Okay, that’s not the best title. It’s late and I’m not feeling creative
(though I am happy). While I’m here to
cover the Aggies’ bowl win (spoilers), I kind of have go over what happened
leading up to that win.
For this season, I’ve been to three games. There was the disappointing and very late
night opening game versus Nevada (8-27-22). There was an impressive win over Hawaii (9-25-22). Finally, there was the disastrous game
against FIU (10-1-22).
I covered some of their other games (briefly). 9-10-22 the Aggies lost to UTEP, who would later in the season
blow a 24-point lead to UTSA that would
eliminate them from bowl eligibility. (I
actually listened to that game.) 10-15-22 the Aggies beat the
Lobos. I watched the Tennessee/Alabama game with my dad
instead (no regrets). This game was
mentioned as the turning point in the Aggies’ season. Strangely, it was also a turning point in the Men’s Basketball season, as a fight in
the stands led to a revenge shooting in Albuquerque. (Too sorted a tale to go into here.)
11-12-22 the Aggies thrashed FCS
school, Lamar, while I was at Volleyball. 11-19-22 the Aggies lost, as
expected, to Missouri. What was
unexpected was that I was listening to the game, instead of Men’s Basketball,
which was cancelled (see above). So, the
Aggies had had an up-and-down season to this point. They had shown some encouraging signs, but
not impressed. Then came the game
against Liberty.
11-26-22
vs Liberty Flames
This was an early game on Saturday morning. I was expecting a loss here, as Liberty had
been in the Top 25 earlier in the season, including a road win at Arkansas. I found out later that the Aggies were
24-point underdogs. I joined the game
after it had started and pleasantly found the Aggies leading, 21-7. They’d gotten an interception that led to a
score.
From there, Liberty basically self-destructed. They had two fumbles and a bunch of dumb
penalties. The Aggies kept cashing
in. Meanwhile, the Aggie defense played
out of its mind. When the dust settled,
it was a 49-14 Aggie victory. I’d never heard Jack Nixon and Cory Lucas
so happy calling the game. I was right
there with them. This was the happiest
I’d been with Aggie Football since their 2017 bowl win.
Quarterback Diego
Pavia had 200 yards passing, 100 yards rushing, 3 passing touchdowns, and 3
rushing touchdowns. He won several
national awards for his performance. Coach Kill had finally found his
quarterback.
12-3-22
vs Valparaiso Crusaders . . . err . . . Beacons
Their name was changed for the typical bad reasons you can
guess. Jack Nixon used both throughout
the game. FCS Valpo had to request a
waiver from the NCAA to play this
game. They were the best AD Mario Moccia could find at this late
date to make up for the San Jose State
game that was canceled for the death of one of their players. SJS wouldn’t commit to a makeup game. They were already bowl-eligible and didn’t
need to play the game.
NMSU won their own NCAA waiver the same week. Their record was 5-6 and they couldn’t find an
FBS opponent to play them, so they were granted bowl-eligibility. Apparently, 5-7 teams have gotten in when
there weren’t enough teams for all the bowl games. This game with Valpo wasn’t meaningful, since
the Aggies had already played an FCS team and it wouldn’t help their
record. But, the university wanted to
give the season ticket holders a game and the seniors a Senior Day.
I was planning on going to the game. Unfortunately, Ron was out sick. I was still going to go, but the wind and
some sprinkles started just before I was going to leave. I decided I’d listen on the radio,
instead. I felt bad about it. There were 14,000 fans there in spite of the
weather anyway.
This was Valpo’s first game against an FBS team. They also didn’t have any scholarship
athletes. It all showed. Diego Pavia had 200 yards passing after the
first quarter. He did pull up lame
running downfield for a touchdown that was called back. I was worried about him, but he was
okay. Pavia was only planning on playing
a half anyway. He finished with 4 touchdowns
and 300 yards passing (and got more national recognition later). It was 35-3 at the half. Valpo had only scored off a long field goal
facilitated by a couple of dumb personal fouls.
The final score was 65-3
Aggies. Don’t feel too bad for
Valpo. They were paid to come here. On their team Twitter, the team had nice time
hiking in the mountains here and had a good meal at a nice local restaurant. Moccia was already happy before the
game. “We’ve won five games this
season. Over the last five years, our
team was 5-22.” One of the Aggie players
proposed to his girlfriend after the game to make it romantic as well.
Next up, the Aggies go bowling.
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