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New Mexico State
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Cal Poly Falls to New Mexico State 28-10 in Football Season Opener
8/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Freshman Larry Rose scored two touchdowns and sophomore Tyler Rogers passed for a pair of scores as New Mexico State defeated Cal Poly 28-10 in a season-opening football game for both schools Thursday night at Aggie Memorial Stadium.
Rose, who rushed for over 2,900 yards and 49 touchdowns in high school a year ago, compiled 149 yards in his first college game. He caught a six-yard pass from Rogers for a touchdown in the third quarter and ran six yards for another score in the final period as the Aggies earned their first win ever against Cal Poly in four tries.
Cal Poly trailed just 14-10 at halftime after a 24-yard field goal by Stephen Pyle, but New Mexico State outscored the Mustangs 14-0 in the second half for the victory.
Mustang starting quarterback Chris Brown rushed for 66 yards on 17 carries and completed one of three passes for two yards before he was relieved by Dano Graves midway through the final period. Graves connected on one of three passes for four yards.
Cal Poly had the advantage in total offense and time of possession through the first three periods, but couldn't generate much offense in the second half as New Mexico State made defensive adjustments to counter the Mustangs' Triple Option.
Cal Poly also turned the ball over twice and committed a costly holding penalty that wiped out a 40-yard gain by Brown in the second quarter. Both Mustang turnovers resulted in New Mexico State touchdowns.
Rogers hit Teldrick Morgan with a 30-yard touchdown pass less than six minutes into the game. Cal Poly answered with a three-yard run by senior fullback Brandon Howe, capping a 77-yard, 11-play drive and tying the game at 7-7.
New Mexico State took the lead for good on a two-yard run by Xavier Hall midway through the second quarter. The 63-yard drive was set up by a Cassius Corley interception.
Pyle's 24-yard field goal 20 seconds before halftime trimmed the Aggies' lead to 14-10.
The second half, however, belonged to New Mexico State. The Aggie defense under first-year defensive coordinator Larry Coyer held the Mustangs scoreless and to just 78 total yards after the break. Coyer coached in the NFL for 14 seasons after college coaching stints at Pittsburgh, Bowling Green, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Ohio State, Houston, UCLA, Marshall and East Carolina.
"I am just thrilled with our defense," said second-year New Mexico State head coach Doug Martin. "We couldn't have done that a year ago against a wishbone team like that. What Larry Coyer has done in one year is remarkable. This will make the kids really buy in. They have had to do things differently this season. It's been old school football with him but I think they are seeing the reward to it now."
Added Mustang head coach Tim Walsh, "It's a game of adjustments and I think they did some good things, but we have answers to those things and I don't think we answered real well both schematically as well as the execution of the plays that were called.
"I think it was two-fold," Walsh added. "I think when you play in these games, especially against FBS schools, you can't turn the ball over. That's our thing on offense. That's not who we are. Defensively, if we do turn it over, you can't let it result in touchdowns, and they resulted in touchdowns.
"We need to get the ball of the field on third down. They had big conversions. They had a third-and-20 conversion in the first half that led to a touchdown. They did some things well on both sides of the ball to us, but more importantly we didn't play as well as I anticipated we would play on both sides of the ball."
Rose's six-yard scoring catch from Rogers and his six-yard touchdown run gave New Mexico State an 18-point cushion and the Aggies never looked back.
Sophomore slotback Kori Garcia (pictured above) rushed for 84 yards on 11 carries and senior slotback Chris Nicholls added 67 yards on just eight trips for Cal Poly.
Cal Poly's two receptions were by junior Roland Jackson Jr. and Nicholls.
Defensive leaders for the Mustangs include senior linebacker Nick Dzubnar with 12 tackles, sophomore defensive end Josh Letuligasenoa with 11 stops and junior cornerback Chris Fletcher with his first career interception.
Rose carried the ball 30 times for his 149 yards for New Mexico State. Rogers completed 18 of 27 passes for 118 yards in his first game as an Aggie after transferring from Arizona Western College. Morgan caught six passes while Rose and Jerrell Brown each caught four passes.
Cal Poly plays its second game of the season Saturday, Sept. 6, at South Dakota State, with kickoff set for 4 p.m. PDT.
Team Stats
CP 0, NMSU 7
NMSU - Morgan, T 30 yd pass from Rogers, Tyler (Johnson, M kick) 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:14
CP 7, NMSU 7
CP - Brandon Howe 3 yd run (Stephen Pyle kick), 11 plays, 77 yards, TOP 4:51
CP 7, NMSU 14
NMSU - Hall, Xavier 1 yd run (Johnson, M kick), 10 plays, 63 yards, TOP 7:19
CP 10, NMSU 14
CP - Stephen Pyle 24 yd field goal 5 plays, 45 yards, TOP 2:11
CP 10, NMSU 21
NMSU - Rose III, Larry 6 yd pass from Rogers, Tyler (Johnson, M kick) 10 plays, 54 yards, TOP 4:41
CP 10, NMSU 28
NMSU - Rose III, Larry 6 yd run (Rogers, Tyler kick), 11 plays, 63 yards, TOP 4:49
