A look at New Mexico State (and that season opener 21 years ago)
Wednesday, September 2, 2015 | Football, Chris Harry
Freshman Ike Hilliard catches a pass in UF's 70-21 wipeout of New Mexico State in the 1994 season opener, the Gators' first home game ever as the nation's No. 1-ranked team. [Photo from The Tampa Tribune]
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The 2015 season-opening opponent Saturday night is New Mexico State.
For the University of Florida this will not be a first. The Gators and Aggies actually kicked off the season 21 years ago on what became a night of memorable and record-setting firsts.
And Steve Spurrier wasn't happy about it.
The date was Sept. 3, 1994. UF, ranked No. 1 in the nation for only the second time in school history and for the first time playing at home, obliterated NMSU 70-21. Quarterback Terry Dean set a Southeastern Conference single-game record that night by throwing seven touchdown passes, all in the first half. 
The Gators, who ran up 56 points before the break, finished with 618 yards of total offense. Junior wide receiver Jack Jackson caught four touchdown passes. The game marked the debut of a trio of marquee true freshmen in Fred Taylor, Ike Hilliard and Reidel Anthony. The crowd of 84,721 was the largest to ever see a season opener in the state of Florida and there was not an empty seat in the house.
For the record, I was there (see game story in photo, right).
But to truly understand and appreciate what “The Swamp” was like in Spurrier's hey day, consider the words of New Mexico State coach Bill Hess, who was in absolute awe of what his team experienced.
“I don't think you're No. 1 just because you run up 70 points on somebody, but I'll say this about Florida -- they've got a No. 1 atmosphere. I've never seen such a rabidness, such mania with a crowd,” Hess said. “When Florida ran on the field, the fans nearly blew the roof off the place. We're not used to that in Las Cruces (N.M.). It was deafening. The crowd was just toying with us.”
He wasn't done.
“I hate to see it when Alabama or Auburn comes in here,” Hess continued. “It's probably just as awesome for them, too. This place is a different world. Those people know how to make noise.”
To the next generation of Gators fans, consider this a history lesson of what a day at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium can be.
Back to that game.
You've seen the gaudy statistics and read the glowing remarks from the outmanned opponent. The domination was thorough and complete. And yet, what stood out more than anything from the game that night was the takeaway of the home team.
And its coach.
“We're not very excited about setting a bunch of records against an opponent that is not the kind of caliber we usually play,” Spurrier said. “Obviously, it was a team out there we had out-personneled. I think we had effort and that our guys played hard, but we had some bad plays.”
Mostly by a defense under the direction new defensive coordinator Bobby Pruett.
“You don't like it, you don't expect it,” Pruett said of his debut. “I'm not by any means making an excuse, but it was in front of a big crowd and [with] a new system and we made a couple errors that cost us. We got them corrected in the second half.”
The Aggies struck for a long TD on their very first series, a 73-yarder off a simple sideline out pattern, followed by a couple missed tackles. NMSU quarterback Cody Ledbetter passed for 221 yard and three scores, all three to wideout Lucious Davis (5 catches, 127 yards).
Spurrier: “Hopefully, we can be a little more responsible back there in the secondary."
Senior safety Michael Gilmore: “It was like, 'What's going on here?' I mean, I'm thinking shutout and all of sudden they've got seven points and the game just started.”
Senior cornerback Larry Kennedy: “I'm definitely irritated. This team shouldn't have scored 21 points on us. They shouldn't have scored any on us.”
That was the mentality of Florida football back 21 years ago (one year for every point the Aggies tallied that night). What will the mentality be Saturday when these two programs square off for the only time?
Let the season begin.
In the interim, here' some general cheat-sheet knowledge about UF's Week 1 foe.
NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY
Where: Las Cruces, N.M.
Founded: 1888
Enrollment: 19,000 (est.)
Colors: Crimson and white
Nickname: Aggies
Mascot: Pistol Pete (below right)
Conference: Sun Belt for football only since 2014, but member of Western Athletic Conference for all other sports since 2005.
NMSU FOOTBALL 
Founded: 1894
All-time record: 423-587-31( Winning percentage -- .421)
Conference championships: 1938 and 1960 (Border Conference); 1976 and 1978 (Missouri Valley Conference)
Playoff appearances: None
Home stadium: Aggie Memorial Stadium (32,393)
Coach: Doug Martin (third season; 4-20)
All-time bowl record: 2-0-1 (Tied Hardin-Simmons 14-14 in 1936 Sun Bowl; defeated North Texas 28-8 in the 1959 Sun Bowl; defeated Utah State 2013 in the 1960 Sun Bowl.
Fun Facts: Spanning 6,250 acres, the NMSU campus is one of the largest in the country. ... Since 1990, fans at Aggies home games have cheered for "The Wonder Dog," be it Smoki (a border collie-shepherd mix) or Striking (a border collie breed) that have been trained to retrieve the kicking tees each time NMSU kicks off. Smoki also gained fame while appearing alongside Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid and Gene Hackman in the film "Wyatt Earp." ... UF fans probably remember Hal Mumme during his stint throwing 60-70 passes a game in his "Air Raid" offense at Kentucky. After running into some NCAA issues, Mumme was fired at UK and resurfaced as head coach at New Mexico State in 2004 and charged with turning around a program that was among the worst in the country. He went 11-38 over four seasons.
FAMOUS ATHLETIC ALUMS
Rich Beem (pictured right) -- Professional golfer who won the 2002 PGA at Hazeltine National, beating Tiger Woods (who birdied the tournament's final four holes) by one stroke.
Roy Gerela -- Placekicker for three of the legendary Pittsburgh Steelers world championship teams of the 1970s, he commanded a rabid following at Three Rivers Stadium that called themselves "Gerelas Gorillas."
Duriel Harris -- Former NFL wideout, most notably during his nine seasons in Miami. He was on the receiving end of one of the most famous plays in playoff history, when Harris caught a short pass from Don Strock, then flipped lateraled it to Tony Nathan for what turned out to be a touchdown on the final play of the first half in the Dolphins' epic 41-38 overtime loss to the San Diego Chargers. Watch here.
Lou Henson ( pictured right) -- Starred for the Aggies in the early '50s, then went on to compiled a record of 779-422 in 44 seasons coaching at Hardin Simmons, twice at NMSU, then at Illinois (which he led to the Final Four in 1989), before returning to NMSU for the last eight seasons of his career. He retired in 2005.
Charley Johnson -- Superstar quarterback who guided NMSU to an 11-0 record and No. 17 final ranking in the Associated Press poll in 1960. Johnson played 15 years in the AFL-NFL, mostly with the St. Louis Cardinals, but also was inducted in the Denver Broncos Ring of Honor.
Walter Johnson -- Three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals in the '60s, also inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Sam Lacy -- Fifth overall pick in the NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals (who became the Kansas City Kings). He is one of just five players in NBA history (along with Hakeem Olajuwon, Julius Erving, David Robinson and Ben Wallace) with at least 100 blocks and 100 steals in six consecutive seasons. Had his jersey retired by the Sacramento Kings.
Joe Pisarcik (pictured right) -- Quarterback for the New York Giants who helped make Herm Edwards famous, courtesy of the infamous "Miracle in the Meadowlands" fumble return for a touchdown late in the 1978 season that kept the Eagles in the playoff hunt.
Fredd Young -- Four-time Pro Bowl linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks during the 1980s and a member of the franchise's 35-year anniversary team.
OTHER FAMOUS ALUMS
Alvy Ray Smith -- Billionaire founder of Pixar (characters, right).
Alan Hale -- Astronomer and discover of the Hale-Bopp Comet.
William Frankfather -- Character actor who appeared in some of the most popular televisions shows of the '70s and '80s ("Greatest American Hero," "A-Team," "Hill Street Blues," "Remington Steele" and "Dynasty" among them).
