Turnovers doom Aggies in 31-10 loss to San Diego State

First Half Recap

Things could not have started any better for the New Mexico State Aggies against the San Diego State Aztecs as Austin Perkins intercepted a pass by Ryan Agnew on the first series of the game. The interception was fortunate because Agnew, a senior, had never thrown an interception in a road game before. So the Aggies had lady luck on their side.

Or so it seemed.

On the very next play, the Aggies fumbled the ball away and San Diego State scored a few plays later to go up 7-0. The Aztecs would not relinquish the lead.

The Aggie offense really struggled in the first half due to SDSU’s defense, causing the NM State drives to look like this:

Three plays, -5 yards, punt

Five plays, 18 yards, punt

Seven plays, 36 yards, interception

Three plays, -1 yard, punt

Meanwhile, the Aztecs would put up 10 more points to take a 17-0 lead into halftime. NM State only had the ball for nine minutes in the first half, SDSU had it for 21. Part of that was the Aggie’s play calling. I’ll get into that later.

Second Half Recap

The second half didn’t start out any better, as the Aggies’ first two drives ended in 5 plays for -7 yards and 3 plays and an interception. San Diego State would capitalize on the interception to increase their lead to 24-0.

Josh Adkins would get the offense going on their next two drives, finding Robert Downs III for a 35 yard touchdown. 24-7 SDSU.

After forcing a punt, the Aggies would again move down the field and get a Dylan Brown 46 yard field goal right before the end of the third quarter to put themselves down two scores.

After that, there wasn’t much more the Aggies could do.

After San Diego State scored another touchdown to go up 31-10, NM State had to drive and try to find the end zone. They were unable to, and turned it over on downs and fumbled in the last two possessions. Further hurting Los Aggies were eight penalties for 68 yards. Yikes.

Analysis

The Aggies’ offense has looked good at times and awful at others. I understand Doug Martin wants to throw the ball but when you go three and out consistently, you put your defense in a tough spot and without much rest. SDSU had a 35-22 minute advantage in time of possession and you can only contain offenses for so long.

Especially when your best player is your running back, please use him. Help out the whole team by using some clock and putting the ball in Huntley’s hands. He has a high rushing yard average for a reason. If you throw the ball 50 times a game you won’t win much. Please reconsider.