The New Mexico State football team looks to carry the momentum from a storybook 2017 into the new year as the Wyoming Cowboys come to town to kickoff the new college football season with a Saturday night clash at Aggie Memorial Stadium. With the teams just hours away from taking the field, here are some keys to tonight’s game.

Battle between debuting quarterbacks

Both New Mexico State and Wyoming lost multi-year starting quarterbacks after last season, leaving each team with a big question mark under center that has been the talk of both Las Cruces and Laramie for the last eight months. With Tyler Rogers and Josh Allen gone, it’s time for Matt Romero and Tyler Vander Waal to take over their respective offenses for the foreseeable future. Neither player will be expected to single-handedly carry their team to success, but this game will likely come down to which quarterback can settle their nerves sooner and find comfort leading a new offense.

Aggies have to protect the football

Wyoming’s offense regressed pretty significantly last season, but their outstanding defensive play helped the Cowboys eek out eight wins for the second year in a row and capture a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl victory. With a majority of the group that forced an FBS-high 38 total turnovers last season still intact, Wyoming is a threat end an opposing offense’s drive on any given play. The Aggies won’t be able to win if they turn the ball over multiple times.

Wyoming line susceptible to NM State pass rush

One of the pleasant surprises for New Mexico State last season was their exceptional front-seven play, especially when it came to passing situations. NM State almost brings back the entire unit that registered 43 sacks last year, posing serious problems for the Cowboys’ offensive line, who are still trying to figure out three of the five positions after a disappointing 2017. They’ll have to do it without last season’s sack-leader in Cedric Wilcots, who is currently serving a suspension, but the Aggies still have more than enough firepower up front to disrupt an already shaky Wyoming.

Resurgent rushing attacks

Despite the big difference in total offensive production a year ago, both Wyoming and New Mexico State were substandard when it came to running the ball, with the two programs ranking in the bottom-15 in rushing yards per game last season. That’ll need to improve for someone tonight, though, with the ground game being a likely safety net for both offenses as Romero and Vander Waal settle into their new starting roles. It will be especially uncharacteristic for the Aggies, who threw the ball nearly 50 times a game last season, but a good running game is a quarterback’s best friend and will be paramount for whichever team wants to start off their season 1-0.