Left Photo: Jason O. Watson/US Presswire
Lost Lettermen is counting down and ranking all 124 FBS college football teams from best to worst by comparing each to a well-known song. We will examine one team per day through the summer in the lead up to the 2012 season. Today’s team: The New Mexico State Aggies.
2011 Record: 4-9
Head Coach: DeWayne Walker
Returning Starters: 8 (4 offense, 4 defense)
Key Players: QB Travaughn Colwell, LB Alexander LaVoy
Schedule:
8/30: Sacramento St.
9/8: @ Ohio
9/15: @ UTEP
9/29: New Mexico
10/6: UT-San Antonio
10/20: @ Utah St.
10/27: Louisiana Tech
11/3: @ Auburn
11/10: San Jose St.
11/24: BYU
12/1: @ Texas St.
Skinny:
Fourth-year coach DeWayne Walker has his work cut out for him in 2012 — and even that is probably an understatement. With the losses of quarterback Matt Christian, leading running back Kenny Turner and wide receiver Traveon Rogers, the Aggies won’t have it easy trying to improve on their four-win season from a year ago. Turner rushed for over a 1,000 yards and recorded 10 touchdowns in 2011 while Rogers played the dual role of receiver and kick return specialist, scoring three times. Oh, and former offensive coordinator Doug Martin jumped ship to Boston College. Even if the defense can orchestrate some type of magic despite its own losses, the offense will undoubtedly struggle to muster a consistent air and ground attack. Yet, the Aggies’ lone saving grace might be its less-than-challenging schedule, with games against FCS Sacramento State and UT-San Antonio, which is joining the FBS for the 2012 season.
Eight total starters return on both sides of the ball and, for Walker and the Aggies, the 2012 season reminds us of Queen’s classic “Another One Bites the Dust” — another season come and gone with relatively minimal progress and a sub-.500 record. Such has been the norm in Las Cruces, NM, for the last decade and, in Walker’s case, he’ll be lucky if he makes it to year five.
FBS 124 Countdown
#124: UTSA is … Rebecca Black’s “Friday”
#123: UMass is … Clay Aiken’s “Invisible”
#122: South Alabama is … Rednex’s “Cotton Eye Joe”
#121: Texas State is … Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out?”
#120: New Mexico is … Double Take’s “Hot Problems”
#119: Florida Atlantic is … Rammstein’s “Du Hast”
#118: Memphis is … Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog”
#117: Akron is … LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”
#116: UNLV is … Wayne Newton’s “Remember When”
#115: UAB is … Jay-Z’s “99 Problems”
#114: MTSU is … Jessica Mauboy’s “What Happened to Us?”
#113: Tulane is … The Game’s “My Life”
#112: Idaho is … Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart”
#111: Buffalo is … Bruno Mars’ “Don’t Give Up”
#110: UL Monroe is … Bubba Sparxxx’s “Ugly”
#109: Rice is … Destiny’s Child’s “Survivor”
#108: Central Michigan is … Kid Rock’s “Only God Knows Why”
