling
through an eight-game losing
streak.
The Mustangs lost their season opener last Saturday 51-10
to Colorado School of Mines.
Today, WNMU gets to play a
team that had an even worse
loss in its season opener. The
Mustangs play Division I-A
New Mexico State, which was
thumped soundly by No. 6ranked Texas 66-7 on Sunday.
The Aggies were paid
$450,000 to play the Longhorns. It was a big payday and
a big loss.
The ’Stangs are being paid
$50,000 for tonight’s game at
Aggie Memorial Stadium.
That’s good money for a Division II program.
So, is there a similarity
between what NMSU went
through in its opener and what
WNMU is facing today?
‘‘I find that just ludicrous,’’
says Wade. ‘‘It’s laughable.
Texas and New Mexico State
have 85 scholarships. We have
24.’’
Wade doesn’t want to play
the Aggies. He doesn’t want to
bring his team into Las Cruces
tonight. Wade knows NMSU
can score 100 points if it
wants. He knows his team
doesn’t match up in any way —
size, speed, depth or experience.
‘‘I have a lot of friends who
coach in Division Two, and
they’re stunned we have to
play this game,” Wade says.
“Division Two schools just
don’t play Division One. I’ve
been telling everyone at West-
L
JOURNAL FILE
New Mexico State coach Tony Samuel says his team has no room to be complacent as he prepares it to face Western New Mexico. The Aggies haven’t played the Mustangs since 1947.
ern for two years now that we
shouldn’t be playing this game,
but they won’t listen.
‘‘So, we’ll be there, and we’ll
get paid.’’
The Aggies haven’t played
the Mustangs since 1947.
NMSU has a 12-0-1 record
against WNMU. Included were
a 92-0 rout in 1928 and a 0-0 tie
in ’35. The ’Stangs have scored
a mere 12 points in the 13
games.
The Aggies played Division
II New Mexico Highlands to
start the 1999 season and won
73-7.
No one is denying that
today’s game is a total mis-
WNMU
HEAD
COACH
match, but it comes at a time
when NMSU needs to recover
from Sunday’s embarrassing
loss. The Aggies played Texas
to a scoreless tie in the first
quarter and had a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter. Then,
the ’Horns got 31 unanswered
points in six minutes for a 31-7
lead at halftime. Texas finished with 66 straight points.
With the shoe on the other
foot after last weekend’s shellacking, NMSU is trying to
paint a picture of a competitive situation for today. That’s
not easy to do against a team
that was just routed by a Division II squad.
‘‘They do a lot of things,’’
Aggies coach Tony Samuel
says of WNMU. ‘‘They’ll do
everything from one back to
no backs to three backs. They
run screens and throw the ball
down the field. They’re very
multiple.’’
Quarterback Paul Dombrowski ran for NMSU’s only
touchdown last weekend. He’s
trying to build up today’s
game.
‘‘We can’t feel like we’re better than anyone else,” Dombrowski says. “We have to go
out and show people we know
how to play football. They
won’t be as good as Texas. We
just have to go out and play as
good as we can.’’
The Aggies always play at
least two money games on the
road, contests they’re expected to lose. This year, they have
games at Texas and Arkansas
and a return game at Oregon
State. If NMSU loses all three,
it has to win seven of nine to
have a winning season. That
includes a game against New
Mexico in Albuquerque.
The Aggies, 7-5 last year,
haven’t had back-to-back winning seasons since 1966-67.
So, when it can find an opening, NMSU likes to schedule a
win to offset the expected loss-
es. Today’s game fits that criterion.
‘‘We don’t have room to be
overconfident about anybody
we play,’’ Samuel says. ‘‘We
respect everybody. We need to
work on our own game and get
better at what we do.’’
The Aggies are on the negative side by 59 points after
their first game. They should
be on the positive side after
today.
‘‘We’re trying to get redemption for last week,’’ says
NMSU safety Dominique
Jacobs. ‘‘We want to go out
there and play like we know
we can. We feel we have something to prove.’’
The Aggies had four
turnovers in their opener, and
two interceptions were
returned for touchdowns.
Texas scored on a 97-yard
kickoff return and a 39-yard
punt return.
‘‘Everybody on this team
realized we didn’t play our
greatest game,” says NMSU
quarterback Buck Pierce. “We
didn’t execute on all levels and
we have to put that behind us.
We have to focus.’’
Pierce started the first
game. But, as usual, Samuel
won’t say who’ll be starting
today. It really doesn’t matter
because Pierce and Dombrowski get equal minutes,
usually a quarter at a time.
The Aggies were without
starting I-back Eric Higgins
because of a groin problem
and starting center Andy Dale
because of an unspecified
NCAA violation. Samuel was
indefinite about their returns.
The Mustangs will have Hurtis Chinn available. Chinn, a
junior college transfer, rushed
for 38 yards, had 41 yards on
seven pass receptions,
returned three punts for 24
yards and collected 144 yards
by returning five kickoffs.
‘‘We try to utilize him,’’
Wade says.
WNMU at NMSU
E
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NMSU
HEAD
COACH
TODAY, 6 P.M. Aggie Memorial Stadium (38,343). TV: None. Radio: KKNS-AM (1310). Online: www.nmstatesports.com
Charley
Wade
FAST
FACT
The teams
haven’t
played in 56
years since
NMSU won
48-0 in
1947. The
teams tied
0-0 in ’35
when the
Aggies went
on to tie
HardinSimmons 1414 in the
Sun Bowl
DID IT
CY
MK
WNMU is an
independent
in football
but plays in
the farreaching
Pacific West
Conference
in basketball
with teams
from
Montana to
Hawaii
involved
The Aggies have a lot of frustration to
vent after being embarrassed in their opener.
They’ll go to their bench early, but the bench
is better than what WNMU will have on the
field.
■
■ NMSU goes into this game after being
outscored by 59 points Sunday against
Texas, but the Aggies might come out on the
plus side. This mismatch is worse than the
one that NMSU had against the No. 5
Longhorns in its opener.
■ The Aggies got their biggest football payday
ever with a contract for $450,000 for playing
the Longhorns. Now, WNMU is getting a big
payday by NCAA Division II standards with a
guarantee of $50,000.
WNMU
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
NMSU
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Offense
Offense
Passing
Comp Att
Kyle Meschnark
11
20
Marcus Reischl
5
10
Kyle Rening
4
6
Hurtis Chinn
Adrian Estrada
Adarius Brown
Kyle Meschnark
Rushing
Att
10
5
7
9
Net
38
24
24
30
Receiving
Rec Yds
Hurtis Chinn
7
41
Eric Henson
3
31
Michael Mc Dougal
3
31
Bobby Wilcox
2
49
DeVaughn Wallace
2
18
Adarius Brown
2
13
Yds TD Int
106 1 2
36 0 0
53 0 1
Avg
3.8
4.8
3.4
0.3
Avg
5.9
10.3
10.3
24.5
9.0
6.5
TD
0
0
0
0
TD
0
0
0
1
0
0
Defense
Scott Fish
Tony Lopez
Steve Terrill
Zak Seward
John Navarro
UT AT Total
9 2
11
6 2
8
2 6
8
2 5
7
2 4
6
TFL
Yds
2-9
0-0
4-11
0-0
2-8
Int
0
0
0
1
0
Hurtis Chinn
Matt Griebel
Pos.: Wide receiver
Pos.: Free safety
No.: 2
No.: 2
Height: 5-7
Height: 5-10
Weight: 188
Weight: 179
Notable: The speedster from
Miami is listed as a wide
receiver, but he led the Mustangs in rushing last week in
the 41-point loss to Colorado
Mines with 38 yards on 10
carries. Chinn is a transfer
from Arizona Western (junior)
College. He also led WNMU
in receiving with three catches for 41 yards.
Notable: In his first game as
a starter, Griebel led the
Aggies in tackles with six.
Against Texas, the sophomore had a quarterback sack
for a loss of five yards.
Did you know: In his first
game as a Mustang, Chinn
also returned punts and kickoffs. He finished with 247
yards of total offense.
Did you know: Greibel is part
of an all-new defensive secondary for NMSU, with three
sophomores and a junior
moving into a void at cornerback and safety.
ABOUT THE SERIES
HEAD-TO-HEAD: NMSU leads 12-0-1
LAST MEETING: New Mexico State won 48-0 in 1947
Passing
Comp Att
Yds
P. Dombrowski
4
8
41
Buck Pierce
4
7
34
Rushing
Att
Net
Keith Mouton
11
87
P. Dombrowski
11
72
Tony Joseph
9
26
Muammar Ali
4
8
Tony Bostic
2
2
Chris Lumpkin
Alex Davis
Jared Quick
P. Dombrowski
Receiving
Rec
4
2
1
1
TD
0
0
Int
1
2
Avg
7.5
4.2
2.9
2.0
1.0
TD
0
1
0
0
0
Yds Avg
33
8.3
19
9.5
17 17.0
6
6.0
TD
0
0
0
0
Defense
UT
Matt Griebel
3
Dominique Jacobs 4
Chris Davis
4
Richard Glover
1
J. Imperial
1
Jimmy Cottrell
0
Lionel Apineru
0
Shukree Shabazz
2
Chris Sned
2
AT Total
3
6
1
5
0
4
2
3
2
3
3
3
3
3
0
2
0
2
TFL
Yards
1-5
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
Int
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Tony Samuel,
seventh year
(26-43)
FAST
FACT
Combined,
the teams
lost by 100
points last
week, with
the Aggies
falling 66-7
and the
Mustangs
by a 51-10
count
DID IT
The last time
NMSU played
an NCAA Division II
school, it
opened the
1999 season with a
73-7 victory
over New
Mexico Highlands
SKE D OUTPUT
■ Western New Mexico had a good start last
season, winning two of its first three games.
But the ’Stangs lost their last seven to finish
the year 2-8.
KEY STRATEGIES
ACTUAL OUTPUT
POSITION BATTLES:
Stopping Mustangs’ Chinn
FINAL DESK OK
KEY STRATEGIES
CY
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50
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2003 D11
ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
How They Match Up
CY
CY
MUSTANGS’
DEPTH CHART
AGGIES’
DEPTH CHART
Offense
Offense
QB
13 Kyle Rening
15 Kyle Meschnark
LT
60 Trevor Kine
57 David Colston
FB
38 Robert Garvis
33 Adrian Estrada
LG
64 Nick Cole
66 Jacob Jean
RB
6 Arderius Brown
3 Arturo Muniz
OC
71 Andy Dale
72 Adam Sinclair
FL
6 Billy Varner
3 Eric Henson
RG
63 Steve Subia
65 Jose Quinones
C
54 Jamil Ramos
50 Humberto Cruz
RT
61 Matt Sanchez
77 Justin Shopbell
LG
79 Mike Painchaud
70 Tony Trujillo
TE
RG
65 Eric Boyles
74 Jared Fry
89 Alex Davis
97 Dustin Ditmore
85 Travis Samuel
WR
71 Fabian Madrill
61 David Turrietta
14 Preston Williams
81 Chris Duncan
WR
58 Joe Stevenson
51 Javier Chacon
27 Ronshay Jenkins
8 Chris Lumpkin
QB
89 Mike Mcdougall
86 Tyden Pace
10 Paul Dombrowski
11 Buck Pierce
FB
84 Bobby Willcox
81 Jason Allison
44 Marcus Dixon
23 Tony Bostic
IB
4 Eric Higgins
6 Keith Mouton
TE
WR
Defense
LDT
Defense
67 James Furtsch
75 David Whittaker
RDT
96 Clayton Perkins
97 Eric Flanagan
LDE
40 Bruce Blue
72 Tyler Kasper
RDE
10 Densville Saun-
PAUL DOMBROWKSI
LE
82 Greg Scaffidi
46 Aubrey Dorisme
34 Julmar Howard
DT
99 Tommy Laborin
96 Chase Spicer
NT
45 Joe Olivo
74 Lionel Apineru
76 Brandon Hearne
RE
32 Traydell Bullock
54 John Sioui
58 Chris Sneed
ders
99 Billy Armenta
MLB
28 Scott Fish
47 Luis Ortega
SLB
34 Samson Jagoras
48 John Navarro
WLB
9 Steve Terrill
32 Eduardo Flores
LC
18 Tony Lopez
9 Breland Reed
RC
24 Brian Johnson
30 Aram Pinto
SS
FS
ADVANTAGE
WESTERN NEW MEXICO
8 JB Kellogg
29 Jeremy Guin
39 Zak Seward
29 Jeremy Guin
NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY
QUARTERBACK: Junior Kyle Rening is penciled
in as the starter, but freshman Kyle Meschnark
should move up to the first team soon.
QUARTERBACK: Both QBs had a bad day in the
opener with five sacks and three interceptions. But
this is Western New Mexico, not Texas.
SLB
35 Tim Patrick
49 Sean Dade
RUNNING BACK: Junior college transfer Aderius
RUNNING BACK: Eric Higgins didn’t play
MLB
Brown and backup fullback Adrian Estrada had an
unimpressive 24 yards each in the opener.
because of a groin injury. Keith Mouton came off
the bench for 82 yards, including a 51-yard run.
42 Jimmy Cottrell
53 Travis Jones
WLB
RECEIVERS: JC transfer Hurtis Chinn is the heart
RECEIVERS: Chris Lumpkin stepped up with four
37 Richard Glover
55 Sione Finau
52 Tim McManigal
of WNMU’s offense as a runner, receiver and return
man. He won’t be enough by himself.
receptions, and tight end Alex Davis had two catches on a bad night for the offense.
RC
29 Chris Davis
21 Jeremiah Imperial
FS
OFFENSIVE LINE: The Mustangs have size and
experience, but the depth is lacking. Expect them
to wear down quickly.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Senior center Andy Dale had a
2 Matt Griebel
9 Shurkee Shabazz
one-game suspension, and that spot hurt the line
badly. He should be back today.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Junior end Bruce Blue is
DEFENSIVE LINE: Nose tackle Joe Olivio proba-
expected to anchor the line, but he had a slow
opener with only four tackles.
bly will miss this game, too, but NMSU doesn’t
really need him against WNMU.
LINEBACKER: Senior Scott Fish had a great first
LINEBACKER: Except for a forced fumble and
game with 11 tackles. Expect the Aggies to attack
freshman Samson Jagoras.
recovery by Rich Glover, the heralded linebacker
crew was quiet last week. Expect some noise.
SECONDARY: WNMU has experience with two
seniors starting, but it hasn’t seen the two QBs
and receivers that NMSU has.
SECONDARY: The Aggies were burned a few
times with four rookies, but the Mustangs don’t
quite have the speed of Texas.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Again, Chinn is the man. He
SPECIAL TEAMS: Senior placekicker Dario
returned three punts for 24 yards and five kickoffs
for an impressive 144 yards in the opener.
Aguiniga had his only field-goal attempt blocked.
That’s unlikely this week.
COACHES: Charley Wade isn’t happy his team
COACHES: Tony Samuel knows how to get his
has to play this game. It should be a good payday
but a bad loss, and no coach likes that.
team to forget about lopsided losses because it
has happened so often. He’ll have NMSU ready.
SS
Specialists
48 Nathan Nuttall
4 Eric Carrie
1 Cameron Wright
5 David Malloy
LC
PK
26 Marty Hysen
16 Ramsey Yamini
H
39 Zak Seward
5 Billy Varner
P
16 Ramsey Yamini
26 Marty Hysen
KR
KR
6 Adarius Brown
4 Eric Henson
PR
2 Hurtis Chinn
6 Adarius Brown
Scoring
WNMU
Points per game 10
Total
10
K
12 Dario Aguiniga
P
16 Steven Smith
20 Brad Evans
Opp.
51
51
WNMU
5
10
2
17
Rushing
Passing
Penalty
Total
Opp.
7
8
3
18
Rushing
WNMU
Yards gained
110
Yards lost
36
Attempts
35
Avg. per rush
2.1
Avg. per game
110
TDs Rushing
0
Total Yardage
74
Opp.
150
34
30
3.9
150
2
116
Avg. per pass
Avg. per catch
Avg. per game
TDs Passing
Total Yardage
Opp.
9.2
12.3
284
4
284
Total offense
WNMU
Total Plays
71
Avg. per Play
3.8
Avg. per game
71
Opp.
61
6.6
61
Kick returns
WNMU
No./yards 8/197
Return avg.
24.6
Opp.
2/58
29
Punt returns
No./Yards
Return avg.
WNMU
4/34
8.5
Opp.
3/53
17.7
Interception returns
WNMU
No./Yards
1-0
Return avg.
0
Opp.
2-0
Penalties
WNMU
Avg. per game
8
Avg. yds./game
74
Total
8
Total yardage
74
Opp.
3-54
18
Opp.
5
54
5
54
Punts
WNMU
Avg. per punt
36.3
Avg. per punt
32
Net punt average n/a
Total punts
6
Total yardage
192
Opp.
41.8
40.4
n/a
5
202
Time of possession
Per Game
Passing
WNMU
5.4
9.8
195
1
195
WNMU
3-2
NEW MEXICO STATE
TEAM STATISTICS
SUN BELT STANDINGS
Fumbles-lost
First downs
MK
Specialists
2 Hurtis Chinn
39 Zak Seward
WESTERN NEW MEXICO
TEAM STATISTICS
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WNMU Opp.
31:51 28:09
Conference
W-L Pct. Pts. Opp.
Overall
Pct. Pts. Opp.
W-L
Utah State
0-0
0
0
0
0-1 .000
20
40
Mid. Tenn.
0-0
0
0
0
0-1 .000
19
20
Ark. State
0-0
0
0
0
0-1 .000
11
26
NMSU Opp.
Points per game
7
66
Total
7
66
La.-Lafayette 0-0
0
0
0
0-1 .000
7
14
First downs
La.-Monroe
0-0
0
0
0
0-1 .000
7
49
N.M. State
0-0
0
0
0
0-1 .000
7
66
North Texas
0-0
0
0
0
0-1 .000
3
37
idaho
0-0
0
0
0
0-1 .000
0
25
AROUND THE SUN BELT
Today
Utah State at Nebraska,
10:30 a.m.
Middle Tennessee at Georgia,
11 a.m.
E. Washington at Idaho, 3 p.m.
Tenn.-Martin at Arkansas St.,
5 p.m.
Baylor at North Texas, 6 p.m.
La. Tech at La.-Lafayette, 6 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin at
La.-Monroe, 6 p.m.
Scoring
Opp.
46.2
13
4th-down conversions
WNMU
4th-down pct.
0.0
Total
3
Opp.
0.0
1
Sacks
Total
Yardage
WNMU
2
9
Opp.
7
28
Field goals
Total
Attempts
WNMU
1
1
Opp.
1
1
Touchdowns
Total
WNMU
1
Opp.
7
PAT
WNMU Opp.
Total/Attempts 1/1
6/7
2003 SCHEDULE
Western New Mexico
University (0-1)
Aug. 30 Colorado School of
Mines 51, WNMU 0
Sept. 6 at NMSU
Sept. 13 at Sul Ross State
Sept. 20 at Cent. Washington
Sept. 27 N.W. Oklahoma
Oct. 4 N.M. Highlands
Oct. 11 Western State
Oct. 18 Western Oregon
Oct. 25 Open
Nov. 1 at Fort Lewis
Nov. 8 Southern Oregon
New Mexico State
University (0-1)
Aug. 31 Texas 66, NMSU 7
Sept. 6 Western New Mexico
Sept. 13 at Oregon State,
4:30 p.m.
Sept. 20 Open
Sept. 27 at New Mexico, 6 p.m.
Oct. 4 Idaho, 6 p.m.
Oct. 11 at Middle Tennessee,
1 p.m.
Oct. 16 at La.-Lafayette,
6 p.m.
Oct. 25 at La.-Monroe, 6 p.m.
Nov. 1 Arkansas St., 6 p.m.
Nov. 6 Utah State, 6 p.m.
Nov. 15 at Arkansas, noon
Nov. 25 North Texas, 5 p.m.
Fumbles-lost
NMSU Opp.
11
8
5
7
0
2
16
17
Rushing
Passing
Penalty
Total
Yards gained
Yards lost
Attempts
Avg. per rush
Avg. per game
TDs Rushing
Total Yardage
NMSU
244
94
55
2.7
244
1
244
Opp.
179
11
33
5.1
179
3
179
Passing
Avg. per pass
Avg. per catch
Avg. per game
TDs Passing
Total Yardage
NMSU Opp.
75
216
5 13.5
75
216
0
4
225
384
Total offense
Total Plays
Avg. per Play
Avg. per game
NMSU Opp.
70
49
3.2
7.8
225
384
Kick returns
No./yards
Return avg.
NMSU
7-121
17.2
Opp.
2-109
54.5
Punt returns
No./Yards
Return avg.
NMSU
0-0
0
NMSU
0-0
0
Opp.
1-1
Penalties
Avg. per game
Avg. yds./game
Total
Total yardage
NMSU
11
93
93
93
Opp.
8
85
85
85
NMSU Opp.
Avg. per punt
33.3 39.7
Net punt average N/A
N/A
Total punts
7
3
Total yardage
233
119
Time of possession
Opp.
3-102
34
NMSU Opp.
37:23 22:27
Per Game
3rd-down conversions
3rd-down pct.
Total
NMSU
40%
15
Opp.
50%
8
4th-down conversions
NMSU Opp.
0
0
0
0
4th-down pct.
Total
Sacks
NMSU
1
5
Total
Yardage
Opp.
5
113
Field goals
CY
NMSU Opp.
0
1
1
1
Total
Attempts
Opp.
1-39
39
Interception returns
No./Yards
Return avg.
NMSU
7-2
Punts
Rushing
3rd-down conversions
WNMU
3rd-down pct.
37.5
Total
16
SKE D OUTPUT
RT
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ACTUAL OUTPUT
LT
MK
FINAL DESK OK
MK
MK
Touchdowns
NMSU Opp.
1
9
Total
PAT
Total/Attempts
NMSU
1/1
Opp.
9/9