Aggie coach Chuck Shelton, who is leaving Utah State after Saturday's game, is a fan of Aggie coach Jim Hess, whose New Mexico State team is coming into its own as the Big West Clash of the Same Nicknames ends the '91 season.
Shelton likes NMS coaching so much he says the Aggies from Las Cruces, N.M., where Saturday's game will be played at 1:30 p.m. MST, are better than UNLV (4-6, 2-4) and Pacific (4-7, 3-3).Both beat New Mexico State (2-8, 2-4), but all three could tie for fourth in the BWC were UNLV to beat Pacific and NMS to beat USU (4-6, 4-2) tomorrow.
New Mexico State's two wins came in its last three games.
"They've been very competitive all year," says Shelton of the NMS Aggies, noting they were tied 28-28 going into the fourth quarter against then-unbeaten Fresno, which won 42-28, and they came from behind to beat Long Beach 28-24 two weeks ago.
NMS is playing for the most wins in a season by the school since 5-6 in '83.
Utah State finds it difficult to read the New Mexico State offense since Hess will apparently give JC transfer Charles Puleri his second start. He was 27-for-46 for 360 yards and three touchdown passes last week at UNLV, earning that start after coming off the bench vs. Long Beach to engineer two TDs in the final 5:05 to win.
USU defensive coordinator Fred Bleil describes Puleri as a dropback passer with a strong arm and quick release. Bleil hopes Aggie blitzes that have been so successful the past few weeks will confuse the inexperienced quarterback and "get him back on his heels."
Puleri's main target could be NCAA-leading tight end Todd Cutler, who tied a school record by catching a pass in his 22nd straight game last week. He's NMS's top receiver with 38 receptions for 640 yards and tops the country's tight ends with those marks.
The split ends are trouble, too. Atlas Reagor has caught TD passes in five straight games, a school record, and Fred Montgomery caught a career-high 10 passes for 171 yards last week.
Montgomery is the NCAA's No. 1 kickoff returner, too, averaging 30.81 per carry. (Utah State's Floyd Foreman ranks fifth nationally at 28.81.) New Mexico State is the NCAA's leading kick-return team; USU is No. 3.
Defensively, USU offensive coordinator Pat Behrns says New Mexico State is a basic college 4-3 team that doesn't stunt or change up much, that just tries to prevent the big play. It funnels plays to the middle of the field, where lurks MLB Steve Campbell, the No. 1 tackler in the Big West with 147. (Utah State's Del Lyles is second with 119.)
"He's made 10,000 tackles," Shelton said in appreciation of Campbell. "He tackled a band member last week."
Behrns says the NMS "interior people free him up, keep linemen off of him" so he can make those stops.
"What that means," Shelton explains, "is you might get 3 yards, but it's difficult to get 6 yards if you don't make them respect your passing game."