WNMU at NMSU - Albuquerque Journal

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D2 ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2003
BY DENNIS LATTA
Journal Staff Writer
LAS CRUCES — Perhaps
the unhappiest man in
New Mexico today is
Charley Wade, and he
feels he has good reason
to be disgruntled.
Wade is the head football
coach at Western New Mexico.
He has a program that has
struggled at the NCAA Division
II level and is struggling
through an eight-game losing
streak.
The Mustangs lost their season
opener last Saturday 51-10
to Colorado School of Mines.
Today, WNMU gets to play a
team that had an even worse
loss in its season opener. The
Mustangs play Division I-A
New Mexico State, which was
thumped soundly by No. 6ranked
Texas 66-7 on Sunday.
The Aggies were paid
$450,000 to play the Longhorns.
It was a big payday and
a big loss.
The ’Stangs are being paid
$50,000 for tonight’s game at
Aggie Memorial Stadium.
That’s good money for a Division
II program.
So, is there a similarity
between what NMSU went
through in its opener and what
WNMU is facing today?
‘‘I find that just ludicrous,’’
says Wade. ‘‘It’s laughable.
Texas and New Mexico State
have 85 scholarships. We have
24.’’
Wade doesn’t want to play
the Aggies. He doesn’t want to
bring his team into Las Cruces
tonight. Wade knows NMSU
can score 100 points if it
wants. He knows his team
doesn’t match up in any way —
size, speed, depth or experience.
‘‘I have a lot of friends who
coach in Division Two, and
they’re stunned we have to
play this game,” Wade says.
“Division Two schools just
don’t play Division One. I’ve
been telling everyone at West-
WNMU
HEAD
COACH
Charley
Wade
FAST
FACT
The teams
haven’t
played in 56
years since
NMSU won
48-0 in
1947. The
teams tied
0-0 in ’35
when the
Aggies went
on to tie
Hardin-
Simmons 14-
14 in the
Sun Bowl
DID IT
WNMU is an
independent
in football
but plays in
the farreaching
Pacific West
Conference
in basketball
with teams
from
Montana to
Hawaii
involved
Reluctant rival
Western New Mexico is getting paid to play NMSU,
but its head coach isn’t too excited about it
ern for two years now that we
shouldn’t be playing this game,
but they won’t listen.
‘‘So, we’ll be there, and we’ll
get paid.’’
The Aggies haven’t played
the Mustangs since 1947.
NMSU has a 12-0-1 record
against WNMU. Included were
a 92-0 rout in 1928 and a 0-0 tie
in ’35. The ’Stangs have scored
a mere 12 points in the 13
games.
The Aggies played Division
II New Mexico Highlands to
start the 1999 season and won
73-7.
No one is denying that
today’s game is a total mis-
WNMU at NMSU
TODAY, 6 P.M. Aggie Memorial Stadium (38,343). TV: None. Radio: KKNS-AM (1310). Online: www.nmstatesports.com
KEY STRATEGIES
■ Western New Mexico had a good start last
season, winning two of its first three games.
But the ’Stangs lost their last seven to finish
the year 2-8.
■ The Aggies have a lot of frustration to
vent after being embarrassed in their opener.
They’ll go to their bench early, but the bench
is better than what WNMU will have on the
field.
WNMU
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Offense
Passing
Comp Att Yds TD Int
Kyle Meschnark 11 20 106 1 2
Marcus Reischl 5 10 36 0 0
Kyle Rening 4 6 53 0 1
Rushing
Att Net Avg TD
Hurtis Chinn 10 38 3.8 0
Adrian Estrada 5 24 4.8 0
Adarius Brown 7 24 3.4 0
Kyle Meschnark 9 30 0.3 0
Receiving
Rec Yds Avg TD
Hurtis Chinn 7 41 5.9 0
Eric Henson 3 31 10.3 0
Michael Mc Dougal 3 31 10.3 0
Bobby Wilcox 2 49 24.5 1
DeVaughn Wallace 2 18 9.0 0
Adarius Brown 2 13 6.5 0
Defense
TFL
UT AT Total Yds Int
Scott Fish 9 2 11 2-9 0
Tony Lopez 6 2 8 0-0 0
Steve Terrill 2 6 8 4-11 0
Zak Seward 2 5 7 0-0 1
John Navarro 2 4 6 2-8 0
match, but it comes at a time
when NMSU needs to recover
from Sunday’s embarrassing
loss. The Aggies played Texas
to a scoreless tie in the first
quarter and had a 7-0 lead early
in the second quarter. Then,
the ’Horns got 31 unanswered
points in six minutes for a 31-7
lead at halftime. Texas finished
with 66 straight points.
With the shoe on the other
foot after last weekend’s shellacking,
NMSU is trying to
paint a picture of a competitive
situation for today. That’s
not easy to do against a team
that was just routed by a Division
II squad.
Hurtis Chinn
Pos.: Wide receiver
No.: 2
Height: 5-7
Weight: 188
Notable: The speedster from
Miami is listed as a wide
receiver, but he led the Mustangs
in rushing last week in
the 41-point loss to Colorado
Mines with 38 yards on 10
carries. Chinn is a transfer
from Arizona Western (junior)
College. He also led WNMU
in receiving with three catches
for 41 yards.
Did you know: In his first
game as a Mustang, Chinn
also returned punts and kickoffs.
He finished with 247
yards of total offense.
Matt Griebel
Pos.: Free safety
No.: 2
HEAD-TO-HEAD: NMSU leads 12-0-1
Height: 5-10
Weight: 179
Notable: In his first game as
a starter, Griebel led the
Aggies in tackles with six.
Against Texas, the sophomore
had a quarterback sack
for a loss of five yards.
Did you know: Greibel is part
of an all-new defensive secondary
for NMSU, with three
sophomores and a junior
moving into a void at cornerback
and safety.
ABOUT THE SERIES
‘‘They do a lot of things,’’
Aggies coach Tony Samuel
says of WNMU. ‘‘They’ll do
everything from one back to
no backs to three backs. They
run screens and throw the ball
down the field. They’re very
multiple.’’
Quarterback Paul Dombrowski
ran for NMSU’s only
touchdown last weekend. He’s
trying to build up today’s
game.
‘‘We can’t feel like we’re better
than anyone else,” Dombrowski
says. “We have to go
out and show people we know
how to play football. They
won’t be as good as Texas. We
POSITION BATTLES:
Stopping Mustangs’ Chinn
LAST MEETING: New Mexico State won 48-0 in 1947
JOURNAL FILE
New Mexico State coach Tony Samuel says his team has no room to be complacent as he prepares it to face Western New Mexico.
The Aggies haven’t played the Mustangs since 1947.
just have to go out and play as
good as we can.’’
The Aggies always play at
least two money games on the
road, contests they’re expected
to lose. This year, they have
games at Texas and Arkansas
and a return game at Oregon
State. If NMSU loses all three,
it has to win seven of nine to
have a winning season. That
includes a game against New
Mexico in Albuquerque.
The Aggies, 7-5 last year,
haven’t had back-to-back winning
seasons since 1966-67.
So, when it can find an opening,
NMSU likes to schedule a
win to offset the expected loss-
KEY STRATEGIES
■ NMSU goes into this game after being
outscored by 59 points Sunday against
Texas, but the Aggies might come out on the
plus side. This mismatch is worse than the
one that NMSU had against the No. 5
Longhorns in its opener.
■ The Aggies got their biggest football payday
ever with a contract for $450,000 for playing
the Longhorns. Now, WNMU is getting a big
payday by NCAA Division II standards with a
guarantee of $50,000.
NMSU
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Offense
Passing
Comp Att Yds TD Int
P. Dombrowski 4 8 41 0 1
Buck Pierce 4 7 34 0 2
Rushing
Att Net Avg TD
Keith Mouton 11 87 7.5 0
P. Dombrowski 11 72 4.2 1
Tony Joseph 9 26 2.9 0
Muammar Ali 4 8 2.0 0
Tony Bostic 2 2 1.0 0
Receiving
Rec Yds Avg TD
Chris Lumpkin 4 33 8.3 0
Alex Davis 2 19 9.5 0
Jared Quick 1 17 17.0 0
P. Dombrowski 1 6 6.0 0
Defense
TFL
UT AT Total Yards Int
Matt Griebel 3 3 6 1-5 —
Dominique Jacobs 4 1 5 0-0 —
Chris Davis 4 0 4 0-0 —
Richard Glover 1 2 3 0-0 —
J. Imperial 1 2 3 0-0 —
Jimmy Cottrell 0 3 3 0-0 —
Lionel Apineru 0 3 3 0-0 —
Shukree Shabazz 2 0 2 0-0 —
Chris Sned 2 0 2 0-0 —
es. Today’s game fits that criterion.
‘‘We don’t have room to be
overconfident about anybody
we play,’’ Samuel says. ‘‘We
respect everybody. We need to
work on our own game and get
better at what we do.’’
The Aggies are on the negative
side by 59 points after
their first game. They should
be on the positive side after
today.
‘‘We’re trying to get redemption
for last week,’’ says
NMSU safety Dominique
Jacobs. ‘‘We want to go out
there and play like we know
we can. We feel we have something
to prove.’’
The Aggies had four
turnovers in their opener, and
two interceptions were
returned for touchdowns.
Texas scored on a 97-yard
kickoff return and a 39-yard
punt return.
‘‘Everybody on this team
realized we didn’t play our
greatest game,” says NMSU
quarterback Buck Pierce. “We
didn’t execute on all levels and
we have to put that behind us.
We have to focus.’’
Pierce started the first
game. But, as usual, Samuel
won’t say who’ll be starting
today. It really doesn’t matter
because Pierce and Dombrowski
get equal minutes,
usually a quarter at a time.
The Aggies were without
starting I-back Eric Higgins
because of a groin problem
and starting center Andy Dale
because of an unspecified
NCAA violation. Samuel was
indefinite about their returns.
The Mustangs will have Hurtis
Chinn available. Chinn, a
junior college transfer, rushed
for 38 yards, had 41 yards on
seven pass receptions,
returned three punts for 24
yards and collected 144 yards
by returning five kickoffs.
‘‘We try to utilize him,’’
Wade says.
NMSU
HEAD
COACH
Tony Samuel,
seventh year
(26-43)
FAST
FACT
Combined,
the teams
lost by 100
points last
week, with
the Aggies
falling 66-7
and the
Mustangs
by a 51-10
count
DID IT
The last time
NMSU played
an NCAA Division
II
school, it
opened the
1999 season
with a
73-7 victory
over New
Mexico Highlands
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FINAL DESK OK
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ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2003 D11
MUSTANGS’
DEPTH CHART
Offense
QB 13 Kyle Rening
15 Kyle Meschnark
FB 38 Robert Garvis
33 Adrian Estrada
RB 6 Arderius Brown
3 Arturo Muniz
FL 6 Billy Varner
3 Eric Henson
C 54 Jamil Ramos
50 Humberto Cruz
LG 79 Mike Painchaud
70 Tony Trujillo
RG 65 Eric Boyles
74 Jared Fry
LT 71 Fabian Madrill
61 David Turrietta
RT 58 Joe Stevenson
51 Javier Chacon
TE 89 Mike Mcdougall
86 Tyden Pace
WR 84 Bobby Willcox
81 Jason Allison
Defense
LDT 67 James Furtsch
75 David Whittaker
RDT 96 Clayton Perkins
97 Eric Flanagan
LDE 40 Bruce Blue
72 Tyler Kasper
RDE 10 Densville Saunders
99 Billy Armenta
MLB 28 Scott Fish
47 Luis Ortega
SLB 34 Samson Jagoras
48 John Navarro
WLB 9 Steve Terrill
32 Eduardo Flores
LC 18 Tony Lopez
9 Breland Reed
RC 24 Brian Johnson
30 Aram Pinto
SS 8 JB Kellogg
29 Jeremy Guin
FS 39 Zak Seward
29 Jeremy Guin
Specialists
PK 26 Marty Hysen
16 Ramsey Yamini
H 39 Zak Seward
5 Billy Varner
P 16 Ramsey Yamini
26 Marty Hysen
KR 2 Hurtis Chinn
39 Zak Seward
KR 6 Adarius Brown
4 Eric Henson
PR 2 Hurtis Chinn
6 Adarius Brown
How They Match Up
PAUL DOMBROWKSI
WESTERN NEW MEXICO
TEAM STATISTICS
Scoring
WNMU Opp.
Points per game 10 51
Total 10 51
First downs
WNMU Opp.
Rushing 5 7
Passing 10 8
Penalty 2 3
Total 17 18
Rushing
WNMU Opp.
Yards gained 110 150
Yards lost 36 34
Attempts 35 30
Avg. per rush 2.1 3.9
Avg. per game 110 150
TDs Rushing 0 2
Total Yardage 74 116
Passing
WNMU Opp.
Avg. per pass 5.4 9.2
Avg. per catch 9.8 12.3
Avg. per game 195 284
TDs Passing 1 4
Total Yardage 195 284
Total offense
WNMU Opp.
Total Plays 71 61
Avg. per Play 3.8 6.6
Avg. per game 71 61
Kick returns
WNMU Opp.
No./yards 8/197 2/58
Return avg. 24.6 29
Punt returns
WNMU Opp.
No./Yards 4/34 3/53
Return avg. 8.5 17.7
Interception returns
WNMU Opp.
No./Yards 1-0 3-54
Return avg. 0 18
WESTERN NEW MEXICO ADVANTAGE NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY
QUARTERBACK: Junior Kyle Rening is penciled
in as the starter, but freshman Kyle Meschnark
should move up to the first team soon.
RUNNING BACK: Junior college transfer Aderius
Brown and backup fullback Adrian Estrada had an
unimpressive 24 yards each in the opener.
RECEIVERS: JC transfer Hurtis Chinn is the heart
of WNMU’s offense as a runner, receiver and return
man. He won’t be enough by himself.
OFFENSIVE LINE: The Mustangs have size and
experience, but the depth is lacking. Expect them
to wear down quickly.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Junior end Bruce Blue is
expected to anchor the line, but he had a slow
opener with only four tackles.
LINEBACKER: Senior Scott Fish had a great first
game with 11 tackles. Expect the Aggies to attack
freshman Samson Jagoras.
SECONDARY: WNMU has experience with two
seniors starting, but it hasn’t seen the two QBs
and receivers that NMSU has.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Again, Chinn is the man. He
returned three punts for 24 yards and five kickoffs
for an impressive 144 yards in the opener.
COACHES: Charley Wade isn’t happy his team
has to play this game. It should be a good payday
but a bad loss, and no coach likes that.
Fumbles-lost
WNMU Opp.
3-2 2-0
Penalties
WNMU Opp.
Avg. per game 8 5
Avg. yds./game 74 54
Total 8 5
Total yardage 74 54
Punts
WNMU Opp.
Avg. per punt 36.3 41.8
Avg. per punt 32 40.4
Net punt average n/a n/a
Total punts 6 5
Total yardage 192 202
Time of possession
WNMU Opp.
Per Game 31:51 28:09
3rd-down conversions
WNMU Opp.
3rd-down pct. 37.5 46.2
Total 16 13
4th-down conversions
WNMU Opp.
4th-down pct. 0.0 0.0
Total 3 1
Sacks
WNMU Opp.
Total 2 7
Yardage 9 28
Field goals
WNMU Opp.
Total 1 1
Attempts 1 1
Touchdowns
WNMU Opp.
Total 1 7
PAT WNMU Opp.
Total/Attempts 1/1 6/7
SUN BELT STANDINGS
Conference Overall
W-L Pct. Pts. Opp. W-L Pct. Pts. Opp.
Utah State 0-0 0 0 0 0-1 .000 20 40
Mid. Tenn. 0-0 0 0 0 0-1 .000 19 20
Ark. State 0-0 0 0 0 0-1 .000 11 26
La.-Lafayette 0-0 0 0 0 0-1 .000 7 14
La.-Monroe 0-0 0 0 0 0-1 .000 7 49
N.M. State 0-0 0 0 0 0-1 .000 7 66
North Texas 0-0 0 0 0 0-1 .000 3 37
idaho 0-0 0 0 0 0-1 .000 0 25
AROUND THE SUN BELT
Today
Utah State at Nebraska,
10:30 a.m.
Middle Tennessee at Georgia,
11 a.m.
E. Washington at Idaho, 3 p.m.
Western New Mexico
University (0-1)
Aug. 30 Colorado School of
Mines 51, WNMU 0
Sept. 6 at NMSU
Sept. 13 at Sul Ross State
Sept. 20 at Cent. Washington
Sept. 27 N.W. Oklahoma
Oct. 4 N.M. Highlands
Oct. 11 Western State
Oct. 18 Western Oregon
Oct. 25 Open
Nov. 1 at Fort Lewis
Nov. 8 Southern Oregon
2003 SCHEDULE
QUARTERBACK: Both QBs had a bad day in the
opener with five sacks and three interceptions. But
this is Western New Mexico, not Texas.
RUNNING BACK: Eric Higgins didn’t play
because of a groin injury. Keith Mouton came off
the bench for 82 yards, including a 51-yard run.
RECEIVERS: Chris Lumpkin stepped up with four
receptions, and tight end Alex Davis had two catches
on a bad night for the offense.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Senior center Andy Dale had a
one-game suspension, and that spot hurt the line
badly. He should be back today.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Nose tackle Joe Olivio probably
will miss this game, too, but NMSU doesn’t
really need him against WNMU.
LINEBACKER: Except for a forced fumble and
recovery by Rich Glover, the heralded linebacker
crew was quiet last week. Expect some noise.
SECONDARY: The Aggies were burned a few
times with four rookies, but the Mustangs don’t
quite have the speed of Texas.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Senior placekicker Dario
Aguiniga had his only field-goal attempt blocked.
That’s unlikely this week.
COACHES: Tony Samuel knows how to get his
team to forget about lopsided losses because it
has happened so often. He’ll have NMSU ready.
Tenn.-Martin at Arkansas St.,
5 p.m.
Baylor at North Texas, 6 p.m.
La. Tech at La.-Lafayette, 6 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin at
La.-Monroe, 6 p.m.
New Mexico State
University (0-1)
Aug. 31 Texas 66, NMSU 7
Sept. 6 Western New Mexico
Sept. 13 at Oregon State,
4:30 p.m.
Sept. 20 Open
Sept. 27 at New Mexico, 6 p.m.
Oct. 4 Idaho, 6 p.m.
Oct. 11 at Middle Tennessee,
1 p.m.
Oct. 16 at La.-Lafayette,
6 p.m.
Oct. 25 at La.-Monroe, 6 p.m.
Nov. 1 Arkansas St., 6 p.m.
Nov. 6 Utah State, 6 p.m.
Nov. 15 at Arkansas, noon
Nov. 25 North Texas, 5 p.m.
Scoring
NMSU Opp.
Points per game 7 66
Total 7 66
First downs
NMSU Opp.
Rushing 11 8
Passing 5 7
Penalty 0 2
Total 16 17
Rushing
NMSU Opp.
Yards gained 244 179
Yards lost 94 11
Attempts 55 33
Avg. per rush 2.7 5.1
Avg. per game 244 179
TDs Rushing 1 3
Total Yardage 244 179
Passing
NMSU Opp.
Avg. per pass 75 216
Avg. per catch 5 13.5
Avg. per game 75 216
TDs Passing 0 4
Total Yardage 225 384
Total offense
NMSU Opp.
Total Plays 70 49
Avg. per Play 3.2 7.8
Avg. per game 225 384
Kick returns
NMSU Opp.
No./yards 7-121 2-109
Return avg. 17.2 54.5
Punt returns
NMSU Opp.
No./Yards 0-0 1-39
Return avg. 0 39
Interception returns
NMSU Opp.
No./Yards 0-0 3-102
Return avg. 0 34
AGGIES’
DEPTH CHART
Offense
LT 60 Trevor Kine
57 David Colston
LG 64 Nick Cole
66 Jacob Jean
OC 71 Andy Dale
72 Adam Sinclair
RG 63 Steve Subia
65 Jose Quinones
RT 61 Matt Sanchez
77 Justin Shopbell
TE 89 Alex Davis
97 Dustin Ditmore
85 Travis Samuel
WR 14 Preston Williams
81 Chris Duncan
WR 27 Ronshay Jenkins
8 Chris Lumpkin
QB 10 Paul Dombrowski
11 Buck Pierce
FB 44 Marcus Dixon
23 Tony Bostic
IB 4 Eric Higgins
6 Keith Mouton
Defense
LE 82 Greg Scaffidi
46 Aubrey Dorisme
34 Julmar Howard
DT 99 Tommy Laborin
96 Chase Spicer
NT 45 Joe Olivo
74 Lionel Apineru
76 Brandon Hearne
RE 32 Traydell Bullock
54 John Sioui
58 Chris Sneed
SLB 35 Tim Patrick
49 Sean Dade
MLB 42 Jimmy Cottrell
53 Travis Jones
WLB 37 Richard Glover
55 Sione Finau
52 Tim McManigal
RC 29 Chris Davis
21 Jeremiah Imperial
FS 2 Matt Griebel
9 Shurkee Shabazz
SS 48 Nathan Nuttall
4 Eric Carrie
LC 1 Cameron Wright
5 David Malloy
Specialists
K 12 Dario Aguiniga
P 16 Steven Smith
20 Brad Evans
NEW MEXICO STATE
TEAM STATISTICS
Fumbles-lost
NMSU Opp.
7-2 1-1
Penalties
NMSU Opp.
Avg. per game 11 8
Avg. yds./game 93 85
Total 93 85
Total yardage 93 85
Punts
NMSU Opp.
Avg. per punt 33.3 39.7
Net punt average N/A N/A
Total punts 7 3
Total yardage 233 119
Time of possession
NMSU Opp.
Per Game 37:23 22:27
3rd-down conversions
NMSU Opp.
3rd-down pct. 40% 50%
Total 15 8
4th-down conversions
NMSU Opp.
4th-down pct. 0 0
Total 0 0
Sacks
NMSU Opp.
Total 1 5
Yardage 5 113
Field goals
NMSU Opp.
Total 0 1
Attempts 1 1
Touchdowns
NMSU Opp.
Total 1 9
PAT NMSU Opp.
Total/Attempts 1/1 9/9
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