New Mexico State Must Start Fast

Nebraska's second game against Notre Dame this decade was not nearly as celebrated as the first. There may be several reasons. The 2000 contest was an overtime thriller, the Fighting Irish snuck into a BCS bowl that year, and Husker fans took over Notre Dame Stadium despite tough talk from Irish fans that it couldn't happen. But the 2001 contest is one I'll never forget as it was the last major event I can recall prior to September 11th. I've re-watched the game several times and one thing that struck me was how frequently and how loudly everyone associated with Notre Dame and the broadcast team complained about the Huskers playing their third game when Notre Dame was playing their first (in Memorial stadium, no less).

The Huskers raced out to a 27-3 lead at halftime and then held on for the 27-10 final margin. Former Notre Dame head coach Bob Davie gets a lot of criticism, but when you check his record he had good defenses. So perhaps all of the complaining by the Irish had some validity. The reason for this historical review is that New Mexico State finds itself in the same position as the Irish (minus the Top 20 AP ranking). The Aggies will need to have smoothed over the rough edges in practice otherwise they could suffer the same fate.

The passing offense of New Mexico State is far superior to that of the 2001 Notre Dame squad and this Husker defense doesn't appear to be on the same level as their 2001 unit either. So perhaps falling behind won't be as fatal as it was for the Irish. But if it only takes a mistake by one defender to allow a game-changing play and you couple that with the tendency for teams to be a little sloppy in their season openers and you realize that the Aggies may be taken out of this game by their own inexperience. A new defense doesn't make their task any easier.

Add to that the environment of Memorial Stadium in a night game and this could become the most lopsided contest of the Huskers' season. I won't make the same mistake as last week of expecting that result though. The 3-3-5 defense might work especially well at punishing the Husker offense when there's a blown blocking assignment (and we've seen a lot of those already this season). Aggie quarterback Chase Holbrook is not only a giant at 6'5� and 240 lbs. but was almost obscenely accurate as he completed over 70% of his passes a year ago. He threw 18 interceptions, but that's to be expected when you throw an average of 45 passes a game. He was only sacked an average of twice a game, which again is remarkable in the context of that many passing attempts.

But even if we ignore how bad the Aggie defense was, it's worth noting that the special teams weren't a whole lot better. Their red zone efficiency was pretty pedestrian as well. Factor in Mumme's 8-29 record at New Mexico State, the 17-51 loss to San Jose State by the Aggies a year ago and the betting line that's around 4 touchdowns and things still come up Husker.

Don't expect a fast start for the Aggies in this one. And if they don't get going quickly, they're finished.