San Jose State (8-4) vs. New Mexico (6-6)
Dec. 23,
4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
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New Mexico Bowl
Player Profile: New Mexico RB Rodney Ferguson, team bowl history and more
Let's be honest here; if you're trying
to sell the non-college football fan on the bowl season, this is as
tough a sell as it gets.
Some call it the dog days of the early bowl season, some see this as
the poster bowl for the argument against so many post-season games,
but sometimes, the best bowl games come from the unlikeliest of
places. You might not be able to name a Lobo or a Spartan, and
unless you're a Mountain West or WAC fan, you probably didn't even
know either of these programs existed.
Watch the game anyway.
|
|
National
Rankings |
|
San
Jose State |
New
Mexico |
|
Total Offense |
|
45th 363.67 ypg |
89th 311.92 ypg |
|
Total Defense |
|
75th 352.67 ypg |
84th 361.75 ypg |
|
Scoring Offense |
|
50th 25.33 ppg |
70th 22.67 ppg |
|
Scoring Defense |
|
50th 21.5 ppg |
72nd 24.33 ppg |
|
Run Offense |
|
15th 184.33 ypg |
95th 109.67 ypg |
|
Run Defense |
|
84th 150.08 ypg |
44th 122.00 ypg |
|
Pass Offense |
|
83rd 179.33 ypg |
54th 202.25 ypg |
|
Pass Defense |
|
64th 202.58 ypg |
102nd 239.75 ypg |
|
Turnover Margin |
|
32nd 0.42 |
27th 0.50 |
|
San Jose
State
at Wash. L 35-29
Stanford W 35-34
Cal Poly
W 17-7
S Diego St W 31-10
Utah State
W 21-14
at Nevada L 23-7
La Tech W 44-10
at NMSU W 31-21
Boise State L 23-20
at Hawaii L 54-17
at Idaho W 28-13
Fresno St W 24-14 |
New Mexico
Portland State
L 17-6
at NMSU
W 34-28
Missouri L 27-17
UTEP
W 26-13
at Air Force L 24-7
Wyoming
L 14-10
at UNLV
W 39-36 OT
Utah W 34-31
at Col St W 20-19
TCU L 27-21
at BYU L 42-17
SDSU
W 41-14 |
|
Position
Ratings
relative to each
other |
|
SJ |
5
highest
1 lowest |
NM |
|
3.5 |
Quarterbacks |
3.5 |
|
4 |
RBs |
4 |
|
3 |
Receivers |
4 |
|
3.5 |
O
Line |
2 |
|
3 |
D
Line |
3.5 |
|
3 |
Linebackers |
3.5 |
|
3.5 |
Secondary |
3 |
|
4 |
Spec
Teams |
3.5 |
|
4.5 |
Coaching |
3.5 |
|
These will be
two fired up programs that won't dog it in any way. Getting on the
national stage as the lone game on a Saturday afternoon is enough
reason to give these two a shot, and if you like defensive football
without all the gimmicks, you'll have fun with this.
San Jose State is one of the best stories of the year as head coach
Dick Tomey has taken the moribund program to just its second winning
season since 1992 and the first bowl game since the 1990 California
Bowl with a stingy D, one of the WAC's best running games, and
excellent special teams.
The four Spartan losses were respectable losing the opener in a
tight 35-29 battle with Washington, gave Boise State its toughest
game of the year in a 23-20 thriller, and got thumped by Hawaii and
Nevada. While no win for San Jose State can be dismissed considering
the program won more games against D-I teams this year than it did
in the previous three seasons combined, a victory over a bowl team
would be nice. Stanford, Cal Poly, San Diego State, Utah State,
Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, Idaho and Fresno State weren't
exactly beating down the door to Glendale.
New Mexico turned around its season with its defense and the
emergence of young star-in-the-making QB Donovan Porterie, who
provided a spark to the season before going down with an ankle
injury.
Things appeared bleak from the start after a stunning 17-6 loss to
Portland State on the way to a 2-4 start, but things quickly changed
with an overtime win over UNLV and an upset over Utah as part of a
three-game winning streak to provide hope for a six-win season. A
41-14 win over San Diego State meant bowl eligibility and seventh
home game, and now the Lobos will try to break the bowl hex under
Rocky Long and getting the first bowl win since the 1961 Aviation
Bowl.
The Mountain West needs this. A home bowl loss to a WAC team would
be a huge blow for the conference, while a San Jose State win would
put a cap on one of the most miraculous turnarounds of the last few
years.
It's bowl season. Kick back, relax and enjoy.
What are you going to do, last
minute Christmas shop?
Players to watch: Who'll be the New Mexico quarterback?
Starter Kole McKamey was lost early in the season to a knee injury
putting backup Chris Nelson into the spotlight, and while the
senior was decent, the team lost to Air Force and Wyoming bringing
Donovan Porterie off the bench. The freshman was magnificent
in the 34-31 win over Utah throwing for 350 yards and three
touchdowns and appeared to be the perfect fit for the Lobo passing
attack before injuring his ankle against TCU. Nelson made the most
of his second chance playing well over the final two games, and the two quarterbacks
got equal reps in bowl preparations, but it'll be Porterie's show to
run.
San Jose State likes to use the run to set up the pass, but that
doesn't mean QB Adam Tafralis isn't always a big part of the
attack. He's a mobile playmaker who led the team in rushing in the
win over Fresno State, but he's at his best in the passing game
taking advantage of single coverage. Before this season, he had the
talent, but he completed fewer than half his passes while struggling
with his consistency. This year he's completing 68% of his throws
with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions while doing a great job
of moving the chains on third downs. With the New Mexico defense
certain to key on Yonus Davis, Patrick Perry and the
Spartan running game, Tafralis has to be sharp.
New Mexico's fast, talented receivers, Marcus Smith and
Travis Brown are good enough to break the game open at any time,
but the team would prefer to have RB Rodney Ferguson control
the game and let the defense do the rest. The powerful sophomore had
the unenviable task of replacing DonTrell Moore, and came through
nicely rushing for 1,132 yards and seven touchdowns while showing
surprising hands as a receiver. He's a 20-carry workhorse coming off
a 210-yard day against San Diego State.
San Jose State
will win if...
it gets the ground game going. The
Spartans ran for fewer than 100 yards three times all year and lost
all three games. In the one other loss, against Nevada, the offense
generated 77 passing yards. When the offense is effectively
balanced, San Jose State wins. It's that simple. The Spartans are
great at keeping the chains moving converting 42% of their third
down chances, and that'll continue if the running attack is in a
groove.
New Mexico will win if... Porterie gets hot and stays hot. The common misperception is that
the WAC is a passing conference. Outside of Hawaii and New Mexico
State, everyone else would rather pound it out. When the Spartans
were challenged by a team with talented receives, they were torched
getting lit up for 781 yards and eight touchdowns by Hawaii and NMSU,
and got bombed by Stanford (before all the top receivers and QB
Trent Edwards got hurt) for four scores. The SJSU secondary can be
thrown on, but Porterie can't force it.
What will happen: Don't expect fireworks. The two defenses
will be in charge forcing the offenses to panic a bit and take more
shots down the field as the game goes on. New Mexico is better
equipped to hit the home run through the air. The Lobo run defense
will keep the San Jose State running game under wraps while the
offense will get just enough balance in the second half to keep
control of the game. New Mexico's fantastic kicker, Kenny Byrd, will
hit four of five shots including a late kick to force the Spartans
to go for a touchdowns. They'll come up short.
Line: New Mexico -5 ... CFN Prediction:
New
Mexico 26 ... San Jose State 20
New Mexico Bowl
Player Profile: New Mexico RB Rodney Ferguson, team bowl history and more
