Three takeaways from New Mexico State's victory over Hawaii

LAS CRUCES - Chris Ojoh told New Mexico State football fans to be patient.

Following a season opening loss to Nevada, Ojoh said, "As far as a whole team, we have a promising future. We just have to stay locked in."

The Aggies returned home on Saturday for the first since Week 0 and beat Hawaii 45-26 for the team's first win of the season.

While there is still a lot of football to be played, staying focused despite a 0-4 record entering Saturday is a credit to the players and Jerry Kill's coaching staff.

"I feel like the whole team was looking forward to this first win," Aggies senior linebacker Chris Ojoh said. "Especially with a new coaching staff. It's hard in the first year for any program to get things rolling. Now it's to keep doing it week in and week out."

The Aggies entered the game last in the country in scoring at eight points per game, but put 45 points on the board on Saturday. NM State led 42-10 in the third quarter with Hawaii posting some passing yards and points in garbage time, but here are three takeaways from Saturday's win.

Run game comes alive

The New Mexico State rushing attack had shown signs of life in spots throughout the past two weeks, but the Aggies broke out in a big way on Saturday.

The Aggies rushed for 357 yards on 45 attempts (7.9 yards per rush) with junior college transfer running back Star Thomas finishing with 144 yards on 11 attempts (13.1 yards per carry) and a touchdown.

"As hard as we worked, and what we did, we better have run the ball," Kill said. "We didn't have a choice. We challenged our kids and they were very productive. We did a good job getting the ball to the playmakers and that is what you have to do to win."

Listed at 6-feet, 225 pounds, Thomas has deceptive speed, breaking free for runs of 27 and 57 yards on Saturday.

"I'm happy for him," Kill said. "When you are struggling with the offensive line and trying to find your way and playing Big Ten teams, it's hard. He kind of picked it up and we finally just told him you are going to have to punch some holes sometimes. He's hard to bring down and he loves football. I told everyone when we brought him in that he was going to be pretty good."

Thomas was one of five players to rush for over 20 yards and one of five four players to score a rushing touchdown. Running back Jamoni Jones had 59 yards on 12 carries with two touchdowns and Ahmonte Watkins had six carries for 28 yards and a touchdown.

Not to be outdone was freshman quarterback Gavin Frakes, who made his second start of the season. Frakes managed the game well and executed the read option throughout the game, scoring from 20 yards out up the middle where he was not touched. Frakes finished with 78 rushing yards on six rushed (13 yards per carry) with a long run of 25 yards, showing he can manage the game for the Aggies moving forward.

"This week we prepared really well and I think it translated to the field," said Frakes, who was 8 for 14 passing for 81 yards with a touchdown and an interception. "I did a lot of the same things in high school, so (the offense) definitely benefits me. Coaches put us in really good positions to succeed and everyone was doing their job more than we have in the last few weeks."

Aggies may have a consistent top five on O-Line

The Aggies rushing attack would not have been possible if not for an offensive line group that played its best game of the season.

The Aggies outgained Hawaii 206-79 in first quarter with 187 rushing yards. They had 11.4 yards per play and 12.5 yards per rush in the first quarter. The Aggies rattled off 21 unanswered points for a 21-7 lead on the first play of the second quarter.

"I was just trusting those guys up front," Thomas said. "They have got better each week. We start believing more in what they are doing and trusting what we are seeing."

Injuries up front forced the Aggies coaches to shuffle players throughout the first four games, but they seem to have found a lineup beginning in the second half of the UTEP game.

Redshirt senior Gabriel Preciado began the season as the starter at left tackle, but moved to right tackle after injuries to Doro Omerhi.

Redshirt freshman Shiyazh Pete stepped in at left tackle and true freshman AJ Viapulu stepped in at left guard. The freshman duo have started on the left side the past two games, and NM State did not allow a sack against Hawaii and dominated the line of scrimmage in the run game.

"We certainly aren't going to change anything, if we can stay healthy," Kill said.

Aggies can defend the run, pass rush is the next step

Saturday's game was essentially over at halftime, and especially when Watkins scored to make it 42-10 with seven minutes left in the third quarter.

Hawaii had some garbage time yards through the air in the second half, but the Aggies defense was solid once again against a Group of 5 opponent.

The Aggies held Hawaii running back Dedrick Parson to 69 yards rushing on 16 carries. Hawaii had 150 yards on the ground on 4.1 yards per carry.

"In this day and age if you hold a team to 24 points, you played good on defense," Kill said. "I'm just telling you (defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling's) expectations. He doesn't want to give up anything. That's good. Our kids take pride in that. I promise you they are going to come in tomorrow and say we have to finish the game better."

Hawaii quarterback Brayden Schager finished with 261 yards through the air with a touchdown pass, but the Aggies did not allow long scoring plays. The Aggies moved up to No. 44 in the country in pass defense, allowing 203 yards per game through the air. The Aggies could continue to climb as their next two opponents, Florida International and New Mexico, are offensively challenged, as well.

What the Aggies need to do moving forward is finish their pressures with sacks or tackles for loss.

Aggies linebacker Chris Ojoh had the only sack of the game, but Schager was under pressure all game and should have been sacked multiple times as the Aggies were credited with four quarterback hurries and four tackles for loss.

"We can't let the quarterback hold onto the ball for seven seconds and then blame the secondary for not covering anybody," Kill said. "We lost contain and we did some things that we will get corrected.

"It's not like our defense didn't play good. I'm just saying our expectations are a little higher yet for both sides of the ball."

Ojoh had two tackles for loss to go with a career high 14 tackles.

"I feel like we are locking in on defense, knowing that at a certain point we had to step up and play our role," Ojoh said. "It was really just detail. That was the theme of the week and really just do your job."

Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on Twitter @jpgroves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Three takeaways from New Mexico State's victory over Hawaii