LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Aggies hit the road for the second consecutive week as they make the 200-mile trip to Albuquerque, N.M., for the 113th installment of the Rio Grande Rivalry. Both sides will enter Saturday’s meeting seeking their second win of the 2023 season.
Game Information
NM State (1-2, 0-1 CUSA) at New Mexico (1-1, 0-0 Mountain West)
Date: September 16, 2023
Time: 6:00 p.m. MT
TV: Mountain West Network
- Jeff Siembieda (PxP)
- George Carter (Analyst)
Radio: The Aggie Radio Network, Powered by LEARFIELD
- Jack Nixon (PxP)
- Cory Lucas (Analyst)
PICK SIX
113 – Saturday’s meeting between the Aggies and Lobos will mark the 113th time the two sides will collide on the gridiron.
9 – In each of the Aggies’ first three game, nine different Aggies have recorded at least one reception.
16.96 – By posting an average of 16.96 yards per completion, the NM State offense ranks sixth in the nation in this category among FBS teams.
7 – Diego Pavia ranks seventh in the country in total passing yards with 715 through the first three games. He also ranks ninth in total passing touchdowns (6).
2017 – NM State is in search of its first win in Albuquerque since 2017 when the Aggies knocked off the Lobos 30-28.
25 – 2022 marked just the third time in the last 25 seasons of the Rio Grande Rivalry that both sides did not score double digits as NM State emerged with a 21-9 win.
BLOCK THAT KICK!
The hand of Gabe Peterson helped NM State’s special teams unit came up with a blocked point after attempt for the first time since since Dion Henrique did so at Florida on September 5, 2015.
BRADY BOOM
In year two with the program, sophomore wide receiver Jonathan Brady has already emerged as one of Aggies’ go-to targets in the passing game. With three games in the books, the Las Vegas native paces all Aggie receivers with 143 total receiving yards.
His 102-yard receiving game against Western Illinois on Sept. 2 marked the first time an Aggie receiver eclipsed the century mark since Jared Wyatt did so on Nov. 27, 2021, against UMass.
TWO FOR TWO
Jordin Parker made his presence felt once again in the win over WIU as he caught his second touchdown pass of the season. With the touchdown, Parker now has two touchdowns on just two receptions to make him the only FBS player with touchdown catches on 100% of his receptions and multiple catches this season.
Parker is also one of just 90 FBS athletes with multiple receiving touchdowns this year – joining fellow Aggie Trent Hudson who leads the Aggies with three toucdowns – tying him for seventh most at the FBS level.
SATURDAYS ARE FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL… JUST NOT IN LAS CRUCES
NM State is in the midst of a stretch of 63 days in which it will not play a home game on a Saturday. For seven consecutive weeks, the Aggies will either be on the road or hosting a midweek contest.
During this period, the Aggies will welcome FIU on Wednesday, Oct. 4, and Sam Houston on Wednesday, Oct. 11.
THE ‘T’ IN TRENT STANDS FOR TOUCHDOWN
During the first three weeks, Aggie newcomer Trent Hudson has caught three touchdown passes – making him the first Aggie to catch three or more touchdowns since 2017 when eventual fourth round NFL draft pick Jaleel Scott hauled in four touchdown passes in the Aggies’ opening three games.
THROUGH THE UPRIGHTS
Since his arrival in 2019, Ethan Albertson has established himself among the top kickers in the country. Amid his senior season, the San Diego, Calif., native ranks inside the top-ten in NM State history for field goals made (7th, 30), field goals attempted (t-7th, 39), field goal percentage (1st, 76.9%), extra points made (8th, 73), extra points attempted (9th, 77) and extra point percentage (94.8%)
A NEW HOME: CONFERENCE USA
After spending the previous five seasons as one of just six schools at the FBS level to be labeled an Independent, the Aggies are now officially members of Conference USA and will open conference play this Saturday when they visit Liberty.
The last time that NM State resided in a football league was in 2017 when it competed as members of the Sun Belt – finishing 7-6 overall and 4-4 in conference play on its way to earning a spot in the Nova Home Loans Arizona bowl to end a 57-year drought without a bowl game.
The Aggies represent one of four new programs in CUSA as they were joined by Jacksonville State, Liberty and Sam Houston when they made the transition on July 1. Meanwhile, the league also consists of five returning members (FIU, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, UTEP and Western Kentucky).
SPREAD THE LOVE
In each of the Aggies’ first three games, nine different receivers have caught at least one pass. In the opening trio of tilts, the Aggies have also had exactly eight different ball carriers in each game.
RETURNING PRODUCTION
With the scope of college football being dominated by the transfer portal and realignment, the Aggie offense will go against the grain as the returners accounted for over 83% of its total yardage one season ago. This includes 97% of its rushing yards and 100% of its rushing touchdowns from 2022.
Additionally, the 2023 Aggie receivers were responsible for 71% of all receiving yards and 83% of all receiving touchdowns from last year.
ATTENDANCE BOOM
Few schools across FBS football saw a larger attendance growth last season than NM State. The Aggies concluded the season averaging 14,993 fans per home game, up 27% from the 2021 season.
The Aggie faithful continued this trend into the season opener as 15,356 fans were in attendance to watch NM State battle with UMass on Saturday, Aug. 26. Aggie Nation then upped that number to 17,943 for the Week 1 matchup against Western Illinois.
AGGIEQUERQUE
This year’s NM State roster features four Aggies from the Lobos’ backyard, including starting quarterback Diego Pavia who played football and baseball and wrestled at Volcano Vista. During his high school days up north, Pavia won a state title in wrestling and also led Volcano Vista to a perfect 11-0 record in the regular season as a senior.
Fellow Volcano Vista alumni Tyler Martinez also makes his return home and will do so as one of the anchors of the Aggie defense. Colt Mangino and Tyler Devera also hail from Albuquerque.
BROTHERS ON THE BACK END
Defensive backs Andre Seldon and Myles Rowser are not only brothers on the field, but the two are also half brothers. Seldon is a returning leader on the Aggie defense while Rowser will make his NM State debut this season after starring for Campbell last year.
CONSISTENCY ON THE FRONT LINE
NM State returns four starting offensive lineman from 2022 – Shiyazh Pete (LT), AJ Vaipulu (LG), Canaan Yarro (C), and Isaiah Mursalat (RG). The four Aggies have put together 68 games played on the offensive line in the Crimson and White.
A WINNING TRADITION
With seven wins in 2022, Jerry Kill entered the 2023 season as the tenth winningest active coach in FBS football.
Interestingly enough, three of the top 10 coaches on the active wins list lead CUSA programs as K.C. Keeler (ranked 4th) and Rich Rodriguez (ranked 9th) lead Sam Houston and Jacksonville State, respectively.
Aside from Keeler and Rodriguez, Kill trails just Nick Saban (Alabama), Mack Brown (North Carolina), Brian Kelly (LSU), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), Willie Fritz (Tulane), Chris Crieghton (Eastern Michigan), and Terry Bowden (Louisiana – Monroe).
IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT
When HC Jerry Kill replaced Doug Martin, the Aggies cleaned house for the remainder of the coaching staff as well. In fact, just one staff member was retained from the 2021 team – Defensive Graduate Assistant Quinn Thomas.
However, from 2022 to 2023, all 10 assistant coaches will make the return. This make Kill’s staff one of just seven schools in the country to bring back its entire staff – joined by Colorado State, Louisiana, Kansas, USC, Iowa and Pitt.
THE VARSITY NETWORK
Last season, NM State Sports Properties and its parent company LEARFIELD, announced the creation of “THE VARSITY NETWORKî an interactive application that features free live gameday broadcasts, original content, and national college programming such as College Sports Now, College Football Biltz and the new College Football Saturday Night.
Fans can download the app for iPhone or android and will gain instant access to free gameday audio streams, including NM State football brought to you by Adam Young and Danny Knee, and receive push notifications to remind them of games starting or upcoming audio broadcasts.
THE VOICE(S) OF THE AGGIES
NM State broadcaster Jack Nixon returns for his 44th year of broadcasting Aggie athletics for the NM State radio network. A legend on the Aggie airwaves, Nixon has broadcast over 400 Aggie football contests and over 1,000 Aggie men’s basketball games. An NM State Hall of Fame selection, Nixon will handle of the radio duties with former Aggie Cory Lucas, who joined the broadcaster ahead of the 2017 season.
BEHIND ENEMY LINES (NEW MEXICO)
The Aggies will head north seeking their second straight win over the Lobos after defeating UNM 21-9 last season.
Led by Danny Gonzales, New Mexico hoists a record of 1-1 on the season and will be coming off of a dominant 56-10 win over FCS program Tennessee Tech.
Offensively, the Lobos are led at the quarterback position by UAB transfer Dylan Hopkins who has tallied 28 completions, 388 passing yards, four passing touchdowns and two interceptions through UNM’s first two games.
The NM State defense will also be keyed in on running back Jacory Crosky-Merritt who enters Saturday as one of only 24 backs in the country averaging better than 100 rushing yards per game.
As a unit, the UNM offense is averaging 404.5 yards of offense per game while its defense is giving up 345.5 yards to opposing offenses.
