Philadelphia, PA -- (Sports Network) - 2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: Last season quarterback Chase Holbrook, who missed almost two full games, threw for 3,866 yards and 26 touchdowns, yet NMSU was still just 4-9 and beat only one other member of the Western Athletic Conference (Idaho). A transfer from Southeastern Louisiana, Holbrook set NCAA records for sophomore quarterbacks by throwing for 4,619 yards and generating 4,541 yards of total offense.

Last season the Aggies had the second-rated passing attack in the WAC (fifth nationally) with 331.9 ypg, but with a rushing attack generating a mere 91.5 ypg (109th in the country), NMSU was surprising no one with its offensive schemes.

The squad managed to open up 2007 with two wins in three tries however, topping both Southeastern Louisiana and UTEP, but after that the program enjoyed just two more wins, the aforementioned victory versus the Vandals and a lackluster 20-17 decision against little Arkansas-Pine Bluff. New Mexico State suffered big losses to the likes of Boise State (58-0), Hawaii (50-13) and San Jose State (51-17) which consequently left the program with a record of just 1-7 in WAC action.

2008 ANALYSIS:

OFFENSE: Coach Hal Mumme is one of the originators of the spread offense, so he's more than happy to send players out to the edge and everywhere in between to try and gain an advantage over defenses, yet there may be a few new wrinkles he's preparing for this season.

"This is the most optimistic I've been in a long time about any place I've been. Mainly its because of our players...we've got a great leader on offense in Chase Holbrook and some really marquee players to go along with him. We're deeper in the offensive line which is really important and we had our best year recruiting running backs...we went out and got some running backs that we think will help Chase in the run game aspect of it."

After just two years Holbrook is already the all-time school leader in passing yards and total offense. Passing for more than 400 yards in a game is nothing new for Holbrook, and with three returning starters from the wideout position back on the field for the Aggies it should be more the rule than the exception.

"He's put up terrific numbers and had some heroic efforts, not having as many people around him as some of the other guys I've had (at QB). This is his last shot, but its also his best shot," is how coach Mumme sees this season for Holbrook.

Senior receiver Chris Williams started the first eight games of 2007 and was well on his way to being one of the most productive receivers in the WAC history outside of Hawaii, but a shoulder injury shut him down for the final month and he finished with just 56 receptions for 772 yards. Nevertheless, his 11 touchdown catches were the most among the NMSU receivers even though A.J. Harris tallied 81 catches in his 12 games. More of a possession receiver than anything else, Harris ended up with just 611 yards and two scores, which means he'll have to stretch the field that much more this time around if he is going to be a deep threat in his own right and take some of the pressure off Williams.

Not much of a running team obviously, the Aggies are really going to have a hard time selling the opposition on the possibility that they might take some shots here and there on the ground. Brandon Perez is listed as a returning starter for the squad in the backfield, but having posted a mere 41 yards over 13 games he is far from a dangerous runner right now.

DEFENSE: Safety Derrick Richardson, who is back for his senior season in 2008, placed second on the unit with his 108 tackles last year and will provide leadership. Giving Richardson some confidence to take a few chances every once in a while is Davon House who came up big as a freshman in 2007 with team highs of four interceptions and eight pass breakups. Teaming with House in the defensive back position is junior Chris Woods who appeared in all 13 games and had seven pass breakups of his own.

Another guy who will be calling the shots for the group will be senior linebacker Chris Nwoko, who finished fourth on the unit a year ago with 67 tackles. Outside linebackers La'Auli Fonoti and Jamar Cotton will bring back some stability on the edges after starting last year, but there still so much more that this group could learn and will eventual develop as the season wears on, hopefully.

Perhaps the most important change for the defense this season is the addition of new defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn who himself has been a pioneer in his field.

"He runs the 3-3-5 that's been pretty popular a lot of places, BYU out here runs it, New Mexico runs it...back east Wake Forest, West Virginia, obviously Joe Lee was doing it at Memphis."

The numbers might not always break out in that exact proportion, but you can be sure coach Dunn will put the right guys in the right spots when needed.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Depending on the status of Williams, he might be prepared to reprise his role as both a punt and kick returner, but it also depends on how much coach Mumme wants to expose his star to countless hits over the course of a game. Oddly enough, even though Williams missed several games this injury, he still ended up as the top punt returner for the squad with an average of 16.7 yards on six attempts. However, the team as a whole was on the receiving end of just nine points, compared to 28 for opponents, which is more a statement about the New Mexico State defense than anything else really. It got to the point in 2007 that almost anyone with a pair of hands was getting an opportunity to return kickoffs which is never a good sign. The stat sheet shows as many as 11 different players were credited with kick returns and only two of them had better averages than Williams. Placekicker Paul Young finished just ahead of Williams for the team scoring lead with his 67 points, but missing three PATs could be something that haunts him and the team if he does it again this year, his junior campaign.

OUTLOOK: Holbrook is certainly one of the best signal-callers the Aggies have had over the last four decades, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be the man to lead NMSU to its first bowl game since 1960.

The team should have a decent read on the season by the time October rolls around after working through four non-conference outings against the likes of Nicholls State, Nebraska, UTEP and New Mexico. Since the squad has to face all other eight members of the WAC it will experience both good and bad with how the schedule works out in 2008. The Aggies will have both Boise State and Hawaii at home this year, but those two powers show up in Las Cruces in back- to-back weeks. After the visit by the Warriors, NMSU heads out to the coast to face Fresno State, which is never an easy task no matter where the game is played. Playing on the road versus both Idaho and Utah State will not be enough to keep the Aggies out of the win column, but the team's postseason hopes may well lie in that regular-season finale versus those other Aggies and that sort of pressure is never easy to live under.

"I like this year's schedule better than last year's," is an optimistic view of the slate by coach Mumme. "Except for the first game that's on Thursday night, all the rest of them are on Saturday. We don't come back from Hawaii and play on Friday night, that's a good thing."