INSIDE SLANT

While New Mexico State head coach DeWayne Walker insists his team has one or two wins left in the tank, he isn’t necessarily predicting one this week against Nevada in the home finale for the Aggies.

He is, however, using the team’s 2008 win over Nevada in Reno, the final win in the Hal Mumme coaching era, as a bit of a motivating factor.

“I will make a point that it’s possible,” Walker said, referring to a possible upset this week.

Making a win this week even more difficult is the fact the Aggies spent two weeks, including a bye week, preparing to stop one of the nation’s top passing attacks in Hawaii. Now, the team is tasked with stopping the NCAA’s No. 1 ranked rushing team, a team that scares a defensive-minded coach like Walker.

“These guys are nerve-wracking,” Walkers said. “You look at their run game, we’re going from one extreme to another. We face a team that threw the ball 50 times and now we’re going to face a team that’s going to do the exact opposite.”

Of course stopping Nevada’s rushing attack (it averages 353.1 rushing yards per game) wouldn’t amount to much if NMSU’s offense extends its now four-plus game streak without an offensive touchdown.

Still, Walker is trying his best to be the optimist.

“If you’re not scoring points, it’s really tough to look at it as positives,” Walker said. “If I wanted to just say some positives about our offense right now, we did move the ball (at Hawaii) and that’s a start.”

NOTES, QUOTES

• NMSU QB Jeff Fleming completed 12 of 21 passes for 111 yards and a pair of interceptions last week at Hawaii. It was the first time NMSU passed for more than 100 yards since Oct. 3 against San Diego State. In the four games in between—a win against Utah State and losses to Louisiana Tech, Fresno State and Ohio State—the Aggies have thrown for a combined 216 yards (54 per game).

The two interceptions also gives NMSU 14 for the season, tied for 104th in the nation despite being a run-dominated team. The Aggies also rank dead last in the nation in passing efficiency.

• New Mexico State University, in the midst of drastic financial cuts that includes a 10-percent across the board cut in athletics this year, could have a new president hired by this weekend. It’s been 17 months since former president, and athletics-friendly Mike Martin, left to be chancellor at LSU.

One major concern for athletics at NMSU is whether the new president will ask for more cuts from an athletics budget that is already among the lowest in the Western Athletic Conference.

“My concerns,” said former NMSU Board of Regents chair Bob Gallagher in the Albuquerque Journal, “are one, it’s tough to get the toothpaste back into the tube; and two, if the new president will understand the role athletics plays in the role of a university. If he or she does, then maybe the damage won’t be permanent.”

• Last year’s NMSU upset of Nevada in Reno was the last in the Hal Mumme coaching era at the school.

Series History:   Nevada leads series 10-2 (last meeting, 2008, 48-45 NMSU)

Scouting The Offense:   It’s becoming a broken record in Las Cruces, N.M., but the offense will only go as far as the quarterback play takes them. For the past month, the quarterback play has been horrendous, allowing teams to stack the box and all but eliminate the once-potent threat of RB Seth Smith, who is now nursing a bad shoulder. With the recent emergence of RB Tony Glynn, Smith may be getting a much-needed second-running back in the Aggies backfield after having been an overused workhorse much of the season.

Scouting The Defense:   NMSU’s run defense will never be as tested as it will this week against Nevada. The Aggies defense has done well taking away the primary threat of most opponents this season, but at times that has been to the detriment of complimentary weapons excelling (see last week’s Hawaii game when receiver Greg Salas caught a school record 16 passes while NMSU focused on stopping the Warriors’ outside receivers).

Quote To Note:   “We’ll surprise another team or two before the year is over.”—NMSU head coach DeWayne Walker.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

This Week  ‘S GAME: Nevada at New Mexico State, Nov. 21—The Wolf Pack may own the series 10-2, but the Aggies got a rare win in 2008 in Reno, the final win of the coach Hal Mumme era. After focusing for two weeks on stopping one of the nation’s top passing attacks at Hawaii, the NMSU defense now gets the treat of trying to contain the nation’s No. 1 rushing attack in Nevada.

Keys To The Game:   NMSU won’t stop the Nevada run game. Nobody does. The hope for NMSU is twofold: A) find at least some offense, somehow, and B) slow down the Wolf Pack’s offense and force long, sustained drives rather than big-play touchdowns.

Players To Watch:  

LBs Jason Scott and Ross Conner have accounted for 164 tackles this season and will have every opportunity to pad those stats Saturday when Nevada, the nation’s top-ranked rushing team, comes to town.

RB Tonny Glynn will be a much more critical part of the Aggies offense down the stretch after season highs in carries (11) and rushing yards (74) last week against Hawaii. Starting RB Seth Smith has been nursing a bad shoulder since the team’s Oct. 31 game at Ohio State and had only had five carries at Hawaii.

QB Jeff Fleming will be the guy responsible for breaking a streak of four games and counting without an offensive touchdown. NMSU, under Fleming, moved the ball some at Hawaii, but ended a pair of potential scoring drives with Fleming interceptions. He will have to protect the ball against Nevada.

Roster Report:  

• RB Seth Smith, nursing a shoulder injury suffered Oct. 31 at Ohio State, had just five carries last week at Hawaii and his status this week against Nevada is unclear. Head coach DeWayne Walker said Smith would have to be evaluated throughout the week in practice.

• The move of former WR Donyae Coleman to defensive back is a permanent one, not just one that was aimed at helping add depth to the secondary against a pass-happy Hawaii offense.

• Senior DE Justen Alford made his first start of the season last week at Hawaii. The 6-2, 227-pounder started at DT to add some mobility and speed to combat Hawaii’s high-powered passing attack.