It’s been years since the New Mexico State football team has played a meaningful game in October, but that all changes this Saturday when the Aggies take on Arkansas State in what’s shaping up to be a season-defining matchup against another top conference opponent.

NMSU returns to Aggie Memorial for the first time in over a month, with three straight road games preceding their much needed bye this past week. The off week couldn’t have come at a better time for the Aggies, who managed to come out of the toughest first-half schedule for a Sun Belt team with a 3-4 record but were dealing with the inevitable injury bug that strikes any team that plays seven straight games. With stars like Larry Rose and Jaleel Scott getting back to full health, Doug Martin is confident that this NMSU team will end this four game losing streak against the Red Wolves and reach the highest win total in his coaching tenure with the program.

“The week off was really good for us health wise and it was productive. I think we’ll be at full strength,” Martin said, addressing the “much needed” bye week that allowed many Aggie players to heal up for the latter half of the season. “Obviously we haven’t been close to beating [Arkansas State] the last couple of years so it’s a real challenge for our team but it’s a challenge we’re looking forward to. It’s going to take all of us to get this done.”

Prior to the bye, New Mexico State defeated Georgia Southern for their first conference victory of the season, improving their record in the Sun Belt to 1-2, but did have to make a fourth quarter comeback against a winless Eagles team in a game that they were already favored to win. While that is a testament to NMSU’s ability to play well later in games, it also shows the team’s struggle to put together a full 60 minutes of their best football, something that linebacker Dalton Harrington said needs to change if they want to beat Arkansas State.

“As a defense we’ve played well in spurts, but aside from the UTEP game, we haven’t put together four quarters. If we want to put our team in a position to win, we’re going to have to put a full four quarters out,” Harrington said. “They’re going to take advantage of any mistakes that we make so it’ll be big for us to play a full game.”

Not long ago, defense was a premium for the Aggies. In Frank Spaziani’s second year as defensive coordinator, though, strong showings on that side of the ball are starting to be routine, especially in the passing game. NMSU has made massive strides from last year’s defensive efforts, sitting in the top four in the Sun Belt in total defense and leading the conference in passing yards allowed per game and total interceptions. Keeping up this improved level of play will be huge for the New Mexico State defense going forward.

While NMSU has made tremendous improvements on the defensive side of the ball, it’s the top tier offenses that will be in the spotlight on Saturday night. New Mexico State and Arkansas State are ranked among the top three in the conference in total offense, scoring offense and passing offense, with the dominant air attacks of both teams having top-10 production on a national level through the first half of the season.

This contest features the top two signal callers in the Sun Belt and could shape up to be one of the better quarterback showdowns in all of college football. As far as passing touchdowns go, Ark. State’s Justice Hansen and NMSU’s Tyler Rogers rank fourth and eighth respectively in the country. The two haven’t had trouble moving the ball, either, with Rogers and Hansen each eclipsing 340 yards of total offense per game. Gaudy numbers like this all but guarantee a high scoring game, and Coach Martin knows that kind of offensive output has to be matched throughout the game or things could get ugly.

“You’re not going to shut Arkansas State out — they’re offense is too good to do that so you’ve got to score points to beat them,” Martin said. “You’ve got to score points and answer scores. It’s really important that we get off to a fast start and score early so that we keep ourselves in the game and get it into the fourth quarter. For us to be successful in this game, it’s got to be tight in the fourth quarter and we’ve got to close it out.”

The talent is there. The opportunity is there. This New Mexico State team is special and should be supported like one. I mean when was the last time the Aggies had a chance to enter November at .500? I firmly believe that this is the season NMSU ends its 57 year bowl drought, and with a favorable record down the stretch, I think there’s a real chance the Aggies finish with their first winning record since 2002.

The crowd will play a huge role in Saturday night’s game in a tough matchup against Arkansas State. A win could be the turning point for a program that’s already on the upswing, and with this being NMSU’s aptly-named homecoming (34 days after the last home game), the energy level should be through the roof. The team has done its job so far this season by playing an entertaining and high quality brand of football — now it’s time to do ours.