Written by: Teddy Feinberg/Sun-News Sports Editor
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The last two seasons, every time a kicker took the field for the New Mexico State Aggies, it seemed that an adventure would soon follow.
Whether it be a badly missed field goal, a blocked kick or a kickoff that traveled just 10 yards, the Aggies have struggled to find competent play from the position during the majority of head coach Hal Mumme's tenure.
The hope is that things will change for the better in 2008. And judging from the spring performance of kicker Kyle Hughes, early signs point to marked improvement across the board for the special teams unit.
"He's a strong kid," Mumme said of Hughes following NMSU's first spring scrimmage of the season on Saturday. "People don't realize how good of an athlete he is. You need that out of a kicker. He's hitting it well for us."
Hughes has been putting balls inside the 5-yard line on kickoffs, a significant improvement over last year, when kickers Paul Young and Ryan Jastram — although fairly accurate from short range — lacked the leg strength to pin opponents deep. The result was teams consistently starting with the ball from their own 35-yard line and up, field position that put the NMSU defense in a bind.
In Hughes' mind, those days are a thing of the past.
"If it's not in the back of the endzone, the coaches want me to put a lot of air under it, get hang time under it so our coverage team can do their job," Hughes said. "We want to put the opposition in a tough spot. The goal is always inside the 20 (yard line)."
Hughes supplies a strong leg on field goal attempts as well and was also punting for the Aggies on Saturday. He unleashed a couple high, hanging bombs with solid distance on them, showing that he could be more than adequate at the position.
Mumme said that there is still competition for the punting job between Hughes and Jastram.
"I liked the way Kyle punted today," Mumme said. "He's in a contest with Jastram. They're probably the best we've got right now."
Mumme said that he could see Hughes contributing in all phases of the kicking game.
That's assuming of course that the kicker performs in the classroom. Hughes was a highly anticipated recruit last season for the Aggies before failing to make the cut academically, sidelining him for all of 2007.
Young and Jastram stepped in and kicked admirably for the Aggies. Still, there were times of struggle throughout the season, making it apparent it was an area the team had to address in the offseason.
Outside of the three listed above, other kickers expected to compete for time in 2008 are Kyle Snyder and Jordan Davenport.
Still, Hughes might be the most talented of the group. It also sounds as if the time has come for him to take the field and make a difference at NMSU.
"I felt like I let the team down last year," Hughes said. "They brought me in here to be the guy and I didn't even take the field. But I'm on top of the books. And I'm ready to contribute."
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It was an up and down performance for the NMSU defense on Saturday.
While there were some highlights, namely an interception-lateral by lineman Oren Long to safety Derrick Richardson for a touchdown, there were also big plays surrendered, particularly in the secondary.
Freshman wide receiver LaVorick Williams made some big grabs and ripped off some long runs into the NMSU defensive backfield. Chris Buckner and Julius Fleming also made big plays against the Aggie DB's, as the unit is still adapting to the new defensive system being installed by coordinator Joe Lee Dunn.
Cornerback Chris Woods sat out of Saturday's scrimmage.
"We have a lot of work to do," Richardson said. "We have to step up and lock our man down.
"It can be tough in these scrimmages. We have two units in the secondary and the offense is running 80 passing plays. But we have to get better. And I believe we will."
The Aggie defense did force four interceptions on the afternoon and appeared to get better as the contest wore on.
"He was angry, he was mad," Richardson said of Dunn, who was hired as the new defensive coordinator this past winter. "It seemed like we came out and layed down for the offense. We should have come out with more fire."
It appeared as if different personnel packages were shuffled on and off the field as Dunn is still trying to feel out the makeup of the defensive roster.
"They're learning," Mumme said. "Joe Lee is still trying to learn all of their names. You can see it coming together and it will continue to get better."
There were moments when the defense applied pressure in the backfield and the turnovers were encouraging as well. Long picked off a batted ball that deflected off the helmet of an offensive lineman. Surrounded by tacklers, Long flipped the ball to Richardson, who took it down the right sideline, dodged the opposition and slipped into the endzone.
"I saw the pass was low and I lost it," Long said. "I saw D-Rich and I flipped it to him, let him run with it. It was a fun play."
Richardson said that getting in the endzone was a flashback to his earlier playing days.
"It felt like old times," Richardson said. "I was a running back in high school. It felt good to get in."
Teddy Feinberg can be reached at tfeinberg@lcsun-news.com
