Kicking teams need improvement
Ags are big underdogs going to No. 9 A&M
Bounce-back games are difficult enough when you’re not facing a powerhouse on its home turf.
With that in mind, New Mexico State football coach Doug Martin took a realistic tone during Tuesday’s weekly media conference. The Aggies, coming off a frustrating 22-19 home loss to Georgia Southern, visit No. 9 Texas A&M on Saturday.
Martin’s Aggies were listed as 43½-point underdogs to the betterknown SEC Aggies on Tuesday, and the idea of beating those overwhelming odds never really came up.
“If we can get better this week and take that into our last four (Sun Belt) conference games it will be a move forward,” Martin said. “Our focus this week will be to improve in all phases of the game, especially the kicking game. If we do that, it will be a positive.”
The kicking game was undoubtedly a negative in NMSU’s loss to Georgia State. The Aggies (2-5, 1-3) missed an extra-point attempt, a short field-goal attempt, suffered a blocked punt and muffed a kickoff. Those breakdowns proved decisive in a game New Mexico State led 12-9 after three quarters.
“The kicking game is a huge phase of the game,” Martin said, “not just something you spend 10 minutes on at practice. We’ve got to find the right personnel, guys who get excited about playing special teams and embrace it. When you don’t, you saw what happened the other night.”
Oddly, Martin suggested his other players should take note of the way NMSU’s defense played against Georgia Southern. A unit that has struggled much of the season put together a rock-solid performance against an Eagles team that came in as the Sun Belt’s top rushing squad.
“I just liked how hard those guys played,” Martin said. “They still made mistakes but guys were flying around and made up for them. We’ve got to play with that kind of excitement and enthusiasm from beginning to end.”
Effort alone is unlikely to be enough against Texas A&M (6-1, 4-1 SEC), which is coming off a 33-14 loss to No. 1 Alabama. This week’s Aggies-vs.Aggies showdown is largely expected to be a get-well game for the home team in College Station. Texas A&M has three wins over top-20 programs this season.
“They’ll spread you out with four-receiver sets,” NMSU linebacker Dalton Herrington said, “and then run the ball right at you. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before, it’s just they have better athletes and players than most teams.”
New Mexico State undoubtedly will get something out of this week’s game — a $1.5 million guarantee. But Martin and his players would also love to come away with a sense of on-field accomplishment.
Such was the case earlier this season when NMSU visited Kentucky for a $1.3 million payday. The Aggies kept that game close until the fourth quarter before absorbing a 62-42 defeat.
Still, most college football observers would concede that Texas A&M this season is far superior to Kentucky.
“(Texas A&M) is a top-10 team in the country,” Martin said. “We’ve obviously got to play at our highest level and do a great job mixing things up. We did a good job of that against Kentucky. We’ll have to be even better this week.”