Martin: Special teams failed Aggies at Troy
Some of the numbers just don’t seem to add up.
The New Mexico State Aggies racked up 539 yards of offense in Saturday’s Sun Belt Conference football opener at Troy, put up 445 passing yards and outgained the home team — yet somehow got blown out 52-6.
One easy answer might be that NMSU’s much-maligned defense got run over. That one’s not entirely accurate.
After Troy scored on its first possession, the Aggies D forced punts on the Trojans’ next three possessions. Midway through the second quarter Troy led just 7-0.
Instead a combination of crushing interceptions and dreadful special teams play transformed the contest into a rout. NMSU coach Doug Martin knows a repeat performance won’t fly when his team hosts Louisiana Lafayette this week for homecoming.
“We didn’t play anywhere near our best (at Troy),” Martin said during Tuesday’s weekly media conference, “and for the first time this year we beat ourselves. Special teams broke down, we didn’t finish drives, and (quarterback Tyler Rogers) made some bad decisions. We’d done a really good job taking care of the football through our first three games, but you can’t expect to compete giving it away five times.”
The timing of Rogers’ interceptions made them that much worse. All five came with NMSU in or near scoring position. Two picks came in the Trojans’ end zone and another was at the 1-yard line.
Special teams also bit the Aggies hard Saturday. New Mexico State gave up a blocked punt for a touchdown, allowed a 100-yard kickoff return for a score and misfired on a 35-yard field goal attempt.
The miss was kicker Parker Davidson’s first this season, and NMSU punter Peyton Theisler leads the Sun Belt averaging 45.0 yards per punt. But the Aggies’ kick return and coverage teams have been subpar this season, and Martin said he’s making personnel changes on at least some of the units.
“The kickoff returns have been tough,” said wideout Tyrian Taylor, one of the Aggies’ primary returners. “We haven’t done a good job with the blocks, but it’s still early in the season. I can break one at any time, maybe this week.”
Martin would certainly like to see the Aggies’ offense and special teams provide more support for a defensive unit that played better at Troy than the numbers suggest.
“We started off playing a very good defensive football game,” he said. “Unfortunately, we did nothing on offense or special teams to help our defense and eventually those guys were just out there too long. We did show signs of improvement on defense, though. Hopefully, that part carries over to this week.”
INJURY UPDATES: Running back Larry Rose III saw his first action of the season at Troy, carrying 12 times for 56 yards before leaving with an injury. Martin said Rose is “day to day” with a “slight groin pull” that is unrelated to the sports hernia surgery he underwent in August. “We hope to have Larry for 12 to 15 carries or so this week,” Martin said. “We have a bye next week, so hopefully he’ll be fully healthy by the time we play Idaho.”
The news was not as good for defensive lineman DeShawnte Lloyd, who suffered a broken bone in a foot and is out for the rest of the season. Freshman Sebastian Anderson will receive additional playing time in Lloyd’s absence, Martin said.