Saving up last year's rage for this year’s game

It’s college football at its finest.
The UNM football team (0-5) travels south to Las Cruces to face in-state rival NMSU (0-4) on Saturday in a game nationally considered to be the Gaffe Bowl.

But ignore the statistics and rankings, because the hatred between the Aggies and the Lobos has blossomed this week leading up to the annual game.

“I have a winning record down there, and that’s how I would like to keep it,” middle linebacker Carmen Messina said.

And throw UNM and NMSU’s winless records out the window, especially for Lobo players, because, for now, 2010 is a one-game season.
The Aggies pulled out a 20-17 victory in Albuquerque last year. Aggie quarterback Jeff Fleming hit Marcus Anderson for a four-yard touchdown pass with 39 seconds left in the game.

The Lobos had an opportunity to tie the game with a field goal, but kicker James Aho missed a 47-yard try as time expired.
Defensive end Jaymar Latchison said he is still bitter about last year’s last loss.

“We know that when we play State every time. No matter what the record is on any team, it’s going to be a battle all game,” he said.
UNM has taken great measure to pump itself up for this year’s southern clash.

Latchison said the Lobos have gone as far as playing the Aggie fight song in the team’s locker room and some game film from last year.
“We have (last year’s game) playing every day on the TVs in our locker room of what they did to us last year,” he said. “We’re not going to let it happen again, so we’re going to put the hurting on them in their house.”

If only for one week, the Lobos and Aggies get a chance to ignore how their respective seasons have played out.
It’s not the fact that the Lobos and Aggies are winless; it’s how they have lost.

In their five losses UNM has been beaten by an average 52 points, a ranking that is dead last in the Football Bowl Subdivision (formally Division-I football) out of 120 teams.

UNM’s worst loss came at the hands of Oregon — a 72-0 drubbing the first week of the season.
On the flip side, NMSU is 119th in points against, giving up 40.6 per game. NMSU’s biggest defeat came last week to perennially Western Athletic Conference powerhouse, Boise State.

The Broncos dismantled the Aggies at Aggie Memorial Stadium, 59-0.

NMSU head coach Dewayne Walker said this week’s game isn’t a must-win, but a victory couldn’t hurt given the Aggies’ lack of success.
“I can’t build this up as a do-or-die,” he said. “That’s not how you build programs and that’s not how you go through a process.”
UNM head football coach Mike Locksley said he is expecting an anything-goes mentality being that this weekend’s contest is a rivalry game.
“It’s going to be an emotional, physical game,” he said. “The team that settles the quickest, ultimately, will be the team that wins.”
No matter the outcome, Walker said he won’t lose any sleep.

“A win would be great for us,” he said. “But I can’t say that I am going to go home Sunday night and commit suicide if we don’t get that accomplished.”