Good morning Aggie fans. We hope you've all recovered from a very busy weekend schedule. First of all kudos to the nearly 22,000 people who proved that they were Tough Enough To Wear Pink on Saturday (included is the crowd from the volleyball game). The Aggie community raised $581,851.90 for the Cowboys for Cancer Research and Tough Enough To Wear Pink campaign. So even though the Aggie football team lost the game not all was lost and in the bigger picture, the lasting effect from the $581,851 will last much longer than the outcome of the Saturday night's game.

That being said, Saturday night's loss was a tough one. We really thought heading into the game that everything was lined up for an Aggie victory. Unfortunately we underestimated San Jose State's defense just a wee bit. Dick Tomey and San Jose State have a fine team. In the preseason poll we submitted we had them pegged at the #6 spot behind both NMSU (4) and Louisiana Tech (5). We were slightly off. The Spartans will definitely be giving Boise State a run for their money next week. Whether they can win or not remains to be seen.

Aggie fans should continue to be optimistic however. The Aggie defense was rock solid. They gave up just 201 yards of total offense, 151 on the ground, of which 32 came on the first drive when Yonus Davis rushed for a 32 yard touchdown. As we mentioned on Saturday morning in our preview, turnovers were the key. The Aggies were able to generate turnovers, picking off three San Jose State passes. Unfortunately this game the Aggies weren't able to capitalize on any of the three turnovers. San Jose State on the other hand forced three interceptions and had a fumble recovery on special teams and turned all but the last interception into points... 17 points to be exact (which would be the final margin of victory).

There are several things that the Aggies can be proud of this game. First and foremost, the defense. Outside of the very first drive which the Aggies gave up a touchdown to Yonus Davis, the Aggie defense was absolutely killer. They forced turnovers, they were excellent against the run. They held the Spartans to just 11 first downs in the entire game. San Jose State's offensive drive chart looked like this: Touchdown, Interception, Punt, Punt, Interception, Punt, Turnover on Downs, Punt, Interception, Punt, Field Goal, Touchdown, Punt. If we were members of ESPN's Gameday Final, we'd give a helmet sticker to the defense.

The other thing that the Aggies can be extremely proud of is after getting down 21-0 early into the second quarter, they could have folded and this game could have gotten ugly (much like last year's game against San Jose State). They did not. In fact, they battled back to 21-14 and after the Aggies had just scored a touchdown, D-Rich (Derrick Richardson) picked off a pass from Kyle Reed at the NMSU 40 yard line. The Aggies at that point had a legitimate chance to pull the game out after being down 21 points. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way but we're proud of the way the team fought back through the entire game.

The bad news for the Aggies is that the game took its toll on the receiving corps. We saw Wes Neiman get carted off the field early in the second half, his injury status is unknown to us. "Touchdown" Marcus Anderson went down in the fourth quarter with either an ankle or foot injury and had to be helped off the field (he wasn't putting any weight on his left foot). At least a couple of Aggie defenders were shaken up during the game as well. The losses of Neiman and Anderson definitely impacted the game, especially losing Wes Neiman early in the second half. Both of those players take tremendous pressure off of Chris Williams and A.J. Harris and as we all know, those short passes that they catch not only substitute for the running game at times, but especially in the case of Marcus Anderson, those plays can go to the house at any time.

Finally, an observation from immediately following the game. Just how improved are the Aggies this season? San Jose State celebrated this victory as though they had just defeated Boise State. That should tell you something about this Aggie team. Coach Tomey told his team post game that this was one of their best wins and said, "You guys just beat a very good football team."

Aggie fans need not get their heads down about this loss. As we mentioned yesterday the most important thing to remember is that this was only game two of an eight game conference season and the Aggies are 1-1 in league play and their goal of becoming bowl eligible is still very much intact. Up next is a winnable game at Idaho.

As for the Aggie volleyball team, they took care of business on Saturday as well. Although, they lost the first set in stunning fashion to Boise State. The Broncos pushed the Aggies for three sets before the Aggies put an end to the threat and laid the hammer down in the fourth and deciding set. The Aggies continue to get outstanding play from the middles, Amber Simpson and Erin Birmingham. We think (and we'll find out from coach tomorrow) that the sudden emergence (after lots of hard work) of Erin Birmingham has really taken a lot of pressure off of Amber Simpson. Simpson came into the season with some mighty big shoes to fill with the departure of three time AVCA All-American Kim Oguh. The Simpson/Birmingham duo we think is also helping to take pressure off of the outside hitters, Lindsey Yon and Krista Altermatt. Early in the season Yon was taking a ton of swings in each match, quite a few more than any other player, but as the season has progressed, the Aggies have become much more diversified and much harder to defend (as is evidenced by their hitting percentages across the board).

Birmingham is also bringing the defense. When she and a teammate go up for a block, you know they're either going to get their hands on it and deflect it to the rest of the Aggie defense or their going to stuff you. The Aggies have the top two individual blockers in conference play. Amber Simpson has 44 total blocks (40 block assists and 4 solo) while Birmingham has 37 total blocks (34 block assists and 3 solo) and not to be left out is Kelli Goodan who is usually the other member of the block. She has 28 block assists in conference play.

Be sure to check out our photos from both the volleyball match and the football game on Saturday.

Finally, don't forget to go vote for Chase Holbrook in the Davey O'Brien Award fan voting. Chase is still in fourth place but has a shot at making the semifinal round of voting even if he doesn't make the top three.

On to today's links...

KVIA ABC 7 in El Paso has video from Saturday's game. (Click on Sports Saturday, Thanks Vic)

KTSM NBC 9 in El Paso has video from Saturday's game. (Thanks Vic)

KDBC CBS 4 in El Paso has video from Saturday's game (Click on Sports Saturday, Thanks Vic).

Felix Chavez of the Las Cruces Sun-News writes the Aggies must rebound quickly as they look ahead to Idaho on Saturday.

Jason Groves of the Las Cruces Sun-News previews the 2008/2009 WAC basketball season.

Jason Groves also takes an early look at the men's and women's Aggie basketball teams.

Ashley Meeks of the Las Cruces Sun-News recaps the Tough Enough To Wear Pink display on Saturday.

The NMSU athletic website recaps the final men's tennis tournament of the fall schedule.

The NMSU athletic website recaps the Aggie cross country team's final tuneup before the WAC championships.

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