New Mexico State Football Holds Media Day; Aggies Prepare for Daunting Schedule

With the College Football season officially kicking off in the Borderland in four Saturdays, the UTEP and New Mexico football programs held their Media Days today at their respective campuses.
New Mexico State football went 3-9 last season, but it was looked at as a rebuilding year for the Aggies program.

Then redshirt-freshman Josh Adkins took over for Matt Romero at Quarterback midway through the season, and the Aggies went young with new faces on both sides of the ball.

But the Aggies are hoping that those lumps taken last year, will pay off in experience for the upcoming 2019 season.

Looking to return to a bowl game after missing out last season, the Aggies return plenty of firepower on the offensive side of the ball.

The skies should be clear for takeoff in Las Cruces, as 8 starters return on offense, starting with Adkins.

5 of the top 6 Wide Receivers return, and the Aggies added Baylor transfer Tony Nicholson, who had 31 catches at the Big-12 level in 2017.

The most dynamic part of the offense could be out of the backfield, where the Aggies welcome back seniors Jason Huntley and Christian Gibson.

Huntley was named to the Paul Hornung Watch List (Nation’s Most Versatile Player), and will also return kicks for NMSU.

But the key to the offense is Adkins, who enters his sophomore season as the unquestioned starter.

Adkins went 3-5 as a starter last season, but finished with over 2,500 passing yards while completing 57% of his passes.

Head Coaach Doug Martin has been impressed with how Adkins has controlled the locker room thus far, and he went as far as to compare Adkins to a Super Bowl Champion from his Kent State days.

“I really think that with the exception of Julian Edelman, he might be the best leader I’ve ever been around,” said Martin, who coached the now-New England Patriots wide when he was a college Quarterback at Kent State.

“He really has this team, not only our offense, but this team, in his hands right now. And this team knows he’s the leader, they’ve got a lot of respect for him. And your job as a coach becomes a lot easier when you have a job like that.”

Adkins will be challenged early, as New Mexico State will play one of the toughest schedules in the country through the first four weeks of the season.

The Aggies will travel to take on the Pac-12 Power Washington State Cougars who are coming off an 11-2 season.

And after trying to solve Mike Leach’s Air Raid-style in Pullman, they’ll go up against what could turn out to be one the greatest offenses in College Football history at Alabama.

The Crimson Tide are coming off a National-Runner up season, and return Heisman Trophy Finalist Tua Tagovailoa, as well as Biletnikoff (Nation’s Top WR) Winner Jerry Jeudy.

Five of NMSU’s opponents on the 2019 schedule finished with winning records last season, so the Aggies will have their work cut out for them as they try to become bowl eligible.

“I think we gotta be very smart about how we approach it,” said Martin on the Aggies’ schedule. “Especially the first six weeks of the season, we’ve gotta be really attune to our team. How healthy we are, how rested we are, and make sure we practice the right way.”

New Mexico State’s home opener is September 14th against San Diego State. Kickoff is set for 6pm.