BYU Football: Scouting the Schedule – New Mexico State
By Shaun Gordon
Lawless Republic’s Scouting the Schedule series continues with BYU Football’s 11th game of the 2018 season, a Senior Day matchup with New Mexico State.
In BYU Football’s final home game of 2018, they’ll go up against a newly independent New Mexico State team that’s desperate to prove that 2017 wasn’t a fluke.
The Aggies are no longer a part of the Sun Belt Conference, and they’ll need to find a new conference home within a few years if they want to stay at the FBS level.
In order to do that, they’re going to have to win games.
Not only that, but they’re going to have to win at least a few big games against notable opponents.
Knocking off BYU on Senior Day could be one of the chances to do just that.
Last Season
In 2017 the Aggies finally snapped the longest bowl drought in the FBS. It took back-to-back wins in the last two games of the regular season to get New Mexico State to six wins after practically alternating wins and losses throughout the season.
That sixth win earned them an invitation to take on Utah State in the Arizona Bowl, and New Mexico State’s Aggies capped off their historic season with a thrilling 26-20 overtime win over Utah State’s Aggies.
Offseason
The offseason saw no major changes to the core of the coaching staff. Doug Martin returns in 2018 for his sixth season as the head coach and offensive coordinator for the Aggies. Frank Spaziani enters his third season as defensive coordinator, and he’s completely turned New Mexico State’s defense around since arriving.
The biggest blows came at graduation. They lost their quarterback (Tyler Rogers), their top runner (Larry Rose), their top receiver (Jaleel Scott), and their top tackler (Dalton Harrington).