LSU Head Coach Les Miles Press Conference Transcript
The New Mexico State flagship radio station for football and men’s basketball is changing from 103.9 FM to 98.7 FM in Las Cruces. All football and men’s basketball games will be aired live and in their entirety.
This move took effect for the first home football game on Thursday, August 28 at 6 p.m. (MT). The pre-game show will begin at 5 p.m. with Jack Nixon and Preston Williams.
The flagship station this year will be 98.7 FM of the NM State Sports Network, which extends across the state of New Mexico. Other stations in the network carry all football and men’s basketball games and include:
· KNMZ 107.1FM Alamogordo
· ESPN 101.7 The Team Albuquerque/Rio Rancho
· KSVP 990AM Artesia
· KAMQ 1240AM Carlsbad
Aggies on Social Media
The Aggies Athletic Department has a Twitter account at www.twitter.com/nmstateaggies where fans and media can get all their in-game scores. The Aggies also have a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/NMSUathletics. Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram at nmstateaggies for all the behind the scene info on your team.
The Aggies fell to 2-2 on the season after suffering a loss to the New Mexico Lobos Saturday, Sept. 20, at Aggie Memorial Stadium. The Lobos moved to 1-2 on the season with the win.
NM running back Crusoe Gongbay led all rushers with 139 yards on 16 carries with one touchdown. NM State’s Xavier Hall finished the game with 15 carries for 61 yards, recording a career high two touchdowns.
Aggie receiver Teldrick Morgan had another standout performance, catching nine passes for 122 yards. Joesph Matthews added 79 yards and a touchdown for the Aggies as well. The Lobo’s Jeric Magnant led NM with four catches for 42 yards, recording one touchdown.
Aggie quarterback Tyler Rogers went 32-47 on the night, recording a career high 333 yards and two touchdowns. The lobos went 8-14 overall, throwing for 67 yards and two touchdowns.
The Aggies defense struggled to contain the Lobos ground game, recording 432 yards on 52 carries overall. The same could be said about the NM secondary, as the Aggies had 333 yards through the air. The total yards for both teams was almost dead even, with NM recording 499 yards of total offense while the Aggies had 498.
Turnovers played a role for both teams, with the Aggies throwing two interceptions and the Lobos fumbling twice, turning it over once. The Aggies were 13-of-20 on third down conversions and two of three on fourth down conversions. The lobos were a perfect 4-of-4 in the redzone, while the Aggies went 5-of-6.
Tyler Rogers has been named as the starting quarterback for the NM State Aggies for the 2014-15 season.
The Aggies are now 2-2 on the season, having dropped the last two games against UTEP and New Mexico. Rogers has recorded 1,056 yards on 97-of-158 passing, with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. Rogers has also scrambled for 40 yards this year.
In his debut behind center, the sophomore quarterback went 18-27 for 158 yards and two touchdowns. With a pass completion rating off 66.7 percent and only one interception, Rogers had an efficiency rating of 132.86 against Cal Poly.
Rogers is a transfer sophomore who played one year at Western Arizona. He played one season with Arizona Western as the team’s starting quarterback. He threw for 1,832 yards and 14 touchdowns with only seven interceptions. Rogers also ran for 364 yards and a team-best 10 touchdowns. Rogers missed two and a half games down the final stretch of the season, but was able to dress for the Matadors third straight appearance in the Fisher Automotive El Toro Bowl.
In high school Rogers was the starting quarterback at Liberty High School for four years, leading his team to three league championships. He threw for 5,903 yards during his high school career, including 76 touchdown passes. Rogers also ran for 1,691 yards and 26 scores. As a senior, Rogers was the league and district player of the year, while also being selected as a first team all-section and second team all-state. He was one of two quarterbacks from Arizona selected to play in the California vs. Arizona All-Star game.
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Teldrick Morgan has been recording some big numbers for the Aggies, leading NM State in receptions, yards and touchdowns. With 31 catches, 464 yards and four touchdowns, Morgan has become an integral art of the Aggies passing game.
With a career high 202 receiving yards against UTEP, Morgan made his way into the record books with his performance. After the New Mexico game, where Morgan recorded 122 yards on nine receptions, Morgan’s 100+ yard streak is at two games and puts him just shy of the record books.
Morgan is on pace to be No. 1 on the receptions in a single season, averaging 7.75 catches per game. If he keeps this pace up, he will end the season with 93 catches, placing him at the top of the rankings. Morgan will also sit atop the single season receiving yards list as well.
Meet the NM State Backfield
The Aggies continue to look for production from their running backs, with high expectations for the ground game in the 2014-15 season. Headlining the backfield will be sophomore back Xavier Hall and senior Brandon Betancourt, assisted by true freshman Larry Rose III.
Rose leads the way for the Aggie backfield, recording 269 yards on 62 carries and scoring one touchdown. Rose also has five receptions for 36 yards and another touchdown. Hall has 37 carries for 146 yards and three touchdowns, while Bettencourt ran 34 times for 159 yards.
Hall and Betancourt are Las Cruces natives; both having successful careers at Las Cruces High and Mayfield High respectively. Rose is coming off of his senior season at Fairfield High in Fairfield, Texas, where he rushed for 2,924 yards on 237 carries and recorded 49 touchdowns.
Last year Betancourt played in eight games for the Aggies, rushing for 415 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 4.5 yards a carry. He also caught 13 receptions for 106 yards and one touchdown, averaging 8.2 yards per catch. Betancourt rushed for a career-high 139 yards against I-25 rival New Mexico (Oct. 5). He followed that performance with 103 yards rushing on 17 carries against Rice (Oct. 19). Versus No. 13 UCLA (Sept. 21) he rushed for 95 yards and one touchdown.
Hall ran for 247 yards on 48 carries and two touchdowns during the 2013 season and recorded seven receptions for 47 yards in 11 games. He averaged 5.1 yards a rush and 6.7 yards a catch, starting the final four games of the year. His best game came against Boston College (Nov. 9), where Hall recorded career-high 95 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown. He also recorded four receptions for 32 yards in the same game.
NM State rushed for 1,701 yards last season on 444 carries. Averaging 3.8 yards a carry and 141.8 yards a game, the Aggies scored 14 touchdowns on the ground last season.
Return of the Lefty
In the 2013-14 season, NM State was one of only two schools in the nation that boasted left footed kickers starting at both punter and place kicker. While punter Cayle Chapman-Brown has left the Aggies, kicker Maxwell Johnson is returning for his senior year.
In his 2014 season debut, Johnson went 4-4 in PATs for a total of four points against the Cal Poly Mustangs on Aug. 28.
On the season, Johnson is 16-16 on PATs and 3-4 on field-goals, with a long of 41 yards against Georgia State Sept. 6.
Johnson played in 12 games for the Aggies in 2013 as a place kicker, kicking 29-of-32 PATs, 10-of-12 field goal and 20 kickoffs. He was 2-of-2 on field goals attempts three times in the season against Rice (Oct. 19), Abilene Christian (Oct. 26) and Boston College (Nov. 9). Johnson recorded his longest field goal of his career, against Rice, a 49-yard kick. Over the last six games of the season, Johnson made 18 straight extra point attempts, including a 5-of-5 performance against Louisiana (Nov. 2).
New Mexico State's Maxwell Johnson was named to the thirty-player Watch List for the 2014 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award, as announced by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission.
Johnson returns after he was NMSU's leading scorer in 2013. His 10 field goals came in the span of the final eight games, including a pair in the 4th quarter of a 34-29 victory over Abilene Christian.
On the season, Johnson is 16-16 on PATs and 3-4 on field-goals, with a long of 41 yards against Georgia State on Sept. 6.
Accomplishments are tabulated throughout the season and the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award will announce its 20 semifinalists on Thursday, November 6th. From this list, a panel of more than 300 FBS head coaches, SIDs, media members, and former Groza finalists selects the top three finalists for the award by Monday, November 24th. That same group then selects the national winner, who will be announced on Thursday, December 11th during the Home Depot College Football Awards, broadcast live from Orlando, Fla.
The Rimington Trophy Committee has released its 2014 Fall Watch List, which features 66 of the best centers in Division I football, including three centers from the Sun Belt Conference. Valerian Ume-Ezeoke was listed among the preseason candidates for the award that annually goes to the nation's best center.
Ume has played all 163 offensive downs for the Aggies while recorded three pancakes and a team high 12 knockdowns on the season.
Ume-Ezeoke started at center for the Aggies offensive line during the 2013 season, recording 56.5 knockdowns, second highest on the team. He had a season-high 10 knockdowns against Louisiana (Nov. 2). Ume-Ezeoke’s play helped the Aggies’ leading rusher Germi Morrison rush for an average of 4.1 yards a rush on 109 carries for 451 yards and a team-high four rushing touchdowns. His blocking ability also allowed quarterback Andrew McDonald lead the Aggies in passing, throwing for 2,497 yards and 15 touchdowns, averaging 208.1 yards a game. Ume-Ezeoke was also named to the Remington Trophy Watch List last season as well.
While more than a dozen All-America teams are selected annually, the Rimington Trophy committee uses the Walter Camp Foundation, Sporting News and Football Writers Association of America teams to determine a winner. The winner will be recognized at the Rimington Trophy Presentation at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015.
New Mexico Talent on Display in 2014
The 2014 NM State football team is filled with local players from N.M. The team boasts 17 players from the land of enchantment, with six from the Las Cruces area and nine from the Albuquerque area.
Some of the local players returning from last year are wide receivers Adam Shapiro and Joshua Bowen, running backs Xavier Hall and Brandon Betancourt and linemen Abram Holland and Matt Ramondo.
Hall and Bettencourt have combined for 305-yards and five touchdowns on 71 carries on the season thus far, while Bowen has seven receptions for 60 yards and one touchdown.
Las Cruces Aggies in the Backfield
Sophomore Xavier Hall and senior Brandon Bettencourt both hail from Las Cruces, N.M., and are a just a few of the local talent playing a big role for the Aggies this season.
Hall has 37 carries for 146 yards and three touchdowns, while Bettencourt has run for 159 yards on 34 carries.
In their most recent outing against New Mexico, Hall recorded 61 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries while Betancourt recorded 19 yards on seven carries.
In the season opener against Cal Poly, Bettencourt, who played for Mayfield HS, had seven carries for 42 yards, with an average of six yards a carry and a long of 17 yards. Hall, who played for Las Cruces HS, had six carries for 22 yards, with a 3.7 yard-average, one touchdown and a long of 13 yards. The two Aggie running backs combined for almost one-fifth of NM State’s total offense against the Mustangs.
Aggie Walk On Awarded Scholarship
Sophomore Rayvean Moore was awarded with a football scholarship after playing the 2013 season as a walk on. Head coach Doug Martin said Moore earned the scholarship because of his hard work on the field and in the class room.
Moore played in nine games during the 2013 season at wide receiver and on special teams. He had one reception for two yards against San Diego State Sept. 28. Moore redshirted as a freshman.
Aggie freshman running back Larry Rose III was named to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Watch List Aug. 20, one of 43 players and one of only two freshman named to the list.
The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose award recognizes the top offensive player in Div. 1 football who also exhibits the enduring characteristics that define Earl Campbell: integrity, performance, teamwork, sportsmanship, drive, community and tenacity. More specifically the tenacity to overcome adversity and injury in pursuit of reaching goals.
In addition to those attributes, the athlete must be born in Texas and/or graduated from a Texas high school and/or played at a Texas-based junior college or four year college.
Rose is from Fairfield, Texas, where he attended Fairfield High School. Playing running back and defensive back, as a senior Rose was named the Associated Press Sports Editor Class 3A Offensive Player of the Year and a first team all-state selection.
He rushed for 2,924 yards on 237 carries and 49 touchdowns his senior year. He also caught nine passes for 114 yards and three touchdowns. His season high was six scores in one game. Rose helped his team to a 15-1 record, the state championship game, and the No. 19 ranking in the state of Texas. Defensively Rose recorded seven tackles, six pass breakups and one interception.
Of the 43 players to be named to the watch list, there are nine conferences represented as well as three independent schools. By position, 17 wide receivers, 12 running backs, eight quarterbacks, three tight ends, two fullbacks and one halfback were selected for the watch list.
In the season opener against Cal Poly on Aug. 28, Rose had 30 carries for 149 yards and one rushing touchdown, with a long of 24 yards. Rose also had four receptions for 13 yards and a receiving touchdown.
Aggies in the Sun Belt
After playing an independent schedule in the 2013-14 season, the Aggies are now members of the Sun Belt Conference for the 2014-15 season.
After a win against Georgia State on Sept. 6 (34-31), the Aggies are tied with UL Monroe and Georgia Southern for first place in the conference, all three sitting at 1-0 in the conference.
Only three conference games have been played in the Sun Belt thus far. UL Monroe has the best overall record at 2-1, with Georgia Southern and the Aggies both having 2-2 overall records. Arkansas State is 2-2 on the season but has yet to play a conference game.
Founded in 1976, the Sun Belt has adapted and evolved in its nearly 40 year existence. The Sun Belt Conference has a permanent seat on the NCAA’s 18-member Board of Directors. With the 2014-15 year marking the debut of the College Football Playoff (CFP) the Sun Belt continues to find itself among the 10 premier college football conferences and the new system is guaranteed universal access based on performance – there are no automatic qualifiers for the playoff system. Additionally, the CFP will mean that a spot among the premier bowl games of college football will be guaranteed to the highest-ranked champion from the other “Group of Five” conferences: the Sun Belt Conference, American Athletic Conference, Mountain West Conference, Mid-American Conference and Conference USA.
With the College Football Playoff included with the league’s other bowl arrangements, the Sun Belt Conference is tied to seven total bowl games. The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the GoDaddy Bowl, the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, the Cure Bowl (debuting in 2015) all guarantee a home for a bowl eligible Sun Belt Conference team each year. And beginning with the2016 season, the Sun Belt is also part of a rotation of conferences that will send a team to the Bahamas Bowl and the Miami Beach Bowl.
The Sun Belt’s 21 non-conference football wins in the 2013 season was a new record for the league - eclipsing the mark of 19 set the year prior. Additionally of note for the league’s non-conference win total was that the Sun Belt fared well against its peer opponents in the non-AQ BCS ranks. The Sun Belt finished a combined 8-1 against members of Conference-USA (4-1), the Mid-American Conference (3-0) and the Mountain West Conference (1-0). The Sun Belt also had the best overall non-conference win percentage when comparing the four non-AQ conferences.
No. 18 Tyler Rogers, QB
• Rogers has thrown for 1,056 yards through the first four games of the season
• Rogers has gone 97-158 in passing with nine touchdowns
• Efficiency rating of 128.7 with a 61.4 completion percentage
• Currently averaging 264 passing yards per game
• Season long pass completion of 57 yards on the season
No. 12 Larry Rose III, RB
• Rose leads the Aggies in attempt and rushing yards
• Single game season-high rushing yards of 149 against Cal Poly (Aug. 28)
• Rose is third on the team in rushing touchdowns scored with one on the season
• Rose has 269 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown with 62 attempts
• Rose did not play in the loss against UTEP (Sept.13)
• Season long rush of 24 yards
No. 21 Brandon Betancourt, RB
• Betancourt has played in all four games for the Aggies this season
• Finished second on the team last year with 415 rushing yards
• Currently has two rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown as an Aggie
• Rushed for 63 yards against Georgia State this season
• Has a season long rush of 23 yards and a career long rush of 36 yards
No. 22 Xavier Hall, RB
• Has appeared in all four games this season
• Leads the team with three rushing touchdowns
• Has five rushing touchdowns for his career
• Season long rush of 17 yards and career long rush of 24 yards
• Led the team a year ago with 5.1 yards per carry among players with 20 or more attempts
No. 17 Jerrel Brown, WR
• Leading returning receiver from last year with 935 career receiving yards
• Was second on the team last year with 484 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns
• Currently has four receiving touchdowns for his career
• Has appeared in every game this season
• Brown has recorded 12 receptions for 122 yards with 10.2 average yards per catch
No. 6 Joshua Bowen, WR
• Bowen has appeared in 3 games this year for the Aggies
• His first touchdown of this season came against New Mexico (Sept. 20)
• Last year Bowen finished second on the team with 39 receptions
• He also caught two touchdowns last year
No. 5 Joseph Matthews, WR
• Second on the team in receptions (17), receiving yards (195) and receiving touchdowns (3) this season
• Has played in all four games this season
• Recorded his first touchdown reception against Georgia State (Sept. 6)
• Has 641 receiving yards for his career
• Has appeared in all four games this season
• Currently averaging 11.5 yards per catch this season
No. 19 Teldrick Morgan, WR
• Morgan has 31 catches for 464 yards and four touchdowns, with a long catch of 57 yards
• He is the leading receiver for the Aggies in every receiving category
• Morgan is averaging 116 receiving yards per game this season
• Season high of 202 yards on eight receptions against UTEP (Sept. 13)
• Redshirted last year, this is Morgan’s first year on the field for the Aggies
No. 7 Adam Shapiro, WR
• Has recorded 11 receptions for 93 yards, with a long of 23 yards.
• Played in all 12 games in 2013, averaging 12.3 yards a catch.
• He recorded 35 receptions for 331 yards and two touchdowns in 2013, ranking second on the team.
• Lead in the team in all-purpose yards as the Aggies No. 1 kick returner, with 975 all-purpose yards.
No. 89 Andrew Dean, TE
• Dean had 11 receptions for 101 yards and one touchdown during the 2013 season.
• Played in all 12 games last season and has started at tight end for both of the
• Aggies games this season.
• Career high in receptions against No. 15 Texas (Aug. 31) and 33 receiving yards against Louisiana (Nov. 2) in 2013.
No. 52 Jay Eakins, DE
• 27 total tackles on the year, 10 solo and 17 assisted.
• Has recorded 3.5 tackles for a loss of 16 yards.
• Recorded 29 tackles and one sack last year
• Has recorded one sack on the season
No. 48 Kalei Auelau, DT
• Recorded nine tackles on the year, one solo and eight assisted
• Has recorded .5 tackles for a loss of three yards.
• 0.5 sacks for a loss of three yards.
No. 95 Stody Bradley, DT
• Has recorded two tackles on the season, both assisted.
No. 13 Clint Barnard, DE
• Has played in three of four games this season
• Currently has a total of four tackles on the year
• Leading returning tackler from a season ago
• Was fourth on the team with 67 tackles as a Junior
No. 53 Rodney Butler, LB
• Played and started all three games this season
• Leads the Sun Belt Conference in tackles with 40
• Has an average of 13.3 tackles per game
• Recorded an interception and 40-yard touchdown against Georgia State (Sept.6)
No. 3 Derek Ibekwe, LB
• Ibekwe has appeared in all three games this season
• Second in tackling on the team with 32 tackles
• Has one tackle for loss that totaled two yards
No. 31 Dalton Herrington, LB
• Has appeared in all three games this season
• Has a total of 16 tackles on the season
• Recorded one interception this season and one broken up pass
No. 29 Lewis Hill, DB
• Hill has played a total of 14 games with the Aggies on defense
• Hill recorded his first interception of the year UTEP (Sept.13)
• Hill has a total of 11 unassisted and three assisted tackles
• Leads the team pass break ups with two
No. 16 Kawe Johnson, DB
• With three games played in the season, Johnson has a total of 27 tackles
• Johnson has two tackles for loss, totaling four yards
• Career-high of 12 tackles against Abilene Christian (Oct. 26)
No. 9 Cassius Corley, DB
• Has played two games with the Aggies in the season
• Tied for second on the team with 1 broken up pass
No. 4 Winston Rose, DB
• Has played in all three games with the Aggies this season
• One of the four Aggies with an interception of the year.
• Ten yard return on the interception
• Only played in two games last year as an Aggie
No. 14 Jaden Wright, DB
• Recorded a career high five tackles against Cal Poly (Aug. 28)
• Total of five tackles so far in his freshman year as an Aggie
No. 6 King Davis III, DB
• Davis has played in two games this season as an Aggie.
• A total of 14 tackles on the year
• Davis passed for 371 yards and two touchdowns as a quarterback last year for the Aggies