RB more eager for bowl game than breaking school records
LAS CRUCES — Larry Rose III has had his time in the spotlight.
Rose entered his senior season within striking distance of the all-time New Mexico State rushing record, but the goal of ending a 57-year bowl drought was the real prize.
That’s what people will remember.
Rose will play his final game at Aggie Memorial Stadium on Saturday as one of the top running backs to ever play for the Aggies.
“I’m not too much worried about the yards and the touchdowns,” said Rose, who has 17 career 100-plus yards rushing games and four 200-plus yards rushing games. “Those are nice, but this bowl game means way more than that. I think I would go down in history getting to the bowl game just like I would as the all time rushing leader. It would be nice to get both, but this bowl game is more important.”
Rose enters Saturday’s regular season finale against South Alabama 319 yards shy of matching Denvis Manns’ career rushing record. Rose is one touchdown shy of matching James Pilot’s career rushing touchdowns record of 37. He’s currently second all time in Sun Belt Conference career rushing yards, 273 yards short of matching Tyrell Fenroy’s (Louisiana 2005-8) career rushing record.
But the senior running back from Fairfield, Texas, wants the final victory to reach bowl eligibility.
“Everybody knows who Larry Rose III is so as far as this season and individual success, I’m not concerned about it,” Rose said. “Individually I have done everything I have come to accomplish. Now it’s time to finish it out with this team success.”
Rose has 4,373 career rushing yards, highlighted by single season school record 1,651 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns sophomore season where he was named a third team Associated Press All-American.
Rose has 755 rushing yards and nine touchdowns this season on 4.75 yards per carry while his 159 carries entering Saturday are the fewest of his career, matching last year’s injury shortened junior season where he finished with 865 yards. Rose owns four of the top 17 best rushing performances in school history, but he’s coming off a season high 22-carry game against Idaho last week.
But while his rushing numbers are down, his presence in the offensive backfield and his 40 receptions are third on the team, as well as his understanding in pass protection, has made him invaluable as a senior leader on offense.
“[Rose] has been crucial in the passing game,” NMSU head coach Doug Martin said. “He is one of the most unselfish players I’ve been around. Most running backs, if you have a switch in offensive philosophy like that, they wouldn’t have accepted it. Larry hasn’t blinked. He just wants to win.”
Rose has a career best 379 receiving yards and two scores as Martin’s offense has shifted from a balanced attack to a pass heavy offense that features senior quarterback Tyler Rogers and junior college transfer receiver Jaleel Scott.
“Just having Larry out there probably scares people seeing what he can do from previous years previous years,” Rogers said. “His presence alone does a lot and when you put the ball in his hands in space, he makes plays. He just attracts a lot of attention that gets other guys open.”
But Rose still turns up in key situations, helping the Aggies run the clock out against UTEP in Week 3, or picking up 14 yards on third and 8 late in the fourth quarter last week against Idaho.
“I’m not making the highlight reel runs but when plays need to be made, Coach Martin and the team know they can count on me and that’s my role this year,” Rose said. “I’ve already had the spotlight on me. I want everybody else to have that. Now it’s my time to do the dirty work.”
Rose was the first of the current 15-player senior class to receive the accolades, but as a key player in Martin’s first recruiting class, Rose said there were tough times throughout his career.
NMSU won five total games in Rose’s first two years. Rose and the other 17 Aggies seniors have five wins this season as they look for one more in their final home game in hopes of reaching a bowl game for the first time since 1960.
“Getting to this point, it was very difficult at times and hard to keep the faith,” Rose said. “I think what we did as a group, we understood that we could get it done and always believed in Coach Martin and him having our backs and us having his back.”