This was certainly not the start New Mexico State was looking for.

A lack of discipline coupled with an abysmal night on offense puts an early damper on the 2018 season, as the Aggies only manage 135 total yards in a game one shellacking at the hands of Wyoming 29-7.

Some offensive struggles were to be expected with Matt Romero making his debut at quarterback, and it was evident early on that that would be the case with NM State gaining just three yards in the first quarter before surrendering a safety from their own one yard line. Still, the offense’s performance, on all levels, was as poor as it’s been under head coach Doug Martin, with a late garbage time touchdown connection from 31 yards out between Romero and Drew Dan saving the Aggies from their first shutout loss since a 44-0 rout against Louisiana Tech in 2011.

That last drive, which accounted for 93 of the team’s yards, did offer signs of hope according to Martin, who is pleased with the mental toughness of his first-year signal caller.

“Those guys have a great defensive front and he was under a lot of pressure all night. For your first start, to have that in your face is not easy, but I wanted to take him out just so he could catch his breath, watch the game and settle up,” Martin said, addressing his decision to take Romero out for a few drives before putting him back in for the late game scoring drive. “I’ll say this, when you’re a developing quarterback, I’ve seen a lot more quarterbacks ruined than made. If you leave a guy in there in those situations, sometimes you can beat their confidence to death so for him to come back and do what he did is a good sign for us.”

The problems ran deeper than the quarterback for New Mexico State tonight, though.

Romero was consistently under duress throughout the night and the leading rusher, Jason Huntley, only mustered 22 yards on nine attempts. All these problems culminated in a complete lack of control on the game, with NM State possessing the ball for a mere 17 minutes, compared to almost 36 for Wyoming.

The Aggies inability to sustain a drive put the defense in tough positions and all things considered, they played fairly well. The game could have been over at halftime, but the defense stiffened after giving up an early 24 yard touchdown run to Nico Evans, holding Wyoming to field goals when they were in good scoring position.

Being on the field that much will take it’s toll on the body, however, and that was clear when Evans broke away for a 56-yard score that put the game on ice for the Cowboys before Jevon Bigelow added a fourth quarter security touchdown for cosmetic reason.

That being said, fatigue is no excuse for giving up 29 points (technically 27 on the defense) according to safety Ron LaForce, who expects more from the defensive side of the ball.

“You can say we was tired out there, offense didn’t put us in good positions, but at the end of the day, we got to play better. They scored 29 points… I don’t think 29 is good enough to win for us,” LaForce said. “As a defense as a whole, we always put the pressure on ourselves to, no matter what the score is, go out there and not give up the point. If we do our assignments right and make tackles, they would have a zero up on the board.”

Luckily for the New Mexico State, the team won’t have much time to dwell on tonight’s game. The Aggies take the field again on a short week when they travel to Minnesota for a Thursday night matchup against the Big Ten squad.

“I think it’ll be good for us to get back on the field quickly. Obviously it’s going to be another tough game, going on the road against a Big Ten team in a hostile environment, but I’m excited to get back in the field and see where we can go, particularly offensively,” Martin said. “If we can just get to wear we can manage and play how we’re capable of with the quarterback position, and up front, we’re going to be alright.”