bleedCrimson.net: This is a big weekend for your team with three matches in four nights and a chance to separate yourselves from the rest of the WAC and keep pace with Hawai'i.
Mike Jordan: It's going to be a big challenge, three matches in four days. We agreed to play Nevada on Sunday. As coaches we try to take care of each other. The scheduling creates a lot of issues for our teams. We try to do what's best for the student athletes. Nevada, that match was scheduled for Monday here but they'd have to fly here Sunday, play Monday night, travel home Tuesday and then they'd play again later in the week and they'd miss a ton of school. I agreed to pay it on Sunday and hopefully we'll be rested enough and play at a high level but we have two matches before that.

Boise State is obviously a very good team coming off a win at home against Utah State in five and they're playing better than they were a year ago, they've got a little more experience, a couple of good middles that can do some things and it's not going to be an easy victory. None of them are at this point. We've got to work hard and play well to win.

Idaho always has a good blocking team. They're athletic. We've had some good matches with them in the past. We know we're going to have to play well to win each match.  Continue Reading This Post >>

Be sure to check out this week's interview with Aggie head football coach DeWayne Walker. The Aggies have a win under their belt and a renewed sense of confidence, especially on defense, which Coach Walker hopes will get them win a few more games this season.

Of course, the question on everybody's mind is, "Will Andrew Manley start at quarterback on Saturday?" The answer? Well, you won't get an answer until later this week. Coach Walker and his staff want to evaluate their situation throughout this week and are waiting to see if Matt Christian will be available on Saturday. Manley will definitely see time on Saturday though.

We're definitely one of those people who are on the "start Andrew Manley" bandwagon, however, we made the following comment last night in response to the Las Cruce Sun-News' Teddy Feinberg's acknowledgment that he too thinks Manley should start.

Jeff Fleming did almost exactly the same thing against UNM in last year's game that Andrew Manley did in this year's game. Trevor Walls had started the UNM game and was largely ineffective moving the offense throughout the game, particularly in the second half. Jeff Fleming was inserted into the game in the fourth quarter for two series, the last of which he moved the Aggies down the field on that epic 16-play, seven minute game-winning touchdown drive. The fans went crazy, everyone thought that Jeff Fleming should be the starting quarterback the rest of the season.

Jeff Fleming is now a quarterback at Sacramento State.

Just food for thought as we all hope the "young pup" gets the start on Saturday.

On to today's links...  Continue Reading This Post >>

bleedCrimson.net: Your thoughts on the big win over New Mexico this past Saturday?
DeWayne Walker: I think it's great for our program. I know a lot of people, especially the analysts, want to make a big joke about it. The worst game, two teams that are winless and this and that but for us, this is a building point for us as we continue to build our program and build some confidence.

It was just great to the players and the coaches and the alumni and the student body and the administration, it was just good to see everybody have the chance to enjoy a big win from my standpoint. That's what it's all about at this stage of the season.

bc.net: We've talked a little bit through the first four games about there being moments in each of those games where in the back of your mind where you're thinking, "Here we go again." There were a couple of those moments on Saturday but your kids fought through it and really created their own good fortune. The special teams play towards the end of the second quarter and then the forced fumble in the fourth quarter that set you up for the game winning drive.
DW: We tweaked some things last week in practice which for me, I think gives me a chance to be more creative paying attention to our football team and just looking for things. I spend most of my time other than looking at their offense, defense and special teams and really studying our football team. We did some things last week from a practice standpoint and continuing to work on our mental approach to what we're trying to get done and it was just good that they believed that they could win a game. It was fun to see them win a game in that fashion.

Last year we beat UNM in the same type of fashion, we beat Utah State, we held off Prairie View who ended up having a very good football team. It was just fun looking at the stadium being packed, you had a good football game going and we were able to pull the game out. To me, that atmosphere, that's what I dream about being able to establish here for the years to come.  Continue Reading This Post >>

If you haven't done so yet, check out our fall check-in with Aggie softball coach Kathy Rodolph. The Aggies hosted the National Fastpitch All-Star team last week losing 10-1 (the one run being a highlight because not many college teams have scored on the All-Stars) and open up fall ball this weekend against some much easier competition.

Coach Rodolph's team also was recognized by the American Fastpitch Coaches Association for being outstanding in the classroom. The Aggies carried a team GPA of 3.305 and out of nine WAC programs, they were the only team to be honored. They also had 11 student athletes post at least a 3.50 GPA for the academic year of 2009-2010 earning the distinction as a Scholar Athlete. Very impressive stuff. Aggie I-10 rival UTEP also made the list and came in just slightly ahead of the Aggies with a 3.337 GPA, though they only had six players earn the Scholar Athlete distinction. UNM did not make the All-Academic Team list nor did they have any players on the Scholar Athlete list.

The Aggies have very high hopes for the 2011 season as they'll say goodbye to seven outstanding seniors who have helped take this program from being one of the worst programs in the country to one of the better programs in the country and certainly one of the most potent offenses in the country.

This could very well be the season that the Aggies make their first trip to the NCAA Regionals.

The Aggie football team will be back to work as they prepare to travel to Fresno State to take on the Bulldogs. The Aggies and Bulldogs have played a couple of close games over the course of their time together in the WAC. Two of the last three games have been decided by a touchdown and the Aggies' last visit to Fresno resulted in a 24-17 loss.

The good news for the Aggie defense is that they don't have to worry about Ryan Matthews running the ball, he's in San Diego playing for the Chargers. The bad news is the Bulldogs have a pretty good passing attack led by quarterback Ryan Colburn who has thrown 12 touchdowns and six interceptions and has 1250 passing yards on the season and is averaging 250 yards per game.

It'll be a good test for the Aggie defense who found life against New Mexico forcing four turnovers (again, the fifth turnover came on special teams) and getting their first two sacks of the season.

The big question offensively is who will start at quarterback. Andrew Manley's redshirt came off in the final drive against New Mexico and there is certainly a lot of support for the true freshman to earn the starting spot this week. While it's a very small sample set to go off of, Manley did move the Aggie offense on that final drive completing passes for 11 yards and 21 yards, the 21-yarder being a pass that we noted as one that we haven't seen thrown by an Aggie since the days of Chase Holbrook.

Regardless of who starts at quarterback (our vote is for Andrew Manley but of course our vote doesn't count) it will be a much stiffer test against a much better defense in Fresno State than the one the Aggies struggled against on Saturday when they faced New Mexico.

On to today's links...  Continue Reading This Post >>

bleedCrimson.net: Last week your team was named an NFCA All-Academic Team, 40th in the country among Division I teams in GPA, you were the only WAC team to earn the honor and you had 11 girls named as Scholar Athletes.
Kathy Rodolph: I'm extremely proud of what our kids have done in the classroom. We place a high emphasis on their academics here and I feel like the kids have absolutely bought into that, they help each other. It's cool to do school. Along with being a Top 40 academic team, we also have about a 99 percent graduation rate. I'm very proud of the honor for all the hard work in the classroom.

bc.net: Last week you had a chance to host the National Fastpitch All-Star team and your team lost 10-1 but was able to score on them which only one other team had been able to do in the previous seven games.
KR: It was an honor to have the caliber of players in here as the NPF All-Star team. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for our kids and the community. Our kids were really excited about playing the best of the best.

One of the things we've been working on really hard with our kids this fall is to try to stay focused pitch-by-pitch no matter who we're playing not let it rattle us and just start playing to what we believe is our ability level and really trying to get better under pressure. We did give up 10 runs, five were earned and that was after eight days of practice. We didn't start practice right away because we didn't know whether the game was going to be approved or not and we only have the 30 day window that we can play in the fall. So as soon as the game got approved we had about eight days of practice. We're definitely not in our groove yet but that's to be expected because we definitely don't want to peak too early. But it was definitely an honor to have that caliber of player here and for the younger ones in Las Cruces to have an opportunity to see as well.  Continue Reading This Post >>

STARKVILLE, MS - The New Mexico State softball team has been named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Girls Got Game All-Academic Team for the 2009-2010 academic year.

The Aggies ranked 40th out of 132 Division I programs with a team GPA of 3.305 and were the only WAC team on the list.

Eleven Aggies were also individually honored as NFCA Scholar Athletes. Amber Olive, Ashley Maroda, Kandis Jones, Kristi Covarrubia, Kylie Randall, Lauren Morizi*, Sarah Byrne, Sydney Williard, Tehani Kaaihue, Teresa Conrad and Torrey Schroeder all earned individual honors with GPAs over 3.50 during the 2009-2010 academic year.

The Girls Got Game Academic Awards program honors both collegiate and high school teams for their submitted GPAs for the 2009-2010 academic year. As a second component of the program, all submitted student-athletes who achieved a 3.50 GPA during last academic year are named as girls got game/NFCA Scholar Athletes.

*Lauren Morizi has transferred to Long Island University

Aggie teams win, the awards come pouring in. Kayleigh Giddens was named the WAC Volleyball Player of the Week for her performances last week against San Jose State and Fresno State. Giddens dominated the two California schools recording 45 kills, four service aces, 21 digs and four blocks in the two matches combined.

After the weekend the Aggies sit alone in second place behind Hawai'i. The Aggies have a chance to further distance themselves from the rest of the pack as they host the three teams directly behind them in the standings. Boise State visits on Thursday night with a conference record of 3-3, Idaho visits Saturday night with a conference record of 4-3 and then Nevada comes in on Sunday with a conference record of 3-2.

Idaho will face Louisiana Tech on Thursday night (most likely a win for the Vandals) while Nevada hosts Utah State on Friday night for what should be an outstanding conference battle.

The Aggie football team's victory over New Mexico netted a pair of awards for the Aggies as Donte Savage picked of the WAC Defensive Player of the Week award while Tyler Stampler earned WAC Special Teams player of the week.

Savage helped the Aggie defense break out of its funk recording nine tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles and two passes defended.

Tyler Stampler hit all three of his field goal attempts, a 39-yarder, 34-yarder and the game-winning 22-yarder.

This week's Defensive and Special Teams Player of the Week honors mark just the second time in school history that two Aggies have earned Player of the Week honors in the same week. The only other time it's happened was in 2004 when Buck Pierce and Dustin Sober were named Sun Belt Offensive and Defensive Players of the week respectively after a 44-10 victory over Middle Tennessee State in Las Cruces.

It'll be back to work this week for the Aggies as they'll be traveling to Fresno State this week to take on the Bulldogs. Fresno is coming off a 49-27 loss to Hawai'i this past weekend.

On to today's links...  Continue Reading This Post >>