ALBUQUERQUE -- It's not Miami-Florida State. Doesn't come
close to Michigan-Ohio State. No mistaking this one for
Oklahoma-Texas.
But in New Mexico, the not-so-nice little rivalry between the
Lobos and Aggies is still a big deal.
"They will come out and try and punch us in the mouth and we'll
try and do the same thing to them," says New Mexico State
quarterback Paul Dombrowski.
"We play in a better conference and year in and year out we
expect to win. We don't need to be losing to them," says New
Mexico defensive end D.J. Renteria.
The next game between the state's only two Division I schools
takes place Saturday night at University Stadium.
In the series that dates back to 1893, New Mexico holds a
60-28-5 edge -- most of it built over the last 34 years. Since 1969,
New Mexico has won 27 of 34 games.
But there is no question there is much more parity in the two
programs since Tony Samuel took over as the Aggies' head coach
seven years ago. Fact is, Samuel is 3-3 against the Lobos,
including a 24-13 win last season.
"That's ancient history," New Mexico coach Rocky Long says of
the Lobos former dominance in the series. "Over the last five
years, that hasn't been the case. The talent level is very
similar."
There's another current similarity. Both teams are anxious to
turn around their seasons in a hurry.
New Mexico is 1-3 after losses the past two weeks to Brigham
Young and Washington State. The loss to BYU was expecially tough
because the Lobos, who are expected to contend for the Mountain
West Conference title, had plenty of chances to win but came up
short offensively.
"We had a lot of great plans on how the season was going to
begin, but we're at where we're at because of what we've done so
far," said Renteria. "We realize what we've done to this point
hasn't gotten it done so we're going to have to change something
for the better."
New Mexico State is 1-2, with that win being a 48-3 romp over
Division II member Western New Mexico. The losses were to currently
No. 13 ranked Texas (66-7) and Oregon State (28-16) last week.
Much of the focus Saturday will be the quarterbacks. New Mexico
State continues to alternate Dombrowski and junior Buck Pierce,
while New Mexico is still going with senior Casey Kelly.
Kelly has been inconsistent through the first four games and
Lobos' fans are growing restless. New Mexico coach Rocky Long,
however, isn't ready to make a change.,
"There will only be a change in quarterbacks if we think the
quarterback is the problem," Long said this week.
There's no such controversy in Las Cruces, where Pierce and
Dombrowski not only give the Aggies plenty of depth at the
position, but are talented enough to sometimes be in the backfield
at the same time. There have been times in the Aggies' option
offense where one of the quarterbacks is the runner and the other a
blocker. Sometimes, Pierce or Dombrowski will line up as a
receiver.
"These guys are good athletes," Samuel says of his
quarterbacks. "If you've got two of them, there is no need to have
them walking along the sidelines with me."
Dombrowski got his first collegiate start last season against
New Mexico and became the first NMSU quarterback in 24 years to
rush for over 100 yards, finishing with 136.
"Last year we had the misconception that he was a rookie
quarterback, but he didn't play like one," said Long. "He took
the game on his shoulders and won it for them."
Both teams went on to have successful seasons in 2002. New
Mexico finished second in the Mountain West Conference and played
UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl. New Mexico State finished 7-5, the most
wins for the school since 1967.
They are programs headed in the right direction, but with a ways
to go.
"We (Long and himself) had big challenges," Samuel says of the
progress of the programs in recent years. "I'd like both of us to
get to the point where this is a national television game. Then we
know we've accomplished something."