Saturday, October 18th, 6:06 p.m. (et).
FACTS & STATS: Site: University Stadium (40,094) -- Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Television: The Mtn. Home Record: SDSU 1-2, UNM 2-2. Away Record: SDSU 0-3,
UNM 1-2. Neutral Record: SDSU 0-0, UNM 0-0. Conference Record: SDSU 0-2, UNM
1-2. Series Record: San Diego State leads, 20-14.
GAME NOTES: The team with the fewest wins in the Mountain West Conference hits
the road this weekend as the San Diego State Aztecs take on the New Mexico
Lobos at University Stadium in Albuquerque. Back on September 27th, the Aztecs
set down the Idaho Vandals in non-conference play by a score of 45-17 at home
in Qualcomm Stadium, a decision that still stands as the only win of the
campaign for the club. SDSU has since faced off against both TCU and Air Force
in conference play and has been outscored by a combined 76-17. Last weekend it
was the Falcons that got the best of San Diego State in a 35-10 final in
California. As for the Lobos, they went from shutting out Wyoming a few weeks
back (24-0) to being held almost scoreless themselves in a 21-3 decision
versus nationally-ranked BYU last week. With the loss, UNM had a two-game win
streak halted and is now 3-4 on the season overall. Although New Mexico trails
in the all-time series, 20-14, the squad still managed to come up with a 20-17
victory in last year's meeting. In fact, the Lobos have reeled off seven
straight wins in the series and haven't lost to the Aztecs since SDSU came up
with a narrow 17-16 decision in this very stadium back in 2000.
Quarterback Drew Westling put himself in harm's way a few too many times on
Saturday as he finished 18-of-35 for just 128 yards and two interceptions
against Air Force. Additionally, Westling was also tackles five times behind
the line of scrimmage, which is why the Aztecs ended up with only 35 total
rushing yards and just one trip into the end zone on a one-yard run by the
signal-caller. Westling, who has been filling in for an injured Ryan Lindley
(now listed as questionable for this weekend), has been trying to shoulder
much of the load himself and that has left the running attack of the Aztecs
wandering aimlessly. In fact, the scheme has gotten so bad for San Diego State
that the team is now ranked last in all of college football with a mere 47.3
ypg on the ground. The passing attack has tried to compensate with almost 240
ypg, but that still leaves the Aztecs with a mere 287.2 ypg, which ranks the
squad second-to-last in the MWC and 112th in the country. The scoring offense
now 102nd nationally with 18.7 ppg.
Very few teams in college football know how to stop the Air Force rushing
attack, especially as the academy pounds the ball into the line play after
play. The Aztecs were no different on Saturday as they surrendered a whopping
401 yards on 77 attempts. However, SDSU's defense added a new wrinkle by
giving up a passing score as well. With so many stops to be made it really
shouldn't come as a surprise that someone like Corey Boudreaux was credited
with 21 tackles and Andrew Preston added 18 stops. Now with 46 stops in his
five appearances for the Aztecs, Boudreaux ranks among the conference leaders
with his 9.2 stops per game, trailing teammate Luke Laolagi who is second in
the MWC with 9.5 tackles per contest. However, recording so many stops per
game really means just one thing for this group and that's a weak running
defense. In fact, the program is now up to 271.2 ypg allowed on the ground,
which is last among all of the Football Bowl Subdivision programs. The pass
defense is much more respectable with just 166 ypg allowed (17th nationally)
but much of that has to do with the fact that opponents are finding easy
pickings when they run the ball instead.
Trying to make up for the loss of quarterback Donovan Porterie who is out for
the season with a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee is not going to be easy
for the Lobos, and they found that out against BYU last week when they failed
to make it into the end zone. The team went from starter Brad Gruner to Tate
Smith, with the duo combining to connect on 13-of-22 passes for 146 yards, the
latter sacked three time and picked off once. Rodney Ferguson tried to keep
the team moving with his 86 yards on 24 carries but it wasn't nearly enough.
With all the trouble of finding a quarterback to remain in the pocket, it
should be understandable that the Lobos have one of the worst passing attacks
in all of college football with a mere 118.7 ypg, currently ranked seventh in
the league and 112th in the country this week. However, with Ferguson itching
to bring the ball out of the backfield the running game for the Lobos is a lot
more respectable with 194.7 ypg, third in the MWC and 23rd nationally.
Ferguson himself has 609 yards and six touchdowns to his credit thus far.
Limiting the Cougars to only one touchdown through the first half of action in
Provo on Saturday was something for the Lobos to be proud of, but with the
visitors forgetting to bring along their own offense it did little good.
Despite limiting BYU to 11 fewer offensive plays (73-62), the Lobos still
surrendered almost 100 more yards than they produced (382-285) making it that
much easier for BYU to sustain drives. The pass defense has been up and down
to say the least this season. On the positive side the squad has limited three
opponents to 144 yards or less through the air, but then there's three other
foes who threw for 321 yards or more, including Tulsa which went for 469 yards
and six touchdowns in the middle of September. Add it all up and the UNM pass
defense has surrendered at least three TDs in five of seven games and is now
permitting 252.1 ypg. More importantly, the squad is 106th in the nation with
a pass efficiency defense rating of 142.9, ahead of only UNLV among the MWC
programs.
The key to this matchup will be how well the Lobos and Ferguson can keep
control of the ball on the ground. As long as they can keep the chains moving
and prevent SDSU's offense from getting on the field the home team should have
a favorable shot at picking up the win.