At 3:30 am Saturday morning, it seemed unlikely that I’d be going to a football game in 10 ½ hours. My boss, Ron, and I had just finished a computer upgrade at work. He’d wanted to go to the game. Ron was even interested in going to the WAC Volleyball championship game afterward. Unfortunately, while we were at work, I watched our beloved Aggie girls lose their semi-final game over the Internet. So, if they weren’t going to be at the championship, neither were we. Somehow the both of us managed to get some sleep and be up and ready in time for the football game.
While getting ready, I hopped outside for a minute in sweats before getting dressed to check the temperature. It didn’t seem too bad. The wind was nippy so I ended up putting on three layers (undershirt, long sleeve shirt, and a hoodie sweatshirt). With the game starting in the afternoon, hopefully it would finish before it got too cold in the evening. Ron showed up to pick me up wearing just his Aggie t-shirt. I gave him my new Aggie hat, since I gave up on it fitting my head. At least he now had some head protection. Ron, let us say, has more natural insulation than I do. I’d never seen him get cold anyway. I mention all this as a precursor as to what was going to occur and that we weren’t totally unprepared for some cool weather.
We parked in front of the Pan-Am Center, thus reminding me again of the volleyball team’s loss. The New Mexico State Pride band rhythm section was out in front of the building, which seemed like an odd place for them to be right before a game. Walking to the stadium, we got an answer from a couple of passing fans going in the other direction. Our opponents today, Texas State, had been in a bus wreck and the game had been delayed for an hour and a half. I’ve heard varying accounts of the damage, but the bottom line seemed to be six injuries, thankfully none of them serious. I’d heard a cheerleader was hurt, but I didn’t see any cheerleaders on their sidelines later.
Not really having anywhere else to go, we went ahead and got tickets. Ron preferred the upper bowl seats to get a commanding view of the field, though not the cheerleaders. The fellow in line in front of us was wearing an El Paso Chihuahuas hat. Inside the gate, some pleasant young women were handing out programs. Somehow they seemed familiar. Looking twice, I saw that they were wearing NM State Softball sweatshirts. I abandoned Ron to go talk to the girls for a second. I just told them I’d been to some games and enjoyed watching them play. Most of the players were brand new freshmen. I asked if they were being punished or hazed having to be out here. I’d like to name names of the players, but they looked different out of uniform and with their hair down, so I’m not sure who was who. Maybe they’ll have an autograph session next year and I can ask. Seeing these ladies was a bright spot for the afternoon.
Inside, I finally broke down and paid $4 for a slice of pizza at the Papa John’s tent. I was hungry. The pizza proved to be room temperature as was the soft drink I purchased with it. Even then, it was still pretty good, so I can’t complain too much. Out on the field, I thought the Aggies were practicing in warm up jerseys, but actually it was Texas State. They had finally arrived and confusingly, they wear the same colors as the Aggies.
Having plenty of time to kill, I ended up back at the Concessions, looking for a hot drink. There wasn’t anything advertised on the board, but the vendors were yelling out, “Hot drinks!” Fearing a trick or being screwed (or only being offered coffee, which I don’t drink), I didn’t enter. Hey, I just spent $4 on lukewarm pizza. I had a right to be suspicious. I did meet two co-workers there though. Over the course of a long conversation, I found out that in return for our business’ sponsorship of the new skybox, we had the use it for the Cruces-Mayfield game for 10 years. On the way back, I bought a small sack of cinnamon almonds from a vendor girl who looked like she was already freezing. That act of pity was my best move of the day; those things were absolutely delicious.
Back at the seats, I’ll make the suggestion to not sit in the front row of the upper bowl. My view was blocked by the stair railing. Thankfully, we got moved before the game started. There was plenty of room. Attendance was listed at 6,200+. The lower bowl on the fan side eventually filled in pretty well. The upper bowl didn’t. The student section was sparse. (If the administration could sell those seats, they’d do it. Except for games against the Lobos, I doubt the students would care. I think they only care about the tailgating outside.) There was a high school football playoff game going on across town at the Field of Dreams complex, which was likely hurting attendance at both events.
(This is from nmstatesports.com. Isn’t it a great pic?)
It was deceptively sunny out, but the cold breeze was making things miserable. The PA was playing some highly inappropriate hard core rap music before the game. Yeah, when I decided to sing along with it, it was amazing how wrong certain words suddenly sounded. Thankfully, the Aggie Pride band came out to play before the game. (Actually, I was listening to the end the high school game on the radio.) A squad of soldiers came out to unfurl a big flag for Military Appreciation Day at the stadium. OMG! The cheerleaders ran out in their usual mini-skirts and tank tops. They had to be freezing to death. The Texas State Bobcats were politely introduced as they slowly shambled on to the field. They got a round of applause. I didn’t want to feel sorry for these guys, but you kind of had to. Then the Aggies charged out on field, waving an American flag, a New Mexico flag, and the various Armed Services flags.
1st Qtr
The radio call came in inexplicably late in covering the first series of the game. I don't know what they were doing. This is going to be a busy quarter here. Buckle up. The Aggies received the ball and got a first down, but had to punt. The first attempt was stopped by an overly brave Ref running into the middle of the play to blow it dead. Strange officiating. The subsequent punt was muffed by Texas State. Two Aggies just missed falling on the ball in the endzone. The Bobcats worked the ball out from their own 3 yard line.
Pistol Pete is spotted. He's wearing camo under his western vest. Suddenly, there's a possible fumble on the field. Sunlight on the video board makes it impossible to see the replay, but the Ref's called it for the Aggies. There's older gentleman in front of me who's really into the game. He's fun to listen to. The Aggies got near the Texas State goal line. Quarterback Tyler Rogers walked to one of the ends, maybe to call a timeout or to change the play. No! It's a direct snap to running back Larry Rose III. He tosses the ball to wide receiver Johnathan Boone, who passes it to Tyler Rogers in the endzone. Touchdown! What a great gadget play. 7-0 Aggies.
Texas State receives the ball and then fumbles on their own 23. Two plays later, Rogers hits Royce Clayton for another touchdown. Royce just came back from an injury. This is very encouraging. 14-0 Aggies. Even more shocking, two PAT's are made with no drama by Parker Davidson.
The cheerleaders are now wisely, but belatedly wearing jackets. On Texas State's first play, it's an interception by Shamad Lomax. Rogers scrambles this one in himself from the 8 yard line. Let me sum this up for you. Tyler Rogers has passed, rushed, and caught touchdowns this quarter. The PAT has a bad snap, the ball is dropped, but somehow the kick is good. 21-0 Aggies.
The Bobcats get a first down, but Terrill Hanks picks off a screen pass at midfield. Rogers nearly runs it in on keeper, but gets caught from behind. Preston Williams, doing color commentary on the radio, tells him he needs to run faster. Rogers hits Tyrian Taylor for another TD. 28-0 Aggies.
2nd Qtr
Even the fans get in on the scoring action. Between quarters, a guy boots a 10 yard field goal and wins a $100. Ron, who had wandered off, returned with two piping hot cups of hot chocolate. God bless him. There was vendor wandering around selling them. Not only were they life-savingly warm, but also delicious. I wish I could make hot chocolate taste this good at home. However, Ron is cold in his t-shirt. I've never seen him cold before. The sun is going down and it’s getting colder.
Texas State got the ball, but went out on downs quickly. For some reason, their punter apparently wasn't used to kick the ball away. Bad choice. It was a six-yard punt. The Aggies have to punt too, after a missed deep ball that got an "Ooooh" out of the crowd. The Bobcats next play was another interception by Lomax. Are you kidding me? The Aggies end up with the ball right back where they punted from. The Aggies first play is a swing pass that is fumbled. However, Texas State can't move it and they turn it over on downs.
The next series, the Aggies got a 20 yard pass downfield off an early snap that everyone on field and in stands thought was yet another false start, except for Rogers and his receiver. (The Aggies had about five of them to this point. Obviously, it wasn't hurting their offense.) There was an apparent touchdown pass to Rose, but it was called off upon review. He'd stepped out of bounds on the way to the endzone before making the catch. The Aggies settle for a field goal. 31-0 Aggies.
Jack Nixon on the radio gave a half-hearted promo for the WAC Volleyball championship this evening. I am momentarily panged with regret and hurt. The Bobcats again turn it over on downs in Aggie territory. Rose rips off a 30 yard run. There's a chop block penalty on the goal line against the Aggies, though it was an Aggie player that came off the field hurt. No problem. Rogers finds Anthony Muse from 18 yards out for another touchdown. 38-0 Aggies. Inexplicably, the Aggies called a timeout right before the PAT to ice their own kicker, but Davidson kicks it through again.
Texas State goes three and out. Gregory Hogan makes a tremendous one-handed catch to try and keep an Aggie drive going, but he's ruled out of bounds. Too bad. That was highlight reel stuff. The punt by Payton Theisler pins the Bobcats inside their own 10. Not bad, given that he kicked it from deep in Aggie territory. I can see the poor Sundancers in their skimpy outfits jumping up and down on the sidelines. They're trying not to freeze to death before their halftime performance. And at halftime, it was 38-0 Aggies.
Halftime
Ron jumps up for the bathroom before I can. Nuts. At least I get to watch the halftime show. Sweet Caroline plays while the band sets up. The Sundancers were dancing like crazy on the sidelines before the show started. They were troopers out there performing along with the band. It's a great show of course. At the end, the band comes up to the sidelines and performs the Aggie fight song in front of the stands. Great showmanship. Ron doesn't return, and I still need to go. The hot chocolate vendors would come by, but as much as I wanted another, I didn't think I could hold any more fluid. I had to settle for shaking for the rest of the game, thus making my notes even more illegible.
Quite a bit of the crowd left at this point. Who could blame them? The Sundancers went back to the student side of the stadium, where they huddled up next to the wall under blankets. The cheerleaders came back out in long pants.
3rd Qtr
On the Aggies' second possession, Muse made an incredible circus catch in the endzone after a tremendous scramble by Rogers. Again, it is called off as Muse had stepped out of bounds before he was thrown to. How often could this penalty happen in a normal game? It turns into a field goal. 41-0 Aggies.
I finally run for the bathroom during the Bobcat's possession. They manage to drive it downfield. On a play near the endzone, there are four flags on the field for two different penalties, both against the Aggies. One of the Aggies is ejected for targeting the Texas State quarterback. It's considered a questionable call by the fans, who boo the call and applaud the player as he comes off. After all that, it only results in a field goal. 41-3 Aggies.
4th Qtr
Things are going quickly at this point. The Sundancers, in jackets and long pants, perform in the north endzone. The old guy in front of me uses his binoculars to watch. I don't blame him. At the other end of the stadium, the troops manning the cannon, which goes off on Aggie scores (hope they brought plenty of ammo today), are doing jumping jacks to keep warm.
The championship winning Aggie Equestrian team was honored on the field between possessions. That was nice of the university, given that they've disbanded the program after this year. This is only an “Aggie” college after all, and this was the only team that worked with animals. The girls there were mostly in elegant, but highly impractical, evening wear for the ceremony and were freezing. Ron came back and reported that the girls had walked past him on the way to the field. It was like a troop of models going by.
On a Bobcats’ possession, a receiver nearly jumped into the stands going after a ball. With the play over, he stopped to chat with a couple of fans in the front row. I'd love to have heard that conversation. The Aggies got another field goal to make the score 44-3. Both teams finally put in their backup quarterbacks. Pete was working the crowd below us, twirling his guns, taking pictures with the fans, and sitting down and chatting with them.
Again, Theisler got off another great, rugby-style punt. It went from the Aggie 20, hit the sideline, and rolled to the Texas State 2. The Bobcats end up having to punt from their own endzone, giving the Aggies great field position. Nick Jeanty, now the Aggie QB, threw a screen pass to Jaleel Scott. Scott fought through several defenders for 20 straight yards for a TD. The PAT was missed. Davidson's leg must have gotten tired. 50-3 Aggies.
Texas State did finally get off a good drive on their final possession. There was a great 30 yard pass into double coverage to get them on to the Aggie end of the field. Finally, a rushing play gave the Bobcats a touchdown. 50-10 Aggies would be our final. Ron and I were already walking out of the stadium as the Aggies went into in the victory formation. We were trying to beat the crowd (what was left) and the opposing team’s exit, as they have to cross the main entrance to leave the stadium (a definite design flaw). Unfortunately, we didn’t make it. The Texas State guys all had a “thousand yard stare” going for them as they quickly strode across the concourse. I would have liked to have said something encouraging to them or given them a round of applause, but they wouldn’t have noticed and it might have come across as sarcastic.
We walked past the Pan-Am Center, which was lit up for the volleyball championship. I was sorely tempted to suggest going in, but the match was moments away from starting, and we were both cold and hungry. If only the football game had started on time. At least dinner at Schlotzski’s was great. I did have a cup of Carvel ice cream there. Even at the risk of re-freezing myself, I just couldn’t resist it.
Well, it was a victory against a team that was 0-6 in conference, 2-8 overall, and had been in a bus wreck that morning, and I didn’t feel any better about the Aggie volleyball team losing. Even without the wreck, the Aggies were favored in the game. However, they not only took care of business, they did so decisively on both sides of the ball. That was encouraging. The defense just dominated in this game. On the offense, Tyler Rogers threw three touchdowns, ran for one, and caught another. Perhaps just as impressive, he threw no interceptions (indeed making many good decisions in passing) and was not sacked. It wasn’t like they weren’t trying to get him either. On several occasions, he eluded pursuit in a Houdini-like fashion. The offense just needs to work on those false starts. The team has one more home game next weekend against a good team. We hope all this success carries over.
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