This was the main event for Aggie athletics this
semester. The Aggie Football team has been flirting with being bowl eligible all
season. It’s come down to the final game
of the season. They have to win or the
dream is dead for another year. This
would not be a big deal for any other Division I College football team, unless
you own the longest bowl drought in the nation at 57 YEARS! That this
program has won two Sun Bowls and
had an undefeated season is barely in living memory. If the Aggies won today, they’d be 6-6 and would
actually qualify potentially for the Arizona
Bowl in Tucson. The last time they
had a winning season (2002), nobody wanted them and there was nowhere to go. For the first time, I’m actually glad about
the ridiculous proliferation of bowl games.
For the moment, I can only chuckle that Aggie football is finally
better off than our nearest rival, UTEP. Their coach suddenly quit halfway into the
season, and they finished their season 0-12.
UTEP was the only FBS team without a win this season. And then their Men’s Basketball coach very
suddenly quit earlier this week over health concerns. Not to mention, their new Athletic Director
also just started this week. What a way
to come into a job!
Coach Chris Jans
had scheduled his Men’s Basketball
team practice for early in the morning so they could go to the game. He’s been a pretty big supporter of the
football team for a guy in his first season.
The original game time was moved back a half hour, perhaps to
accommodate the Women’s Basketball
game in the late morning and so they could go.
For my part, I was finally going to a football game this
season. I’d had free tickets offered at
work twice, but couldn’t find anyone to go with. This time, since I was already at the
university for Women’s Basketball and given the importance of the game
(and $5 tickets), I had to go anyway.
Oops, maybe those cheap tickets weren’t such a great deal. I ended up with an endzone “seat” (actually
just a concrete step). Maybe you had to
buy before game day to get an actual seat for $5? Judging from the crowd after the game
started, maybe they sold out of every other seat. You could redeem your football ticket for a
$5 Men’s Basketball ticket on Sunday, which didn’t help me, since I had free
tickets to that game.
Coming directly from the Pan-Am Center after a short hike, I ended up at the stadium about a
half hour early. The good news was that
I was about fifth in line to get in, which would pay dividends. The Aggie
Softball team was working at the ticket gates, as I had seen them doing last
year. This group of girls didn’t seem
too happy to be there though, perhaps anticipating a long, busy afternoon. I recognized diminutive Brandy Hernandez, but I wasn’t sure about the rest. The girls did their job and handed out
pom-poms, souvenir shirts, and programs to those at the head of the line,
including me. Unfortunately, my second
giveaway shirt of the day was an XL. I
gave mine away inside to a guy that I met inside that I thought it would
fit. I gave away the pom-pom at work the
next day.
A few Aggie football players came by. Some of them were very big. Some of them were surprisingly small. The Aggie
Volleyball team was also standing nearby at the head of the Student
line. I was pleased to see Jordan Abalos and Hannah Combs were out of their casts and walking normally. Brielle
Sterns was getting around in a boot, instead of on a scooter. I said, “Hi” to a couple of the girls, but
didn’t want to intrude. (Not true at
all, but I restrained myself.)
Little Caesars’
has apparently taken over the pizza concession from Papa John’s. I wouldn’t be
happy about this, but the Papa John’s, while better pizza, was overpriced and
cold when I had a slice there last year.
I meant to get a slice of pizza, but somehow ended up with a small deep
dish, which was way more than I wanted (not that I didn’t eat all of it anyway). So I was juggling a small pizza box, a large
drink, my stadium seat, a cushion, a notebook, and a jacket and didn’t know
where my seat was. I finally stopped in
the concourse and ate half of the pizza because I couldn’t take the hunger any
longer and was afraid I was about to drop everything without getting a taste. When I resumed my search, a guy from Chik-fil-a put a free sandwich card on
top of my pile. I tell you, they just
throw free things at you at Aggie sporting events. (Literally, the cheerleaders were throwing
stuff into the stands here too.)
I finally broke down and asked for help. I was directed to the north end zone, east
side of the stadium. I was next to the
visiting team’s section. There isn’t even an usher guarding the
section. I had to keep turning around to
see the video board and scoreboard during the game. At least I was real close to the field. Maybe this would work out later. I had my pick of concrete when I arrived, but
the section filled in later. The whole
stadium filled during the first quarter.
Las Cruces really turned out for this game. Beyond being a big game, it was a beautiful
70 degree day. It became overcast later,
but didn’t get cold at all until well after the sun went down. The Student Section (next to the Visitor’s
Section, of course) was stuffed, and they were standing for the whole game.
I couldn’t see the Aggie
Cheerleaders or the Sundancers
where I was, but I could see the five Jaguar
Cheerleaders. They were spirited at
least. There were two Pistol Pete’s at the team entrance: the
mascot and the horse riding one, who leads the team on to the field. The Jaguars’ mascot, Southpaw, walked out in front of them and had a staredown with the
Pete’s, but they quickly all made friends and took pictures. Some of the Aggie Pride Band actually lined up next to me in the endzone area
before they marched on to the field.
That really brought the pre-game show up close.
First Quarter
One of these days, I’m going to do a whole post where I
never actually talk about the game. The
Aggies won the toss and deferred to the second half. The South
Alabama Jaguars didn’t do anything with their opening series. I know the Aggies wanted a big crowd, but it
seemed like the team was playing with some stage fright. Their opening series featured a near fumble,
a near safety, and a punt from their endzone.
Thankfully, it was a good punt.
Something I might have missed if I had been sitting on the
other side of the stadium, South Alabama had like a little meeting room set up
on their sideline. There was a partition
and seats where the players sat to get coaching. An assistant also held up a screen when their
coach was sending the team signals, perhaps so the other team couldn’t see them,
though the opposite sideline could.
The Aggies’ second series was marred with several
penalties. Nerves, again. They ended up turning the ball over on downs
in Jaguar territory. The Aggies were
passing a lot as usual. At least Tyler
was getting good protection. For the
Jaguars’ third series, they rotated in another quarterback. They apparently use two normally. They began a steady march downfield. A group of Aggie cheerleader girls came over
to start a fight with the Jaguar cheerleaders.
Oh unfortunately, no. That would
have made Sportscenter. They all just
fake smiled and waved at each other as they passed by. Southpaw did high-five the Aggie girls. He’s smooth.
Second Quarter
Between quarters, there was a contest in the endzone in
front of me. Four guys were dressed as
hamburger buns and had to build a burger with toppings. It sounds kind of dumb when I write it, but
it was reasonably amusing. The Jaguars
finished their first quarter drive with a touchdown to go up 7-0.
The Aggies got a good return. A
bomb to wide receiver, Jaleel Scott,
would set up a Dylan Brown field
goal, 7-3 Jaguars. Next series, Shamad Lomax recovered a Jaguar fumble on their end of the field,
which would set up another field goal, 7-6
Jaguars.
On the Aggies’ next series, a third down pass to Jaleel was
ruled incomplete. A replay on the video
board disagreed, as did the crowd. A
full house roaring brought a review, which overturned the call. There was a close up on the video board of the
Student Section cheering the call. Hey,
there’s Kayla Green from the
Softball team. With a first down, the
series continued and ended in an Anthony
Muse touchdown reception, 13-7
Aggies. The Jaguars came back with a
long drive deep into Aggie territory.
The defense stood up and held and ended the threat with a Terrill Hanks interception. The half ended with Tyler taking a knee.
Continued in Part Two.
No comments:
Post a Comment