My retired former co-worker, Chuck, gifted me with a Wave the Wonder Dog statue that came with his Aggie Football season tickets. A week later, he gave me a pair of tickets to this game when the date conflicted with a planned vacation. That was a month ago, and I’d been trying to find someone to go with me to the game since. I’d finally decided to give them away at work when a co-worker said she’d go with me.
I didn’t ask her and I was sort of forced into this. Frankly, this action could have unwanted complications, but for now, I was pleased to be able to use the tickets. She’s not unpleasant company, at least. She didn’t know anything about football, but that’s okay, I don’t really either. I told her we could leave the game whenever she wanted, given that this was a weeknight, but she said she was going into work late, so she could stay to the end. She was going in late, because she was planning on going skydiving in the morning and didn’t think she’d be able to sleep tonight anyway. I really don’t want to orbit too closely to this woman.
Okay, enough of that, let’s talk about the game. The Aggies were coming off a bad loss to the Lobos last week. They were going to have a quick turnaround to play this Thursday night game. Tonight’s opponent, Sam Houston State, was actually favored by a couple of points, though they are 0-4. No respect. This game would be nationally televised, but it would be up against Thursday night NFL and the Yankees and Red Sox playoff series finale.
It couldn’t have been a nicer evening. Seriously. It was 88-degrees with no wind and it was maybe in the high 70’s by the end. There were only a few clouds and a nearly full moon hung off to the south of Aggie Memorial Stadium. The parking lot was full and the stands were reasonably well filled. I was impressed with the packed out Student Section. Attendance was listed at over 9,000, which was pretty good considering the sports competition and that it was a weekday game.
This game wasn’t even the big news with NMSU Sports. Today, they formally announced Joe Fields as the new Athletic Director. He has a pretty good resume, at least. Fields would be introduced on field during the game to the crowd. I’ll admit to being slightly more hopeful about NMSU Sports with this hire.
Three players from the Women’s Basketball team were out front handing out pink pom pom’s. I declined to get one, though my co-worker did. I’m glad I didn’t think at the time to ask these ladies a question about the team that I’m fuming about. (I’ll go over that when their season starts. It’s a doozy.) This was some sort of Pink Out game with a lot of fans in pink. I didn’t get the memo and don’t have anything in pink anyway.
We got there in time to see the Pride of New Mexico Marching Band perform pregame and play the Anthem. I offered to get something at the Concessions, but the coworker went liquid and got a couple of beers for herself. At least, I knew she’d enjoy the game. I had pizza earlier with dad while watching the Tigers beat the Indians in their Wild Card Series (F Yeah!), so I wasn’t hungry. I got to see the new videoboard. It looks good, but nothing special.
We were on the 40yd line about 15 rows up. Nice seats, Chuck. The game at midfield was right there in front of you. Even with the crowd noise, we were close enough to hear the Aggie quarterback clap his hands to snap the ball.
First Quarter
The Aggies won the toss and deferred. (I’m contractually obligated to say this whenever I’m covering Football.) The Bearkats began on offense and passed downfield fairly effectively. They went for it at midfield on a fourth and 2 and made it, but stalled out. They settled for a long field goal attempt that went wide.
The Aggies took over with good field position. Quarterback Logan Fife ran for a first down on a third and 8, which was pretty clutch. They got down inside the SH 10 and fumbled it. Ouch. SH didn’t do much in response taking over near their goal line. Nick Session made a great tackle on a third and short to force a punt. Curtis Gerrand kicked a good one that put the Aggies back on their own 2yd line.
Second Quarter
A nice way out of a hole like that is a 40yd bomb to TK King. Oh yeah. The Aggies worked it down to outside the SH 10yd line. They’d have to settle for a Ryan Hawk field goal from 29yds. 3-0 Aggies.
SH began their drive with a sack by Ezra Christensen. This led to a punt. The Volleyball, Golf, and Baseball teams were here and introduced on field, as well as new AD Fields. Jaelynn Kohli from the Volleyball team got on camera again for Simba Cam, as she was holding up a kid. I don’t know their relationship.
After a good return by TJ Pride, there was a ruffing the passer call on the Aggies’ first play. This set them up on the SH 40yd line. A 26yd pass to Shawn Brown got the Aggies to the 1yd line. Fife was tush-pushed in from there, 10-0 Aggies. The ROTC cannon went off for the touchdown, but it was a bit muted. They’ve moved it from field level to overlooking the stadium. Where it had been, kids were sliding down the grass in front of the Fulton Center. Other kids in the crowd were taking off their shirts for Twist Cam. Ah, just the boys, I should hurriedly add.
The moment I was dreading came up during Sam Houston’s possession: Kiss Cam. You’re not properly imagining my level of discomfort. That was a long two-minutes, but I was passed over and spared. I will never take another woman to a Football game unless I am on an actual date. Actual Kiss Cam ran the gambit. There was a mom kissing a baby and a couple of shots of underdressed drunk college girls kissing, mostly on the cheek. Mostly. I think.
Nearly irrelevantly by comparison, SH worked downfield and took a chance on a long field. Christian Pavon made it from 51yds out. 10-3 Aggies.
Halftime
The co-worker went off to the Concessions and came back with her third and fourth beers. She was having a good time. She also brought a bucket of popcorn. (Again, I did offer to get concessions when we walked in.) I took off to the bathroom after the Band performed and she spilt one of the beers in the meantime. During the performance, some of the band members were dancing with the dancers, who were dressed in Country Western garb.
Just to make it worse, there were a large number of pretty girls here, even more than at Baseball. Not to mention, there were Media girls working on the sidelines. Bea Martinez from Channel 7 was here lugging around a TV camera. There was another a hot chick in a white blouse carrying a TV camera. I don’t know who she was with. (Gotta be in shape to haul those things around for a while.) There was an exotic-looking student with a camera on the sidelines. Oh yeah, and the Hot Marketing Girl was here. She was looking very hot. Meanwhile in front of me, a guy was watching the NFL game that was on and the Yankees and Red Sox on his phone.
Third Quarter
The Student Section thinned out during halftime. The Aggies received to start the half, but punted on their first possession. SH drove the ball steadily with theirs. Their quarterback, Alton McCaskill, bounced the ball on the turf on a rollout, but caught it to continue the play. The Bearkats were inside the Aggie 20yd line and attempted a backward pass, which was dropped. That’s a fumble. Cole Schnettgoecke recovered for the Aggies. (That name will not fit on the back of a jersey.)
A defensive delay of game and a facemask advanced the Aggies to their own 40. King took it from there with a 54yd bomb from Fife. I don’t want to undersell this pass. Fife threaded the needle between two defenders that King had maybe a half-step on. However, on the SH 1yd line, the Aggies tried one tush-push too many and Fife lost the ball. Kadarius Calloway recovered it, but the Aggies lost 10 yards and had to settle for a field goal. 13-3 Aggies.
The Sundancers performed in the break. Then the camera focused on a male Sundancer with the group, which completely killed it for everyone. What the hell? On the kickoff, Wave had trouble locating the tee. He stayed with it and brought it back. That’s a good dog. Sam Houston passed their way down the field and came right back with a touchdown before the end of the quarter. 13-10 Aggies. With 1 second left, the Aggies got off a single play. Calloway rushed for 29 yards to the SH 46.
Fourth Quarter
A bunch of the crowd was deserting. It was late on a weeknight. Don’t be too judgmental. There was a Golf Challenge on field in the break. The participant chipped a ball through the uprights on the first try. He rode the pony with the golf club and body slammed Pistol Pete.
Back to play, Fife scrambled and found Calloway. The running back walked the tightrope on the sideline for 27 yards to the SH 16yd line. King caught a clutch third down pass and fought forward to continue the drive. Calloway appropriately finished it with a TD. 20-10 Aggies.
There was another on-field contest. A fan needed to make a 40yd kick for free furniture. It was on target, but low. There was a personal foul on SH on the touchdown that was enforced on the kickoff. Hawk pooched it short. The receiver made a bad decision to try and field it and lost the ball. Josiah Jones on the Aggies recovered it inside the SH 5yd line. PJ Johnson was left alone in the endzone on third down and scored. 27-10 Aggies.
SH got to midfield on their next drive. Noise from the remaining crowd came into play on a third down. Tory Gethers made a big sack. The Bearkats went for it on fourth down. The thunderous crowd noise caused a false start. With a fourth and long, SH turned it over on downs. The defense came back to the sidelines. Naeten Mitchell waved thanks to the crowd. The Aggies converted on the field position with another field goal. 30-10 Aggies.
There was a network cameraman on a platform on a moving crane working on the sidelines. Occasionally, he got in the way of viewing the field being maybe 20’ high. However, I have admiration for the guy, because it was a rough ride up and down on the sidelines. Brave.
Injured star Aggie defenseman, Sone Aupiu, came into the game late. He made a big tackle on his first play. That’s good to see. Even better, a Bearkat receiver had his pocket picked by Mitchell when he juggled a pass. Mitchell ran with it like he stole it, which he did, and took it to the house! He had a couple of blockers helping in front of him. What a capper! Aggies win 37-10. The defense played up to the crowd.
The final stats weren’t too far off, in spite of the score. Total offense was 350 to 313, rushing was 95 to 65, and passing was 255 to 244, all in favor of the Aggies. Logan Fife was 19 of 26 with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. Ryan Hawk was 3 of 3 on field goals and perfect on PAT’s. Kadarius Calloway rushed for 68 yds with a touchdown and received for 44. TK King had 6 receptions for 132 yds. 6 other receivers made catches. This game could have gone sideways for the Aggies or been a squeaker, but they maintained their composure for a big win.
If you can believe it, the game came in at three hours. The game clipped along pretty well. The referees did not overly officiate. Maybe the teams were really well disciplined and behaved. My co-worker was good for staying for fireworks which went off right after the game. Children rushed the field to play. The Aggie team walked around the stadium to slap hands with the crowd hanging around the railing. AD Fields got the gameball in the locker room. What a great start for him. Okay, this was fun. I’m glad I was able to use the tickets and that I didn’t give them away.
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