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Cave_Johnson
R.I.P. Bob Saget
Well, I guess before I talk specifically about this game I should probably just say what we're all thinking:
Dezmon Epps is one hell of a football player, but is also severely and incurably retarded.
This is a special kind of stupid folks. This moron was given way more chances than he rightly deserves after missing last season when he was kicked off the team for ......... shoplifting? I honestly don't remember anymore, there have been too many incidents since that whole ordeal. I suppose he is currently denying the accusations that he slapped his girlfriend in a Pullman bar ( why he thought being there in the first place was a good idea is beyond me), and the police have not finished the investigation. There's a chance this is a misunderstanding, but this guy is too much of a fuck up to be given the benefit of the doubt. Petrino is right in suspending his ass.
Oh well, I was fairly certain he would be gone due to off the field issues at some point this year anyway. Good riddance and next man up.
This is the third week in a row Idaho will face an opponent that does not have an FBS win on the season. Two weeks ago they edged one out against a Troy team playing with their backup QB and last week they beat ULM in a game where they lost the turnover battle 3-0. Really last week was not as close as the 27-13 scored indicated. Could have easily been something like 40-3 if the Vandals don't make a few dumb mistakes and take a knee inside the Warhawks 5 with under a minute left. By the way, that knee ended Idaho's perfect red zone efficiency this season. They were the only team in FBS with a perfect scoring percentage in the red zone coming into last week's game.
New Mexico State is coming off a 52-7 loss to Troy in their homecoming game. This was a disastrous result for the Aggies considering how close the game was statistically speaking. Untimely penalties and turnovers really hurt NMSU. Of course, the Aggies are also 0-7 on the season with the only close results being a 2 point loss to Georgia State and a 3 point loss to their rival UTEP. Still, I think they're better than their record indicates and Idaho being favored by 7 is a bit much.
Despite the woes they've had in the passing game and on defense, the Aggies have had one bright spot this season in RB Larry Rose III. Rose is currently 14th in the nation in rushing yards and 13th in yards per carry. This kid is an absolute beast and was essentially the team's only offense against Idaho in last year's match-up, a game Idaho won 29-17. Rose is sure to get plenty of carries against Idaho's 122nd ranked rushing defense ( it's worth noting that they only gave up 57 yards on the ground last week to ULM).
Idaho will likely look to run the ball as well. NMSU's defense is actually worse than Idaho's against the run on the season and Elijaah Penny is coming off a career day running the ball ( 184 yards on 36 carries). I expect the Vandals to have a size advantage in the trenches on offense and as long as the coaches don't get cute Idaho has a great opportunity to repeat last week's rushing performance.
Injury wise I suspect Grabski and Jordan will be out again in the secondary and apparently Ungerer and Sannon are no-goes at WR this week as well. Epps is going to be sorely missed out there as he played both of those positions ( slot WR and nickel corner) and also returned punts. Ungerer was the other return specialist so I have no clue who will fill that role this week. Idaho is 126th in the nation in punt return yards however so as long as this week's return man doesn't turn the ball over they'll get a gold star from me.
So who's filling in for these guys? Well Kaden Ellis coming back at LB allows Chris Edwards to move to safety, so with Siavii entrenched as the other starter at least both safety spots are secured. They also won't have to worry about CB Dorian Clark missing a full half due to a "targeting" suspension. At WR we'll likely see a lot of Deon Watson, Callen Hightower, Reuben Mwehla and freshman Jante Boston. Watson caught a couple TD's last week ( albeit on two broken plays) and Boston was excellent in the open field when he was given a chance. Also look for TE Trent Cowan's role in the passing game to increase a bit after a solid game last week.
Prediction: I saw some real fire in this Idaho team against ULM. They made some mistakes early but didn't crumble and give up like past teams have. The Offense controlled the clock with the running game and converted in clutch situations. The Defense was fantastic in holding ULM to 13 points, 10 of which came off turnovers when The Warhawks started inside the red zone. Most importantly, I saw a coverage sack last week. A COVERAGE SACK. Blew my mind.
NMSU knows Idaho gave them their only FBS win two seasons ago and they have to be hungry after getting blown out at home. They'll get theirs on the ground but I think Idaho does enough to win this one.
Idaho 30
NMSU 27
Closer than I would like, but if it gets this team to .500 I'd gladly take it.
Dezmon Epps is one hell of a football player, but is also severely and incurably retarded.
This is a special kind of stupid folks. This moron was given way more chances than he rightly deserves after missing last season when he was kicked off the team for ......... shoplifting? I honestly don't remember anymore, there have been too many incidents since that whole ordeal. I suppose he is currently denying the accusations that he slapped his girlfriend in a Pullman bar ( why he thought being there in the first place was a good idea is beyond me), and the police have not finished the investigation. There's a chance this is a misunderstanding, but this guy is too much of a fuck up to be given the benefit of the doubt. Petrino is right in suspending his ass.
Oh well, I was fairly certain he would be gone due to off the field issues at some point this year anyway. Good riddance and next man up.
This is the third week in a row Idaho will face an opponent that does not have an FBS win on the season. Two weeks ago they edged one out against a Troy team playing with their backup QB and last week they beat ULM in a game where they lost the turnover battle 3-0. Really last week was not as close as the 27-13 scored indicated. Could have easily been something like 40-3 if the Vandals don't make a few dumb mistakes and take a knee inside the Warhawks 5 with under a minute left. By the way, that knee ended Idaho's perfect red zone efficiency this season. They were the only team in FBS with a perfect scoring percentage in the red zone coming into last week's game.
New Mexico State is coming off a 52-7 loss to Troy in their homecoming game. This was a disastrous result for the Aggies considering how close the game was statistically speaking. Untimely penalties and turnovers really hurt NMSU. Of course, the Aggies are also 0-7 on the season with the only close results being a 2 point loss to Georgia State and a 3 point loss to their rival UTEP. Still, I think they're better than their record indicates and Idaho being favored by 7 is a bit much.
Despite the woes they've had in the passing game and on defense, the Aggies have had one bright spot this season in RB Larry Rose III. Rose is currently 14th in the nation in rushing yards and 13th in yards per carry. This kid is an absolute beast and was essentially the team's only offense against Idaho in last year's match-up, a game Idaho won 29-17. Rose is sure to get plenty of carries against Idaho's 122nd ranked rushing defense ( it's worth noting that they only gave up 57 yards on the ground last week to ULM).
Idaho will likely look to run the ball as well. NMSU's defense is actually worse than Idaho's against the run on the season and Elijaah Penny is coming off a career day running the ball ( 184 yards on 36 carries). I expect the Vandals to have a size advantage in the trenches on offense and as long as the coaches don't get cute Idaho has a great opportunity to repeat last week's rushing performance.
Injury wise I suspect Grabski and Jordan will be out again in the secondary and apparently Ungerer and Sannon are no-goes at WR this week as well. Epps is going to be sorely missed out there as he played both of those positions ( slot WR and nickel corner) and also returned punts. Ungerer was the other return specialist so I have no clue who will fill that role this week. Idaho is 126th in the nation in punt return yards however so as long as this week's return man doesn't turn the ball over they'll get a gold star from me.
So who's filling in for these guys? Well Kaden Ellis coming back at LB allows Chris Edwards to move to safety, so with Siavii entrenched as the other starter at least both safety spots are secured. They also won't have to worry about CB Dorian Clark missing a full half due to a "targeting" suspension. At WR we'll likely see a lot of Deon Watson, Callen Hightower, Reuben Mwehla and freshman Jante Boston. Watson caught a couple TD's last week ( albeit on two broken plays) and Boston was excellent in the open field when he was given a chance. Also look for TE Trent Cowan's role in the passing game to increase a bit after a solid game last week.
Prediction: I saw some real fire in this Idaho team against ULM. They made some mistakes early but didn't crumble and give up like past teams have. The Offense controlled the clock with the running game and converted in clutch situations. The Defense was fantastic in holding ULM to 13 points, 10 of which came off turnovers when The Warhawks started inside the red zone. Most importantly, I saw a coverage sack last week. A COVERAGE SACK. Blew my mind.
NMSU knows Idaho gave them their only FBS win two seasons ago and they have to be hungry after getting blown out at home. They'll get theirs on the ground but I think Idaho does enough to win this one.
Idaho 30
NMSU 27
Closer than I would like, but if it gets this team to .500 I'd gladly take it.