Last week.
Paul Dombrowski ran for two touchdowns Saturday as New Mexico State beat Western New Mexico 48-3 in a game that was delayed an hour and 46 minutes by lightning. With 1:46 left in the second quarter, officials sent both teams to their locker rooms because an electrical storm was approaching. When play resumed, the remainder of the second quarter was played, directly followed by the third quarter. The Aggies (1-1) wasted no time scoring after the delay, as Keith Mouton ran it in from the nine with 11:30 left in the third quarter, giving NMSU a 34-0 lead...Aggies Offense Rolls, New Mexico State Wins 48-3

2003 outlook.
Picked to finish second in the Sun Belt conference by most major publications.

2002 recap.
New Mexico State went 7-5 overall and 5-1 in the Sun Belt conference last year.  It was the Aggies first seven win season since 1967.  The also tied the school record for the most league wins in a year. 2002 results.

Aggie Two Deeps | Coaches Corner (premium) | Viewing the game | The Smack-10

Game preview.

THE POSITIVES FROM THE BEAVER LOSS

Steven Jackson was again sensational, rushing 34 times for 128 yards
and one touchdown. Jackson also caught five passes for 116 yards, making him the Beavers leading receiver through two games with nine receptions for 174 yards.

Although he didn’t complete many passes (15 of 44), Derek Anderson did
have a good average per completion. Those 15 completions totaled 285 yards or 19 yards per completion. Anderson threw a 39-yard touchdown pass right on the money to Mike Hass, the only Beaver to have a touchdown reception in each of the first two games.

Another positive was the Beaver defense. Mitch Meeuwsen had two
interceptions, while Aric Williams made a pick in which he looked like the receiver on the play. The OSU pass defense yielded 276 yards, which sounds like quite a bit, but they did hold Fresno State quarterback Jeff Grady under 50%, 22 of 49, good for 44.9%.

The Beaver run defense was great. Fresno’s leading rusher, Rodney
Davis, had just 34 yards on 19 carries, not even two yards per carry.

Carl Tobey did a good job punting the ball also. Tobey kick 9 punts
for an average of 41.8 yards, including one punt of 62 yards.

THE NEGATIVES FROM THE BEAVER LOSS

Penalties, penalties, penalties---14 for 128 yards. That is completely
unacceptable.

Derek Anderson’s inaccuracy, completing only 15 of 44 passes (34.1%) is
also unacceptable. That completion percentage really does need to be around 53-57%. Anderson also needs to throw it to guys that are on his team. A team can’t expect to win a game when their quarterback throws 5
interceptions.

Third down efficiency. The Beavers were only 1 of 15 on third down.
That number has to increase if the Beavers are going to be successful.

New Mexico State is 1-1, coming off a 48-3 win against West New Mexico.
New Mexico State had six players combine for 273 yards on 47 carries, a 5.8 yards-per-carry average. The Aggies also had six, count ‘em six rushing touchdowns.

In their first game of the season the Aggies played the highly ranked
Texas Longhorns. New Mexico State scored first on an 18-yard run by
quarterback Paul Dombrowski. After that it was all down hill. The Longhorns scored on the ensuing kickoff and proceeded to dominate the game, winning 66 to 7.

The Aggies have a two-quarterback system and they like to run the
football. Showing that they are not a passing team, New Mexico State passed only 15 times, throwing three interceptions against the Longhorn defense.

If the Beavers get a quick start this game could get ugly.

Beavers 37 Aggies 10

Aggie Notes.

• The Aggies are currently ranked 25th in the nation in total defense, allowing only 281 yards of total offense per game.  NMSU ranks 41ist in rushing defense and 32nd in pass defense.
   
• New Mexico State ranks 22nd in the nation in rushing at 222 yards per game.  Six different Aggie players have rushed for 40 yards or more.
   
• NMSU ranks first in the Sun Belt conference in third down conversions at 56 percent.  The Aggies allowed Western New Mexico to convert only one of 13 attempts last Saturday.
   
• The Aggies have not allowed an opponent to score in the first quarter this year.  They have only given up a total of 88 yards in the first quarter so far.
   

2002 results (7-5, 5-1 in the SBC).

Opponent                   Score
--------                   -----
at South Carolina          L, 34-24
at California              L, 34-13
New Mexico                 W, 24-13
at Georgia                 L, 41-10
UTEP                       W, 49-14
UI Lafayette               W, 31-28
Louisiana Monroe           W, 34-21
at Arkansas State          W, 26-21
Middle Tennessee State     W, 24-21
at Utah State              L, 32-30
at North Texas             L, 38-27
at Idaho                   W, 35-31