With only a few days of preparation, New Mexico State looks to bounce back from their shaky season debut this Thursday when they travel to Minneapolis to take on the Golden Gophers of Minnesota.

All eyes will be on quarterback Matt Romero, who had a less than desirable first appearance in the crimson and white last Saturday. Romero and the New Mexico State offense only managed to pick up seven first downs on 135 total yards in their week zero loss, starkly contrasting the offensive free-for-all that fans got use to last season.

Head coach Doug Martin has unwavering faith in his JUCO-transfer quarterback, though, with Romero being named the starter immediately in the post-game press conference on Saturday, despite senior Nick Jeanty entering the game for a spell in the second half.

Romero did show promise against one of the toughest defenses in the country, orchestrating a 93-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes of the game to save NM State from getting shutout for the first time in the Doug Martin era. The Aggies also didn’t turn the ball over once, which is quite an accomplishment against a Wyoming side that led the FBS in takeaways last year.

Still, the Aggies will need to take a big step forward to have success against Minnesota, who boast a formidable defense themselves, especially in the passing game, where they held opponents to under 175 yards per game in 2017.

Running back Jason Huntley and the o-line will have to perform better to take the pressure off Romero and control the game, which would help the defense out tremendously after possessing the ball for just over 17 minutes in game one.

Like New Mexico State, the Gophers are rolling with a first-year starting quarterback in walk-on Zach Annexstad, which should be a matchup advantage for the Aggie defense, but with Minnesota already having one of the worst passing offense’s in the country last year (122nd in the country with 126 yards per game), the youth-filled team will likely lean on their rushing attack led by senior Rodney Smith Jr., who is only one year removed from an eye-popping 16-touchdown campaign.

Stopping the run proved difficult for the Aggie defense against Wyoming, in large part because they were on the field for over two-thirds of the game, but allowing 321 yards rushing isn’t going to cut it this week.

New Mexico State will have to force Annexstad and the Gophers into obvious passing situations to capitalize on the inevitable mistakes to be made by a true freshman passer.

To make things harder, the Aggies will also have to get the job done on defense without linebacker Javahn Ferguson and edge rusher Jassavia Reese, who will be sidelined due to injury.

Getting in the win column this week looks to be a difficult task for the Aggies, who are traveling over 1,300 miles on four days rest to take on a Big Ten team, but a win in Minneapolis could be just the rebound New Mexico State needs to reclaim the momentum stolen last Saturday inside Aggie Memorial Stadium.