New Mexico State had 11 days to prepare for Jacksonville State. Unfortunately for the Aggies, it seemed like no amount of preparation could’ve prepared them for what happened during the game.
NM State (1-5, 0-3 Conference USA) were ran off the field by the Gamecocks (3-3, 2-0 CUSA) 54-13 on Wednesday evening, extending the Aggies’ losing streak to five. Despite scoring the first points and taking a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, JSU heavily outscored NM State the rest of the way en route to a blowout loss on the road.
Aggies coach Tony Sanchez took the blame for his team’s performance, believing it’s on him to improve NM State’s fortunes.
“Honestly, it’s an embarrassing performance,” Sanchez said. “That’s my fault. I’m the head coach. I’ll take full responsibility for it. I got to do a better job of preparing these guys.”
Sanchez didn’t have much of an update on junior running back Monte Watkins’ injury, only stating he’s “doing a lot better now.” Watkins was seriously injured on a botched trick play from the Aggies, when junior quarterback Santino Marucci looked away and pretended to hear instructions from coaches on the sideline before Watkins received a direct snap. He dropped, then fumbled that snap before being hit hard by a JSU defender. Watkins was stretchered into an ambulance and was later reported to have feeling in all of his extremities.
“He’s OK,” Sanchez said. “He was able to squeeze (his hands) and communicate.”
Sanchez is giving his team the day off on Thursday before a 120-minute practice on Friday. The Aggies have just six days from Wednesday before taking on Louisiana Tech (1-3, 0-1 CUSA) at home next Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs are also struggling and are currently on a three-game losing streak heading into Thursday’s contest with Middle Tennessee.
Sanchez says he’ll have the Aggies “ready to go,” but also didn’t provide much confidence going forward.
“We’re not a very good football team right now,” Sanchez said. “That’s on me. I’m the guy in charge.”
Sanchez not impressed with Marucci, who’s now in concussion protocol
Junior quarterback Santino Marucci started his third game against the Gamecocks, and it didn’t go the way he wanted it to.
Marucci completed just three of his 10 passes for 24 yards, registering a quarterback rating of 25.7. He sustained a hit to the head from JSU’s Fred Perry after completing an on-the-run throw to junior running back Mike Washington with 7:46 left in the second quarter. Perry was ejected for a targeting penalty, and Marucci was temporarily taken out of the game with his injury.
Sophomore quarterback Parker Awad relieved him for a drive, but Marucci re-entered the game for two more drives before halftime. On the second drive, he was strip-sacked by the Gamecocks’ Juwuan Campbell for a JSU fumble recovery while trying to scramble. Marucci was then put into concussion protocol and Awad played the rest of the game.
Sanchez criticized that decision from the potentially-concussed Marucci, but took the blame for it.
“When the protection breaks down, you want to throw that thing away,” Sanchez said. “That comes back to coaching. We have to do a better job of getting him prepared for that situation.”
Awad completed nine of 16 passes for 120 yards, one touchdown and one interception after taking Marucci’s place. His 21-yard touchdown throw to senior wide receiver PJ Johnson III in the fourth quarter was the first touchdown pass caught by an NM State wide receiver this season.
Aggies’ run defense issues remain
NM State came into Wednesday evening as one of the 10 worst teams in FBS for rushing yards allowed per game, and things didn’t improve against JSU.
The Aggies allowed 334 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns to the Gamecocks, with CUSA rushing touchdowns leader Tre Stewart tallying 118 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Stewart also added a 32-yard touchdown reception.
NM State also failed to contain multiple JSU quarterbacks on the ground. After allowing 231 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns to quarterbacks in its last two games against Sam Houston and New Mexico, Gamecocks quarterbacks Tyler Huff and Logan Smothers combined for 145 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. The latter rushed 72 yards for JSU’s seventh and final touchdown with 14:46 left in the fourth quarter.
Sanchez attributed the subpar run defense to poor tackling.
“We don’t have guys back there’s getting big tackles in open field,” Sanchez said. “We’re not doing a very good job. Early in the game… I thought we were handling it pretty well. But as the game went on, we just did a very poor job of tackling on the back end.”
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Injuries, poor run defense doom NM State against Jacksonville State
