FACTS & STATS: Site: Memorial Stadium (74,031) -- Lincoln, Nebraska. Television: FSN-PPV. Home Record: NMSU 0-0, Nebraska 2-0. Away Record: NMSU 0-0, Nebraska 0-0. Neutral Record: NMSU 0-0, Nebraska 0-0. Conference Record: NMSU 0-0, Nebraska 0-0. Series Record: Nebraska leads, 2-0.

GAME NOTES: The New Mexico State Aggies finally get their 2008 season off the ground this weekend as they pay a visit to the Cornhuskers of Nebraska. Aside from starting a week later than most of the other teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the Aggies had to postpone their September 4th opener versus Nicholls State because of weather concerns, which means NMSU is the last of the FBS programs to play this season. In 2007 under the direction of Hal Mumme, the Aggies were a mere 4-9 and lost their final five games against league opponents in the Western Athletic Conference. The last time the team landed in the win column was October 20, 2007 when it defeated Idaho at home by a final of 45-31. As for the Cornhuskers, a team that doesn't even bother to leave the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium until the second week of October, the squad has opened with back-to-back victories against non- conference opponents. First, it was Western Michigan that was treated to a 47-24 decision in week one, then last weekend San Jose State came up short in a 35-12 outcome. Following this game, the Huskers catch a bye and don't play again until Virginia Tech comes calling on September 27th, with the Big 12 Conference opener versus nationally-ranked Missouri the following Saturday. The Huskers won both previous meetings against New Mexico State.

The Aggies, and especially quarterback Chase Holbrook, have to be chomping at the bit right now. It is one thing to have a bye week early in the season, it is another to have to sit back and watch every other team in college football get out on the field and have some real contact. Last season, Holbrook had the NMSU offense operating almost solely by his own arm, generating better than 330 ypg through the air to rank second in the WAC and fifth in the nation. However, as great as that may sound, a so-called running attack that produced a mere 91.5 ypg to rank seventh in the conference and 109th in the nation, did little to enhance the squad's offensive presence. In fact, without much to rely on coming out of the backfield the Aggies stumbled around when it came to scoring points, posting just 24 ppg to rank 87th in the country. Although he missed several games down the stretch a year ago because of a shoulder injury, Chris Williams is clearly the main target for Holbrook after he collected 56 catches for 772 yards and 11 touchdowns in just over half a season.

For a team that has focused so much of its efforts on offense, it is the defense that really needs the most attention in Las Cruces. For as much as the Aggies demonstrate that they are a superior passing team, one would think that the pass defense would have plenty of opportunities to practice and improve against Holbrook and Co. every day, but that simply is not the case. In fact, last season New Mexico State's pass defense was not only second-to-last in the WAC with 261.9 ypg allowed, it was 105th in the country. Making matters worse, the squad failed to come up with enough big plays to make opponents reconsider their game plan even for a moment, producing a weak pass efficiency defense with a mark of 149.28 (114th in the country). In an effort to combat such attacks on the secondary and the entire defense for that matter, coach Mumme has brought in Joe Lee Dunn who has installed a 3-3-5 defense to place more emphasis on the defensive backs and give them more support so that they can take a few more chances to make big plays this season.

Joe Ganz fell off the pace last Saturday in terms of scoring strikes, due to the fact that he failed to throw a single touchdown pass. However, the signal- caller did connect on 17-of-25 attempts for 216 yards, while surviving three sacks and an interception. Although Nebraska managed to produce a mere 99 yards on the ground on 30 running opportunities, the squad was still happy to settle for three rushing touchdowns. Ganz, who had a total of 19 touchdowns over his last four games dating back to the meeting with Kansas on the road last season, really didn't need to be that much of a factor against SJSU, but it is still odd that he failed to tally a passing touchdown after averaging almost five per game in his previous four outings. Nevertheless, Nebraska is still one of the better scoring teams in the nation in the early going with an average of 41 ppg, although even within the Big 12 Conference that number ranks the program just eighth. Keeping the ball on the ground at least gives opponents the illusion that the Huskers might actually be trying to build such an attack, but until the team can build beyond a mere 118.5 ypg rushing (10th in the conference) foes shouldn't have that much to worry about.

Although San Jose State scored the first points of the game last Saturday, the Cornhuskers remained calm and consequently kept the visitors out of the end zone the rest of the day. SJSU quarterbacks Kyle Reed and Myles Eden both tossed an interception in the contest, the latter completing just one of his seven pass attempts to his own team as well. Giving the Spartans trouble in the backfield was Pierre Allen who tallied three of his game-high 10 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Nebraska had a total of nine TFLs in the contest, but took down a quarterback just twice. Making his presence felt on the front line was Ndamukong Suh who picked off a pass and returned it 49 yards for the score. With Holbrook coming in to kick off his final collegiate season, assume that he's going to be firing the ball all over the field and trying to find cracks in the Nebraska secondary. After just two games the Huskers have shown that they have problems stopping the pass, currently ranked 10th in the Big 12 and 102nd in the country with 279 ypg allowed through the air. However, with an average of three sacks per game the Huskers have managed to put at least some pressure on quarterbacks.

Perhaps sitting on the sidelines for so long watching the rest of the college football world pass by is something that will count against Holbrook and the Aggies. However, expect coach Mumme to give his quarterback every opportunity to get in the swing of things as soon as possible, even if NMSU losses out on a golden opportunity to knock off a program from a BCS conference.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Nebraska 41, New Mexico State 28

Saturday, September 13th, 7:00 p.m. (et).