After getting back from the basketball massacre and
getting lunch, I watched a bit of the Sun
Bowl at home. It was a Chamber of
Commerce day in El Paso for the game between NC State and Arizona State. The place looked full. I didn’t really watch as came in late and NC
State seemed well on their way to victory, though it was a high-scoring game. There was a bigger event on the agenda.
This was the big day for Aggie Football, their 57-year
curse-breaking Arizona Bowl game
against the Utah State Aggies. Much of the radio pre-game was actually about
the Aggies’ last bowl game in 1960 at the Sun Bowl against this same team. That NMSU team was 11-0 for the season and
led the nation in offense. The Sun Bowl
was also a premier bowl game then. In
the present day, Aggies fans had “taken over Tucson,” with crimson being seen everywhere
in town. The Stadium Network had Jaleel
Scott’s one-hand touchdown catch earlier this season against Arizona State
as their number two play of the year.
The “happiest bowl fans in the country” had sold out the
team’s allotment of tickets (something like 7,000) and reportedly filled
three-quarters of the stadium. Even with
over 26,000 in attendance at their last home game (nearly a sellout with
capacity at 28,800 at Aggie Memorial), the university was worried that the fans
wouldn’t buy tickets to a bowl game, even a close one in Tucson. They thought it would be too expensive for
them. Well, they sold out of their
original 5,000 allotment inside of two weeks.
Athletic Director
Mario Moccia was estimating 10,000 NMSU fans, but in an interview with the Sunbelt Conference commissioner, he
thought it was more like 15 to 20,000. I
heard a number afterward that 40,000 total tickets were sold. Bowl and city officials must have been
ecstatic. Some of the proceeds of sales
went to charity too.
The day before, there was a group picture at work with
people dressed in Aggie gear supporting the team. The picture even got retweeted by football
team. I bought two Aggie football shirts
recently, but I didn’t get in the picture, but I’m not bitter. I had a co-worker in a real quandary. He’d already had tickets to the Sun Bowl and
wasn’t sure which game to go to. He made
the right choice and went to Tucson.
Another co-worker guaranteed an Aggie win, being a smart ass, since both
teams are called the “Aggies.” I’ve
covered the Utah State Women’s Soccer
team here and referred to them as “USA” and the “US Aggies.” I refrain from that in the recap.
First Quarter
Jack Nixon, the
voice of Aggie Sports, finally pronounced the name of sponsor, Route 66 Casino,
correctly for the kickoff. However, the
usual promotion for that opening kickoff was not in effect for this game, so
Jack backtracked and simply thanked them for their support this year. The Aggies took their opening drive downfield
for a field goal, 3-0 NMSU.
What happened next was the usual stomach-churning thing that
proceeds an Aggie blowout loss. Utah
State took their first kickoff all the way for a touchdown, 7-3 Utah
State. I could hear the fans in
attendance and the entire city groaning.
Jason Huntley was not taking
any of that. He took the ensuing kickoff
right back down their throats for a touchdown, 10-7 NMSU. I believe this was the turning point of the
game, if not for the Aggie team, then at least for Aggie fans. It was going to be very hard to tune away
after that resounding answer.
Utah State would have to earn their way downfield next
time. The Aggie defense had two
penalties, but held. The Aggies had to
punt on their possession. Utah State
lined to punt on their next drive, but instead, faked it. The fumble on the play, however, was
genuine. Unfortunately, the Aggies were
intercepted right after. Utah State
drove down the field as the quarter ended.
Whew! We saw a little of
everything in 15 minutes.
Second Quarter
The U-tags (as Jack was calling them) led off the quarter
with a field goal to finish off their drive.
The score was tied at 10. I left
for work at that point. The game was on
in the break room there, though no one was watching at the time. I ran into a couple of co-workers who said
that the Aggies were now up 13-10 after a field goal. I had to start working, but put the game on
the radio next to me. In the last minute
of the half, Larry Rose III fumbled
deep in Aggie territory. The defense
managed to hold them to a field goal. 13
all at the half.
Third Quarter
A bunch of work from my vacation last week suddenly
resurfaced and was placed in my arms.
This is why I hate taking vacation.
I got pretty busy working, but was still listening to the game on the
radio. Utah State missed a field
goal. The Aggies pulled off a fake punt
of their own to get a first down.
Unfortunately there was another interception right after. Terrill
Hanks managed to grab a fumble deep in Aggie territory to keep them from
capitalizing on the turnover.
Fourth Quarter
The Aggies still couldn’t move the ball on offense. Punter Peyton
Theisler had been getting a workout in this game. It wasn’t entirely surprising that a bad punt
happened, especially backed up in the endzone.
This was real bad. Utah State got
the ball on the NMSU 20. A quick effort
gave them a touchdown and a 20-13 lead.
I’m sure that on TV, “goat-cam” was in effort for Peyton. After another ineffective Aggie drive, the
U-tags had a drive that resulted in another missed field goal.
Late in the game, I’d like to think that the Aggies, not
only really wanted to win, but also wanted to pick up their teammate, not wanting
to hang a loss on Peyton’s one bad punt.
After only having one first down in the second half, the Aggie offense
finally picked up some steam. Jaleel Scott came up with a big catch
downfield, though he hobbled off afterward.
Larry Rose came up with a circus catch to keep the drive going. Johnathan
Boone saved the Aggies’ season with a fourth down conversion catch.
This was all feeling a little familiar, like the Aggies’ final drive versus South Alabama. Tyler Rogers then found Jaleel Scott in the endzone, who made
an over-the-shoulder catch, but out-of-bounds.
Or was it? The officials started
looking at the play. The pro-NMSU crowd
started going crazy watching the replay, as it showed Jaleel dragging a foot
behind him inbounds as he caught the ball.
Touchdown Aggies! The score was
tied 20-20.
By this point, I had abandoned work and was watching in the
break room. The husband of a just-retired
co-worker was already there watching. His
wife was saying goodbye to people. He tried
to talk her into staying for the end, but when it went to overtime, she convinced
him to go. I tried telling them the
overtime rules aren’t timed and they should stick around, but to no avail. My boss, working late, sat in to watch with
me.
Overtime
The Aggies won the toss and decided to go second. The Aggie defense kept Utah State out of the
endzone. They set up for another kick
and it sailed wide. That was their
kicker’s fourth missed kick of the game at the worst possible time. I think it was mentioned he was like an
all-conference kicker this year, but you can’t blame him. He was kicking against destiny. On the Aggies’ second play, Larry Rose III broke two tackles and
galloped 21 yards into the endzone and right into legend. 57 years of bowl frustration ended for the
Aggies. 26-20 Aggies in overtime.
I was jumping up and down watching. I didn’t even try to restrain myself. The crowd didn’t either. They stormed the field again. A reporter on-field had a heck of a time
trying to do interviews with the happy mass of fans and players there. They couldn’t even find the hero, Larry Rose. The TV studio guys were immensely proud of
New Mexico State and their fans. They
heaped praised on Tyler Rogers’ clutch fourth quarter. Checking on the team’s Twitter feed after the
game, I saw Adam Young doing some
interviews. He found Larry Rose and
asked him about being down in the fourth quarter. “I told the guys, ‘We’ve been here
before. We know what to do.’” That they did.
It’s almost impossible to sum up this season for New Mexico State Football in a couple
of paragraphs. The story began in 2013
with the hiring of Coach Doug Martin. From there, it was the recruiting and
training and experience of this group of players that led to this moment. There’s no real telling what’s going to happen
next with the program going independent.
The team showed they can really play in the clutch, even having to carry
their program’s history on their backs the whole time. The fans really came out and supported them
at the last home game and at this bowl game and had a good time doing so. National recognition has followed, almost
priceless good publicity for a nearly anonymous hard luck football team.
This bowl win was a bit like a professional team winning a
championship right before asking for a new stadium, but there are no guarantees
in this situation. I have to think if
the team can do well and the fans show up for the next two years, there will be
a conference invitation. From there, the
program’s future should be secured for another half-dozen years. This football team may always have to prove
itself to conferences, to opponents, to the media, and to the fans. That was part of the coach’s motto of “Playing
with a chip on our shoulders.” We’ve all
seen that that can be a winning strategy for New Mexico State Football.
(Photo from Las Cruces Sun-News)
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