New Mexico avenges last years loss to USU

This Aggies did everything they could to give New Mexico a nice homecomming gift - fubles and turn overs! Aggies trying to regroup after lopsided setback

Utah State head coach Mick Dennehy used words like "disappointing" and "discouraging" in characterizing the Aggies' 34-7 loss to New Mexico Saturday. That's rather unusual after the praise he has directed to his team despite losses to Utah, Nebraska and Arizona State. Each week he said his team has taken a step forward in its progress. For the first time this year, the Aggies took a step backward. "The thing that is so disappointing is we very seldom have to talk with our kids about effort," he said. "There's going to be different talent levels and different ability levels, but the one thing that we can and should be able to do as well as anybody is play hard." Saturday, the Aggies got an "F" for their effort. "I don't think we played nearly as hard as we played in the past nor as hard as we are capable of playing," Dennehy said. "Unless we do, this kind of result is going to occur." Dennehy and his staff will turn their attention to squashing that problem before it becomes a habit. "We need to find out why. We need to sit down and we need to get it squared away. We're not good enough to go out and show up and play like we played." Offensively, the Aggies were held to 221 yards total offense and 79 yards came on a touchdown pass from quarterback Travis Cox to Barry Tolli in the second quarter. "We laid an egg," Dennehy said. "We've got to make sure we don't allow that to happen again." Cox was sacked twice and hurried five more times. "They were able to get pressure on us with three or four guys," Dennehy said. Defensively, the Aggies had difficulty stopping the third-and-long situations, and UNM running back DonTrell Moore rushed for more than 100 yards for the fifth consecutive home game. The Aggies will have one more week of non-conference play when they host Wyoming — their third Mountain West Conference opponent — Saturday at 6 p.m. at Romney Stadium. Utah State will jump back into Sun Belt Conference action Oct. 18 when it travels to North Texas, the two-time Sun Belt Conference champion.