ESPN might not care if you watch college football on Saturday, Aug. 25, aka Week 0, but you sure as hell should.
There are a couple intriguing matchups to celebrate the return of college football, including a burner in Las Cruces, N.M., where New Mexico State — coming off their first bowl game in 58 years — hosts Wyoming at 8:00 p.m. local time (10:00 p.m. ET) on ESPN2 on Saturday.
It's the second-ever matchup for the programs — the last happened in 1953 — and the first game in a home-and-home series that concludes with a 2024 game in Laramie. It's also the Aggies' first game as an Independent after a four-year run in the Sun Belt.
Here are five reasons to watch Wyoming vs. New Mexico State in Week 0.
[divider]
1. Football
Two hundred and twenty-seven days.
That's how many consecutive days we've gone without college football. And while this isn't the first FBS game of the season — three other games kick off earlier, including Hawai'i at Colorado State at 5:30 p.m. MT on CBS Sports Network — it's still football on the first day of the season after 227 days without college football.
I should stop the list right here to make a point.
[divider]
2. Wyoming Defense
Don't let Wyoming's preseason ranking (70th) fool you; this team has a legit defense that several Power Five programs wish they had.
Former USC linebackers coach and Nevada defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton did a brilliant job in his first season at Wyoming defensive coordinator. They ranked first nationally in forced turnovers, first in fumble recoveries, second in interceptions, 28th in sacks, 28th in tackles for loss and eighth in fourth-quarter points allowed.
Safety Andrew Wingard is an NFL prospect whom Bleacher Report's Matt Miller ranked as the seventh-best safety for 2019. He has three straight 100-tackle seasons, 22.5 career tackles for loss and eight career interceptions.
[divider]
3. Youhanna Ghaifan and Carl Granderson
Andrew Wingard gets most of the local and national love — as he should; he's an animal — but the defense has two more all-conference studs in defensive tackle Youhanna Ghaifan and defensive end Carl Granderson.
Ghaifan (below) — the best No. 93 in the FBS — had 15.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks and 34 run stops, the latter of which ranked third among all returning interior defenders, according to Pro Football Focus. Granderson, meanwhile, led the team in sacks (9.5) and tackles for loss (16).
Keep a close eye on this pair as they face an offensive line that returns six players with starting experience, including senior center Jamin Smith.
[divider]
4. Dumpster Fire to Bowl Eligibility
New Mexico State's bowl bid earned national headlines last year because the Aggies hadn't been bowling since JFK was President-elect. But most fans outside of Las Cruces don't understand how bad things were.
Doug Martin, as he discussed on a recent episode of The Hot Route, said the program was a dumpster fire when took over in 2013. He inherited a team that won 21 games over the previous eight seasons, had arguably the worst facilities in the country and was facing NCAA penalties for poor academic records.
Even if New Mexico State fails to take another step forward — or duplicate last year's success — following the departures of Tyler Rogers, Larry Rose, Jaleel Scott and others, they are now a competent program who can compete with a team like Wyoming.
[divider]
5. Terrill Hanks
New Mexico State has some defensive talent, too.
Terrill Hanks, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound outside linebacker from Miami who was the 2,575th-ranked prospect in the 2015 class, started as a true freshman and has been a mainstay on a dramatically improved unit. He thrived under second-year coordinator Frank Spaziani last year, posting his second straight 100-tackle season, 15 of which were for a loss.
Hanks' Pro Football Focus grade of 89.3 was seventh-highest among all FBS linebackers, and, as noted by Athlon Sports, he was one of only four FBS players to have 15 tackles for loss and eight passes defended in 2017.
