D2 ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2003

Oregon St. vs. NMSUSATURDAY, 4:30 P.M. (MDT). Reser Stadium (35,362). TV: Fox Sports, Sunday, 5 p.m. Radio: KKNS-AM (1310). Online: www.nmstatesports.com

DefenseTFL Int

UT AT Tot. Yards YdsRichard Siegler 10 5 15 7.0-26 0Lawrence Turner 11 1 12 0.5-1 0Seth Lacey 8 3 11 2.0-13 0Jason Lowe 7 1 8 0-0 0Brandon Broner 6 1 7 0-0 0

OffensePassing

Comp Att Yds TD IntDerek Anderson 32 79 558 3 5A. Rothenfluh 2 2 28 0 0

RushingAtt Net Avg TD

Steven Jackson 57 257 4.5 3Dwight Wright 12 73 6.1 1Ryan Cole 6 30 5.0 0A. Rothenfluh 1 8 8.0 0

ReceivingRec Yds Avg TD

Steven Jackson 9 174 19.3 0Mike Hass 7 168 24.0 2James Newson 6 83 13.8 0Pat Loney 4 39 9.8 0Kenny Farley 3 70 23.3 0

■ Oregon State needs to get a good game outof junior quarterback Derek Anderson. Hehad five interceptions in a loss to FresnoState last week.

■ The Beavers need to take this game seri-ously. They got a lead on NMSU two yearsago and the Aggies almost caught up in thefourth quarter with two touchdowns. OSUisn’t good enough to take New Mexico Statetoo lightly.

Derek AndersonPos.: Quarterback

No.: 14

Height: 6-6

Weight: 226

Notable: The junior fromScappoose, Ore., had a good2002 as a sophomore bypassing for 3,313 yards and25 touchdowns. He set aschool record for total yardsand had five touchdownpasses in one game. But heis struggling this season.The Beavers lost to FresnoState because Andersonthrew five interceptions.

Did you know: Oregon Stateis 9-6 in games Andersonhas started. He needs only26 yards total offense tomove up to fifth on OSU’sall-time list.

Rich GloverPos.: Linebacker

No.: 37

Height: 5-11

Weight: 224

Notable: Expectations arevery high for Glover (and theother two returning lineback-ers), but he has not had abig start. Glover has only fourtackles (one solo) in the firsttwo games. He needs to bemore active.

Did you know: Glover’sfather, who also goes byRich, won both the LombardiTrophy and Outland Award asthe top defensive player inthe nation at Nebraska in1972. He’s an assistantcoach at NMSU.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Oregon State won only meeting in 2001.

LAST MEETING: Beavers beat NMSU 27-22 in Las Cruces.

OREGON STATEINDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

KEY STRATEGIES

ABOUT THE SERIES

DefenseTFL Int

UT AT Tot. Yards YdsMatt Griebel 9 6 15 1-5 1-5Shukree Shabazz 4 5 9 0-0 —Dominique Jacobs 5 3 8 0-0 —Chris Davis 5 1 6 0-0 —Sione Finau 1 4 5 0.5-1 —Jimmy Cottrell 1 4 5 0-0 —Jeremiah Imperial 3 2 5 0-0 —Tim Patrick 3 2 5 0.5-2 —Spencer Moore 3 2 5 0-0 —Chris Sneed 2 2 4 0.5-1 —

OffensePassing

Comp Att Yds TD IntP. Dombrowski 11 18 132 0 2Buck Pierce 9 14 118 1 2

RushingAtt Net Avg TD

Keith Mouton 26 144 5.5 2P. Dombrowski 24 97 4.0 3Tony Joseph 14 73 5.2 0Tony Bostic 6 56 9.3 1Eric Higgins 5 49 9.8 0

ReceivingRec Yds Avg TD

Chris Lumpkin 7 80 11.4 0Chris Duncan 4 44 11.0 1Preston Williams 3 61 20.3 0Alex Davis 2 19 9.5 0

■ The Aggies are facing maybe the best run-ning back they’ll see this season in StevenJackson (6-3, 233). They have to stop himwithout forgetting about the pass. The inex-perienced secondary will have to carry itsown weight on covering passes.

■ NMSU’s offensive line has to do a betterjob of giving time to quarterbacks Paul Dom-browski and Buck Pierce. Both QBs havebeen unimpressive, but the Aggies have tomove the ball and score points to win today.

NMSUINDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

KEY STRATEGIES

OSU coachMike Rileyhad an 8-14record in twoseasons(1997-98)with theBeaversbefore goingoff to coachthe SanDiego Chargers(14-34). Hereturned toOregon Statethis season.

This game ispart of athree-gameagreement.The Beaversplayed atNew MexicoState in2001 andthis is thereturn. TheAggies travelto Corvallis,Ore., for amoney gamein two years.

FASTFACT

DID IT

The last timeNMSU playeda Pac-10team on theroad, it beatArizona State35-7 inTempe, Ariz.,in 1999.

FASTFACT

DID IT

The Aggiesscored twofourth-quartertouchdownsto threatenbut lost tothe Beavers27-22 twoyears ago inLas Cruces.

POSITION BATTLES:Pressure on Anderson

Mike Riley,first year in secondstint (9-15)

OSUHEADCOACH

Tony Samuel,seventh year(27-43)

NMSUHEADCOACH

BY DENNIS LATTA

Journal Staff Writer

The pendulum isswinging in thewrong direction forthe New MexicoState Aggies today.

NMSU started itsfootball season by gettingdrubbed by No. 5 Texas 66-7on the road.

Then the Aggies went homeand had an easy 48-3 victoryover Division II Western NewMexico.

For the third game, NewMexico State hits the roadagain to play a tough team.

NMSU is in Corvallis, Ore.,today to play Oregon State ofthe Pac-10. The Beavers aren’tas good as Texas, but they’restill a 21-point favorite overthe Aggies.

Both teams are 1-1. OSUstarted with a 40-7 win overSacramento State. Last week,the offense sputtered as theBeavers lost at Fresno State16-14 with the help of fiveinterceptions thrown by juniorquarterback Derek Anderson.

‘‘I think Derek gives us ourbest chance to win,’’ OregonState coach Mike Riley says.‘‘We have to help him. I don’tforesee making a change.’’

The Beavers can get by with-out a good performance bytheir quarterback becausethey have one of the best run-ning backs in the land. StevenJackson has run for 257 yardsin two games.

Jackson rushed for 1,690yards last season. At 6-feet, 3-inches and 229 pounds, he isbig and fast.

‘‘He’s a great running backcoupled with being a greatreceiver. They love to get himthe ball,’’ says NMSU coachTony Samuel.

Jackson leads OSU in receiv-ing with nine catches for 174yards.

‘‘As a defense, we’re excit-ed,’’ says Aggies linebackerJimmy Cottrell. ‘‘We haven’tplayed well so far. We need to

shut down Jackson. We need toget after him. They try to getthe ball in his hands as muchas possible.’’

The Aggies have not givenup any points in the first quar-ter of their two games. In thegame at Texas, the score was0-0 at the end of the first quar-ter.

‘‘The first quarter will bevery important,’’ Cottrell says.‘‘They’re going to be upsetbecause they lost last week.They’re going to come outfired up. We have to do the

same.’’

The real Aggies haven’tplayed much yet this season.Once they got behind at Texas,Samuel went to the benchfreely. And once they got wellahead against Western, thereserves took over again.

‘‘You’ve seen pieces of us,’’says Samuel.

The Aggies rotate at quarter-back. Junior Buck Pierce start-ed the first game and sopho-more Paul Dombrowski start-ed the second. It is probably

Pierce’s turn to start again, butit could be either.

The two quarterbackshaven’t distinguished them-selves. Between them, theyhave thrown four interceptions(two each) and only one touch-down pass (by Pierce).

‘‘I don’t think we’ve clickedlike we should have,’’ Dom-browski admits. ‘‘We need tomake less mistakes.’’

Pierce adds, ‘‘You either getbetter or you get worse, younever stay the same. Eachweek, we’re improving. We

just haven’t executed the waywe need to.’’

One of the disappointmentsfor NMSU this season has beenthe play of its offensive line.The two QBs have been rushedand the option hasn’t been ableto get around the ends.

‘‘I’m not worried about ’em.They’ll get better,’’ Piercesays.

NMSU played Oregon Statein Las Cruces two years agowith the Beavers winning 27-22. The Aggies scored twofourth-quarter touchdowns to

make the game interesting.‘‘I think New Mexico State is

a solid-looking football team,’’Riley says. ‘‘They run the ballextremely well. The optionalways is a factor. You have tobe very disciplined defensive-ly.

‘‘They play very sound ondefense with very goodschemes,’’ he adds.

The Aggies will start EricHiggins at I-back. The seniorwas injured and sat out thefirst game. He was back lastweek, but had just five carriesfor 49 yards.

The leading rusher forNMSU is Keith Mouton with144 yards on 26 carries. Dom-browski is next on the list at 97yards.

With two blowouts, theAggies have used nine ball car-riers. Included are freshmenTony Joseph, Muammar Aliand David Romaka.

The Aggies are averagingonly 125 yards passing pergame. While they’ve thrownfour interceptions, they’vepicked off only one. NMSU haslost the ball three times onnine fumbles in only eightquarters.

Samuel, however, is moreconcerned about his defensethan his offense. His worstfear is that Jackson will runwild, making for a very longday for the Aggies.

‘‘The first thing you have todo is take the run away. Then,take the big plays away. Theypresent a different package,’’Samuel says. ‘‘We do have tostop the run. Our philosophy isto take the run away and seewhat happens.’’

For NMSU, this is the secondof three games against BCSteams. The Aggies play atArkansas late in the season.

After today, New MexicoState has an open date nextweekend. It always tries to geta week off before it plays rivalNew Mexico. The Aggies andLobos play on Sept. 27 in Albu-querque.

Riding the Wave A F T E R A N E A S Y W E E K AT H O M E ,

N E W M E X I C O S TAT E G O E S B A C K O N T H E R O A D

PAUL SAKUMA/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Oregon State tailback Steven Jackson (34) is one of the best running backs in the nation. He ran for 1,690 yards last season andhas compiled 257 yards rushing in two games this season.

ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2003 D11

Aug. 28 OSU 40, Sacramento St. 7,

Sept. 6 Fresno St. 16, OSU 14Sept. 13New Mexico StateSept. 20Boise StateSept. 27Arizona StateOct. 4 at CaliforniaOct. 18 Washington Oct. 25 at Washington State,Nov. 1 ArizonaNov. 15 StanfordNov. 22 at OregonDec. 6 at USC

Aug. 31 Texas 66, NMSU 7Sept. 6 NMSU 48, WNMU 3Sept. 13at Oregon StateSept. 20OpenSept. 27at New MexicoOct. 4 IdahoOct. 11 at Middle TennesseeOct. 16 at La.-LafayetteOct. 25 at La.-MonroeNov. 1 Arkansas StateNov. 6 Utah StateNov. 15 at ArkansasNov. 25 North Texas

Oregon StateUniversity (1-1)

New Mexico StateUniversity (1-1)

2003 SCHEDULE

BEAVERS’DEPTH CHART

OffenseSE 2 James Newson

28 Mike Hass

SL 1 Kenny Farley9 Cole Clasen

LT 76 BrandonLockheart

61 Adam Koets

LG 62 Brian Kilkenny75 David Lose

C 73 Matt Brock74 Jason Fyda

RG 55 Kanan Sanchez58 Brent Bridges

RT 65 Doug Nienhuis69 Josh Linehan

TE 84 Tim Euhus89 Joe Newton

QB 14 Derek Anderson12 Adam Rothenfluh

TB 34 Steven Jackson29 Dwight White

FL 6 George Gillett3 Josh Hawkins

DefenseLE 59 Dan Rothwell

47 JaysonJean-Baptiste

LT 97 Ben Siegeert92 Alvin Smith

RT 98 Dwan Edwards93 Derek Hall

RE 90 Bill Swancutt96 Brandon Scales

SLB 50 Seth Lacey44 Trent Bray

MLB 51 Richard Seigler41 Kevin Davidson

WLB 40 Jonathan Pollard4 Jason Lowe

LC 8 Aric Williams2 D.J. Coote

SS 7 Lawrence Turner6 Harvey Whiten

FS 5 Mitch Meeuwsen24 Sabby Piscitelli

RC 39 Brandon Browner31 Brandon

Catanese

SpecialistsPK 46 Kirk Ylinemi

P 48 Carl Tobey

DS 59 Dan Rothwell

PR 9 Cole Clasen

KR 31 Brandon Catanese29 Dwight Wright

OffenseSE 81 Chris Duncan

14 Preston Williams

LT 60 Trevor Kine75 Kyle Smith

LG 64 Nick Cole62 Brandon

Chambers

C 71 Andy Dale68 Glen Propst

RG 63 Steve Subia65 Jose Quinones

RT 61 Matt Sanchez78 Cole Leslie

TE 89 Alex Davis97 Dustin Ditmore

FL 27 Ronshay Jenkins8 Chris Lumpkin

QB 11 Buck Pierce10 Paul Dombrowski

FB 44 Marcus Dixon23 Tony Bostic

IB 4 Eric Higgins6 Keith Mouton

DefenseRR 54 John Sioui

58 Chris Snead

DT 96 Chase Spicer99 Tommy Laborin

NT 74 Lionel Apineru95 Cedric Patterson

LR 82 Greg Scaffidi46 Aubrey Dorisme

SLB 35 Tim Patrick56 John Davis

MLB 42 Jimmy Cottrell30 Simon Ocampo

WLB 37 Rich Glover52 Tim McManigal

RC 29 Chris Davis22 Travis Johnson

FS 2 Matt Griebel31 Shukree Shabazz

SS 3 Dominique Jacobs4 Eric Carrie

LC 21 Jeremiah Imperial15 Spencer Moore

SpecialistsPK 12 Dario Aguiniga

P 20 Brad Evans

DS 83 CharlieMaccarrone

PR 27 Ronshay Jenkins

KR 27 Ronshay Jenkins23 Tony Bostic

AGGIES’DEPTH CHART

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITYADVANTAGE

QUARTERBACK: Junior Derek Anderson hasbeen terrible in the first two games, throwing 5interceptions. He panics if rushed.

RECEIVERS: The Beavers like to throw to Jack-son. Because everyone keys on him, the otherreceivers get single coverage and go for big gains.

DEFENSIVE LINE: The Beavers haven’t beenable to put much pressure on the quarterback.They’ll be tested by NMSU’s option.

LINEBACKER: Two of OSU’s top three tacklersare linebackers. Seth Lacy has seven tackles forloss in two games and leads with 15 tackles.

SECONDARY: Free safety Mitch Meeuwsen hastwo interceptions and cornerback Aric Williams onein the first two games.

SPECIAL TEAMS: The Beavers have only 27yards on six punt returns and 66 yards on four kick-off returns. But they’re not as bad as NMSU.

COACHES: Mike Riley was 8-14 in two seasonsat Oregon State before he left for San Diego and isreturning after three seasons with the Chargers.

OFFENSIVE LINE: The Beavers start juniors andseniors with good size. OSU has allowed only twosacks in their first two games.

RUNNING BACK: Steven Jackson is big andfast. He is one of the best NMSU will face this sea-son with 273 yards in the first two games.

QUARTERBACK: The two QBs — Paul Dom-browski and Buck Pierce — are having a good butnot great season with protection a problem.

RECEIVERS: In two games, the Aggies haveused eight receivers. Chris Lumpkin has becomethe go-to guy with 7 catches for 80 yards.

DEFENSIVE LINE: The Aggies have not hadmuch success putting pressure on the quarterbackbut have been strong against the run.

LINEBACKER: This area should excel against arunning team like Oregon State. With all threestarters back, this is a strength.

SECONDARY: The Aggies have been burneddeep, but OSU has trouble getting time to throwdeep. NMSU can’t afford to give up the big play.

SPECIAL TEAMS: This has been a particularlybad aspect for the Aggies. Even Division II WNMUhad succcess returning kicks and punts.

COACHES: Tony Samuel is confident. He’s goodat sneaking up on one team every season, and thismight be the week for him to shine.

OFFENSIVE LINE: This was expected to be astrong point but it has been a problem. The O-lineprobably holds the key to NMSU’s success.

RUNNING BACK: NMSU has used nine ball carri-ers. Starter Eric Higgins returned last week aftermissing the opener.

SUN BELT STANDINGSConference Overall

W-L Pct. Pts. Opp. W-L Pct. Pts. Opp.

Arkansas St. 0-0 .000 0 0 1-1 .500 74 32

NMSU 0-0 .000 0 0 1-1 .500 55 69

North Texas 0-0 .000 0 0 1-1 .500 55 51

Idaho 0-0 .000 0 0 0-2 .000 5 33

La.-Lafayette 0-0 .000 0 0 0-2 .000 10 48

La.-Monroe 0-0 .000 0 0 0-2 .000 28 72

Middle Tenn. 0-0 .000 0 0 0-2 .000 29 49

Utah St. 0-0 .000 0 0 0-2 .000 27 71

OREGON STATETEAM STATISTICS

ScoringOSU Opp.

Points per game 27 11.5Total 54 23

First downsOSU Opp.

Rushing 19 11Passing 22 16Penalty 7 6Total 48 33

RushingOSU Opp.

Yards gained 396 209Yards lost 49 88Attempts 82 67Avg. per rush 4.2 1.8Avg. per game 173.5 60.5TDs Rushing 4 1Total Yardage 347 121

PassingOSU Opp.

Avg. per pass 7.2 5.9Avg. per catch 17.2 13Avg. per game 293 234.5TDs Passing 3 1Total Yardage 586 469

Total offenseOSU Opp.

Total Plays 163 147Avg. per Play 5.7 4Avg. per game 466.5 295

Kick returnsOSU Opp.

No./yards 4/66 6/130Return avg. 16.5 21.7

Punt returnsOSU Opp.

No./Yards 6/27 7/37Return avg. 4.5 5.3

Interception returnsOSU Opp.

No./Yards 3-0 5-11Return avg. 0.0 2.2

Fumbles-lostOSU Opp.4-1 3-0

PenaltiesOSU Opp.

Avg. per game 11.5 8.5Avg. yds./game 120 82Total 23 17Total yardage 240 164

PuntsOSU Opp.

Avg. per punt 41.5 37.3Total punts 12 16Total yardage 498 597

Time of possessionOSU Opp.

Per Game 30:45 28:46

3rd-down conversionsOSU Opp.

3rd-down pct. 41.2 30.6Total 14/34 11/36

4th-down conversionsOSU Opp.

4th-down pct. 0.0 .50Total 0/2 1/2

SacksOSU Opp.

Total n/a n/aYardage n/a n/a

Field goalsOSU Opp.

Total 2 3Attempts 2 6

TouchdownsOSU Opp.

Total 7 2

PATOSU Opp.

Total/Attempts 6/7 2-2

NEW MEXICO STATETEAM STATISTICS

ScoringNMSU Opp.

Points per game 27.5 34.5Total 55 69

First downsNMSU Opp.

Rushing 26 10Passing 13 12Penalty 0 3Total 39 25

RushingNMSU Opp.

Yards gained 564 258Yards lost 124 32Attempts 113 56Avg. per rush 3.9 4Avg. per game 220 113TDs Rushing 7 3Total Yardage 440 226

PassingNMSU Opp.

Avg. per pass 7.8 7.6Avg. per catch 12.5 16.0Avg. per game 125 168TDs Passing 1 2Total Yardage 250 336

Total offenseNMSU Opp.

Total Plays 145 100Avg. per Play 4.8 5.6Avg. per game 345 281

Kick returnsNMSU Opp.

No./yards 8/159 9-233Return avg. 19.9 25.9

Punt returnsNMSU Opp.

No./Yards 7/50 2/39Return avg. 7.1 19.5

Interception returnsNMSU Opp.

No./Yards 1/5 4/102Return avg. 5 25.5

Fumbles-lostNMSU Opp.

9-3 3-1

PenaltiesNMSU Opp.

Avg. per game 8 9Avg. yds./game 70.5 76.5Total 16 18Total yardage 141 153

PuntsNMSU Opp.

Avg. per punt 34.2 34.2Total punts 9 12Total yardage 308 411

Time of possessionNMSU Opp.

Per Game 36:26 23:33

3rd-down conversionsNMSU Opp.

3rd-down pct. 56.3 23.8Total 18/32 5/21

4th-down conversionsNMSU Opp.

4th-down pct. 100 0Total 1/1 0/0

SacksNMSU Opp.

Total n/a n/aYardage n/a n/a

Field goalsNMSU Opp.

Total 0 n/aAttempts 1 n/a

TouchdownsNMSU Opp.

Total 8 9

PATNMSU Opp.

Total/Attempts 7/8 9/9

AROUND THE SUN BELTTodayNorth Texas at Air Force,

noonMiddle Tenn. at Clemson, 3 p.m.SE Missouri at Arkansas St.,

5 p.m.

Louisiana-Monroe at Mississippi,5 p.m.

Boise St. at Idaho, 5:30 p.m.Houston at Louisiana-Lafayette,

6 p.m.Utah St. at Arizona St., 8 p.m.

RICHARD SEIGLER CHRIS LUMPKIN

How They Match Up