LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Aggies will journey to Virginia to battle with Liberty on Saturday, Sept. 9, after dismantling Western Illinois to earn their first win of the season. The assembly with the Flames may even be the primary CUSA recreation for the Aggies since becoming a member of the convention on July 1, 2023.
Recreation Info
NM State (1-1, 0-0 CUSA) at Liberty (1-0, 0-0 CUSA)
Date: September 9, 2023
Time: 4:00 p.m. MT
TV: ESPN+
- Matt Warner (PxP)
- Joe Jauch (analyst)
- Emily Austen (Sidelines)
Radio: The Aggie Radio Community, Powered by LEARFIELD
- Jack Nixon (PxP)
- Cory Lucas (Analyst)
PICK SIX
650 – The Aggie offense compiled 650 complete yards of offense within the win over Western Illinois on Saturday. This quantity marks the eighth-most web yardage by any FBS offense this season.
7 – Seven totally different Aggies scored touchdowns to take down the Leathernecks. That is the second time the Aggies have completed this feat within the final 4 video games.
5 – With 5 passing touchdowns on the season, Diego Pavia sits only one landing throw shy of his season complete from final yr.
1 – Saturday’s recreation towards Liberty will mark the inaugural CUSA contest for NM State. Additionally it is the primary convention recreation the Aggies will compete in since Dec. 2, 2017.
11 – The Aggie offense put collectively three separate 11-play scoring drives towards Western Illinois.
-13 – Western Illinois’ dashing recreation produced unfavorable 13 yards in the course of the second half of Saturday’s recreation.
FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS
Within the Aggies’ dominant 58-21 victory over Western Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 2, the NM State offense rushed for 270 yards and threw for 380 to complete 650 complete yards. This offensive explosion ranks eighth within the nation in complete yards in a single recreation by any FBS group this season.
MOVING THE STICKS
With 49 complete first downs this season, the NM State offense ranks third amongst all FBS applications. This season, the Aggies have achieved 19 first downs on the bottom, 23 by means of the air and 7 by the use of penalty.
BRADY BOOM
In yr two with this system, sophomore huge receiver Jonathan Brady has already emerged as certainly one of Aggies’ go-to targets within the passing recreation. Following the Western Illinois recreation through which he recorded his first profession 100-yard receiving recreation, Brady is now averaging 75 yards per recreation to steer the Aggies and rank inside the highest 100 of all FBS receivers.
The 102-yard recreation from Brady marked the primary time an Aggie receiver eclipsed the century mark since Jared Wyatt did so on Nov. 27, 2021, towards UMass.
TWO FOR TWO
Jordin Parker made his presence felt as soon as once more within the win over WIU as he caught his second landing go of the season. With the landing, Parker now has two touchdowns on simply two receptions to make him the one FBS participant with landing catches on 100% of his receptions this season.
Parker can be certainly one of simply 37 FBS athletes with a number of receiving touchdowns this yr – becoming a member of fellow Aggie Trent Hudson who caught two touchdowns in his debut with the Aggies on Aug. 26.
DIEGO DISHING ‘EM OUT
Diego Pavia threw three landing passes on Saturday towards the Leathernecks to mark the fifth straight recreation with a number of landing throws for the Albuquerque native. With 5 landing passes by means of the primary two video games, Pavia is already only one landing throw shy of his season complete from 2022 when he started the season with no landing passes by means of the primary six video games of the season.
With the recent begin, Pavia ranks fourth on the FBS stage in landing passes (5), passing yards (565) and yards per completion (17.66).
In complete, Aggie quarterback duo ranks fourth in passing yards per completion at 19.03 – behind solely Air Power, Tulane and Cincinnati.
SPREAD THE LOVE
In Saturday’s win over the Leathernecks, seven totally different Aggies reached the top zone to mark the second time this feat was completed within the Aggies’ final 4 outings. Landing scorers had been Star Thomas (2), Makhilyn Younger (1), Monte Watkins (1), Eli Stowers (1), Jonathan Brady (1), Bryce Childress (1), Jordin Parker (1).
Alongside these similar traces, 9 totally different Aggies caught at the very least one go for the second straight week. In complete, NM State quarterbacks mixed to finish 17 passes for 380 yards with Diego Pavia accountable for 16 completions and 317 yards by means of the air.
SUPER SECOND HALF
On Saturday, NM State outgained Western Illinois 435-85 in complete offense within the second half of play. Moreover, the Leathernecks tallied unfavorable 13 dashing yards in the course of the remaining two quarters of motion.
The lopsided manufacturing additionally helped the Aggies outscore Western Illinois 38-7 in the course of the closing half-hour of motion.
TACK ON THE YAC
The Aggie wideouts had been dominant working with the ball as 260 of Saturday’s 380 receiving yards towards Western Illinois got here after the catch.
Bryce Childress’ 77 yards after the catch paced all Aggie receivers on Saturday whereas Jonathan Brady turned in 67 yards after the reception to rank second. In complete, six Aggie receivers tallied 20 or extra yards after the catch towards the Leathernecks.
EAST COAST CONNECTIONS
The journey overlaying over 1,800 miles will imply a return to the house state for the lone Virginia native on the Aggies’ roster – tight finish Kareem Burgess.
Whereas the checklist of Virginia-born gamers is brief, NM State Head Coach Jerry Kill did lately spend a while within the Outdated Dominion as he served as Assistant to the Head Coach on the Virginia Tech employees in 2019.
The Aggies do have one employees member with direct connections to Liberty College as Offensive Advisor and Recruiting Assistant Spencer Jones spent two years of his taking part in profession at Liberty. The previous Flame started his taking part in profession as a quarterback earlier than transitioning to huge receiver. In two years earlier than transferring to Oklahoma, Jones appeared in 22 video games whereas hauling in a single landing catch to assist the Flames knock off Baylor in 2017.
A NEW HOME: CONFERENCE USA
After spending the earlier 5 seasons as certainly one of simply six faculties on the FBS stage to be labeled an Unbiased, the Aggies are actually formally members of Convention USA and can open convention play this Saturday after they go to Liberty.
The final time that NM State resided in a soccer league was in 2017 when it competed as members of the Solar Belt – ending 7-6 total and 4-4 in convention play on its strategy to incomes a spot within the Nova Dwelling Loans Arizona bowl to finish a 57-year drought and not using a bowl recreation.
The Aggies characterize certainly one of 4 new applications in CUSA as they had been joined by Jacksonville State, Liberty and Sam Houston after they made the transition on July 1. In the meantime, the league additionally consists of 5 returning members (FIU, Louisiana Tech, Center Tennessee, UTEP and Western Kentucky)
ATTENDANCE BOOM
Few faculties throughout FBS soccer noticed a bigger attendance development final season than NM State. The Aggies concluded the season averaging 14,993 followers per house recreation, up 27% from the 2021 season.
The Aggie trustworthy continued this development into the season opener as 15,356 followers had been in attendance to observe NM State battle with UMass on Saturday, Aug. 26. Aggie Nation then upped that quantity to 17,943 for the Week 1 matchup towards Western Illinois.
THROUGH THE UPRIGHTS
Since his arrival in 2019, Ethan Albertson has established himself among the many high kickers within the nation. Amid his senior season, the San Diego, Calif., native ranks contained in the top-ten in NM State historical past for discipline targets made (Seventh, 30), discipline targets tried (t-Seventh, 39), discipline objective share (1st, 76.9%), further factors made (eighth, 73), further factors tried (ninth, 77) and additional level share (94.8%)
DUAL THREAT
After a formidable first season within the Crimson and White, quarterback Diego Pavia already finds himself among the many Aggie greats. He at the moment ranks twenty fifth all-time in profession passing yards (2,015) and tenth in profession dashing yards (520).
BEHIND ENEMY LINES (LIBERTY)
The Aggies will head to Lynchburg, Va., this weekend seeking their second straight highway win over the Flames after knocking off Liberty 49-14 within the remaining highway recreation of 2022. In complete, the Aggies are 2-3 all time towards Liberty with collection wins coming within the first ever assembly and most up-to-date assembly.
This season, the Aggies will run right into a new-look Liberty group that shall be lead by first-year head coach Jamey Chadwell who took over for Hugh Freeze after Freeze departed for Auburn. Chadwell begins his first season on the helm of the Flames’ program after steering Coastal Carolina to 3 straight seasons with at the very least 9 victories.
As was the case within the 2022 assembly between the Aggies and Flames, the Liberty offense shall be led by dual-threat quarterback Kaidon Salter. Final yr, the sophomore from Cedar Hill, Texas, threw for 101 yards with one landing on 12 completions towards the NM State protection. Via one recreation, Salter is the Flames’ chief in passing yards (143) and dashing yards (82).
Salter will look to attach with senior huge receiver Treon Sibley who leads all Liberty wideouts with 56 receiving yards on three catches.
Defensively, Tyren Dupree paces the Flames in tackles with 10 whereas Jerome Jolly Jr. leads the Liberty secondary after opening the season with a two-interception efficiency towards Bowling Inexperienced on Saturday.
THE VARSITY NETWORK
Final season, NM State Sports activities Properties and its dad or mum firm LEARFIELD, introduced the creation of “THE VARSITY NETWORK” an interactive software that options free reside gameday broadcasts, unique content material, and nationwide faculty programming corresponding to School Sports activities Now, School Soccer Biltz and the brand new School Soccer Saturday Evening.
Followers can obtain the app for iPhone or android and can achieve immediate entry to free gameday audio streams, together with NM State soccer dropped at you by Adam Younger and Danny Knee, and obtain push notifications to remind them of video games beginning or upcoming audio broadcasts.
THE VOICE(S) OF THE AGGIES
NM State broadcaster Jack Nixon returns for his forty fourth yr of broadcasting Aggie athletics for the NM State radio community. A legend on the Aggie airwaves, Nixon has broadcast over 400 Aggie soccer contests and over 1,000 Aggie males’s basketball video games. An NM State Corridor of Fame choice, Nixon will deal with of the radio duties with former Aggie Cory Lucas, who joined the broadcaster forward of the 2017 season.
ON THIS DAY – SEPT. 9
NM State has competed six occasions on Sept. 9 in program historical past with the latest contest coming in 2107 when the Aggies bested New Mexico. NM State has twice performed thrice on the highway on Sept. 2, profitable two of three.
The Aggies first performed on Sept. 9 in 1972 after they fell to Utah State at house.
Final 5 on Sept. 9
1972 – L, 48-14 vs. Utah State
1978 – W, 14-9 at Indiana State
1989 – L, 45-3 at New Mexico
1995 – L, 45-24 vs. Nevada
2006 – L, 34-28 vs. New Mexico
2017 – W, 30-28 at New Mexico
##NM State##
