No rest: Aggies focus on play, recruiting during week off

By Teddy Feinberg, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.

Nov. 3--LAS CRUCES -- A week away from the football field doesn't mean it will be a week off for the New Mexico State Aggie football team.

Entering the bye week, NMSU has lost three straight games by an average score of 41-3, most recently dropping a 45-0 contest at Ohio State.

The team gets this weekend off, before heading to Hawaii on Nov. 14, followed by a home game against Nevada and consecutive road contests at San Jose State and Boise State.

With the month of October still fresh on everyone's mind, head coach DeWayne Walker said he believes the off weekend is coming at the right time for his football team.

NMSU stands at 3-6 overall, 1-3 in Western Athletic Conference play.

"Probably so, and we knew that going in," Walker said when asked if the last three weeks was the toughest stretch on the Aggies' 2009 schedule. "La. Tech was just a shock. Fresno State is a very good football team and we knew that would be a test for us. And, obviously, Ohio State is Ohio State. We gotta find a way to finish up on a positive note in these last four games."

One of Walker's top priority's is righting an offense which hasn't scored a touchdown in 13 straight quarters. The running game, which has been effective most of the year, has hit a recent wall, while the passing game has been in a three-week slump.

The last three weeks has seen the Aggie offense record just 135-yards through the air and 21 first downs total.

The team ranks dead last out of 120 Division-I football

teams in total offense (232.89-yards-per game) and scoring offense (11.78-points-per game) while standing No. 117 in passing offense (94.78-yards-per game).

"If we don't score any points, we won't win another game (this year)," Walker said. "Obviously, that's an issue. Really, spending time with offensive players and offensive coaches, we have to generate points."

Although pleased with his defense's effort at this point of the season and saying that special teams has arguably been the Aggies' most effective unit this year, Walker still wants improvements made in both areas during bye as well.

NMSU will alter its practice schedule this week. While the team has a standard afternoon practice on Tuesday, Monday and Wednesday's practice sessions were at 6:30 a.m. The players will be run through strength and conditioning drills on Thursday before getting Friday and Saturday off.

The team will reconvene on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. for meetings.

The coaching staff will remain busy, hitting the road Wednesday night and Thursday morning to handle recruiting responsibilities. New Mexico, Arizona, parts of Texas and Southern California are areas targeted by the staff. The coaches will go to high school games on Saturday night and Junior College contests on Saturday before returning to Las Cruces.

"We're trying to look at some of these BCS schools seconds and thirds as well as everyone trying to hone in on their areas," Walker said. "We're trying to identify needs we need to attack once the season ends."

The team gets the bye week at the right time of the season -- shortly after the midway point of the schedule following a tough stretch of games.

"It lets us get off our feet, relax and get our mind right," center Mike Grady said. "Try to go get treatment and get some things fixed."

Safety Stephon Hatchett said he would like to play this weekend, but also understands the value of getting a breather around midseason.

"It feels good," Hatchett said. "It feels good to get some rest, regroup and get ready for these next four games."

One benefit of the bye week will be to get some players back to full strength.

Grady said the offensive line has the typical bumps and bruises the unit would typically have at this stage of the season. Guard Joe Palmer went down last week late in the contest against the Buckeyes with an apparent leg injury.

Running back Seth Smith was seen favoring his arm during the Ohio State game.

And defensive tackle Chris Romero went down with a knee injury.

"He could be out a week or so," Walker said of Romero. "But we've been fortunate. The football Gods have been good to us in terms of injuries."

Teddy Feinberg can be reached at tfeinberg@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5455

-----

To see more of the Las Cruces Sun-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lcsun-news.com.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.