Preview: NM State looks for first win since week one against LA Tech

LAS CRUCES, N.M. –NM State is set to welcome Conference USA foe LA Tech on Tuesday night as it looks to put an end to a five-game losing skid. This will mark the only midweek home game for the Aggies this season and will be the second of three midweek tilts during the 2024 campaign.

The Aggies and Bulldogs first met in 1967 and have shared a conference affiliation on three different occasions during the program’s respective histories – spending time together in the Big West, Western Athletic Conference and now CUSA.

PICK SIX

57 – This will be the 14th time that the Aggies meet up with the Bulldogs in a series that goes back 57 years to the first meeting in 1967. The Aggies are currently 5-8 all-time against LA Tech.

53 – Last week, kicker Abraham Montaño split the uprights from 53 yards out to equal the third-longest field goal in program history.

14 – NM State’s George Eberle currently ranks 14th in the country in yards per punt at an average of 45.6 yards per boot.

2 – With two interceptions this season, Josiah Cox ranks tied for 19th in the nation for interceptions among FBS players. He is also one of only three CUSA players with two interceptions in one game.

6 – On Tuesday, NM State will return home where it has won six of its last eight games.

131 – In 2023, the Aggies finished the year ranked 14th at the FBS level in rushing yards per game. This season, the Aggies offensive line room brings a combined 131 total starts to the table and will be the Aggies most experienced position group by a wide margin.

#WEEKDAYCUSA

The Aggies’ stretch of midweek games continues this week against LA Tech as they host what will be their only home midweek game of the season.

This marks the second season in a row that sees all October league matchups played on midweek evenings after a successful launch in 2023. CUSA’s broadcast partners will share the October weeknight football games on linear television across CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

In 2024, the Aggies were a perfect 4-0 with victories over FIU, Sam Houston, UTEP and LA Tech. During this stretch of games, the Aggies outscored their opponents by an average of 13.8 points per game. In general, October has been friendly to the Aggies as they began this year with a perfect 6-0 record in October across the last two seasons.

Thus far, the Aggies are 0-1 this season and will have two more midweek opportunities this season.

CROSSING CONFERENCE PATHS

This will mark just the second season that NM State and LA Tech are Conference USA opponents, however, this is the third different league patch that the two programs have shared.

The Aggies and Bulldogs first competed as conference opponents in 1995 as members of the Big West. Ten years later, the two programs would reside in the Western Athletic Conference and would spend time competing as league foes from 2005-12.

Finally, the two would cross paths again in 2022 as members of CUSA. In total, the Aggies hold a 3-7 record against the Bulldogs in their 10 matchups as members of the same conference.

COACHING MATCHUP

Both NM State Head Coach Tony Sanchez and LA Tech Head Coach Sonny Cumbie are serving as leaders of their second FBS program.

Sanchez earned his first opportunity at UNLV where he served as the head coach for five seasons (2015-19). Meanwhile, Cumbie was named the interim head coach at Texas Tech where he took over for Matt Wells during the back half of the 2021 season.

For Cumbie, this marks his third season at the helm of the Bulldog program while Sanchez is in his first at NM State.

Across his career, Sanchez has compiled 21 wins while Cumbie earned his 10th collegiate victory on Friday when the Bulldogs defeated Middle Tennessee.

MONEY MONTAÑO

Kicker Abraham Montaño has been one of the bright spots for the Aggies this season and following a perfect 2-for-2 performance at Jax State, he ranks 19th in the nation in field goal percentage – connecting on 8-of-9 tries this season. Against the Gamecocks, Montaño connected from 53 yards out – a kick that is tied for the third-longest field goal in program history.

This season, the only miss for the Fresno State transfer came from 57 yards away on a kick into the wind that had the distance and would have tied the longest kick in program history.

LOUISIANAGGIES

NM State currently has four student-athletes that hail from LA Tech’s home state of Louisiana, including a trio of wide receivers in PJ Johnson III (Lake Charles), Latrell Neville (New Orleans), and Jordan Smith (Slidell). Additionally, Monte Watkins is from Laplace, La., however, the explosive running back will miss Tuesday’s game due to being in concussion protocol.

PJ AND TJ

While limited, this year’s passing game has gone through the duo of slot receivers, PJ Johnson III and TJ Pride. After a career performance in Wednesday’s road game at Jax State which included three catches for 84 yards and a touchdown, junior PJ Johnson III leads the Aggies in receiving yards with 156 on nine catches this season.

Meanwhile, true freshman TJ Pride is the only other receiver to eclipse the century mark this season as he has recorded a team-high 16 catches for 144 yards and has paced the Aggies in receptions in each of the last three games.

WINNING THE GROUND GAME

Head Coach Tony Sanchez preaches the importance of winning the rushing battle and, unfortunately, this season the Aggies have only tallied more rushing yards than their opponent in one game. This occurred in the home opener against SEMO and is currently the Aggies’ lone win this season.

On the contrary, the Aggies have been outgained on the ground in each of their five losses.

In fact, the last time the Aggies won a game in which they lost the rushing battle came on Oct. 29, 2022, when they defeated UMass despite the Minutemen rushing for 162 yards – 51 more than the Aggies.

HANDLING LA TECH IN LAS CRUCES

Despite the Aggies holding a 5-8 all-time record versus the Bulldogs, NM State does enter Tuesday’s game with a winning record against LA Tech inside Aggie Memorial Stadium. In seven games, the Crimson and White have come out on four times, including winning each of the first three games in Las Cruces.

KEEP THE FOOT ON THE PEDAL

Despite the Aggies sitting at 121st in the country in scoring offense, NM State has scored first in three of its six games this season. Unfortunately, the Aggies have been unable to sustain this success and have been outscored 52-23 in the first quarter this season.

GOOD TO BE HOME

NM State will return to the friendly confines of Aggie Memorial Stadium on Tuesday where it holds a 10-5 record across the last three seasons, including rattling off five wins in six games last season.

Similarly, Conference USA teams have struggled to win on the road this season and have posted a 5-22 road record through seven weeks while maintaining a 17-12 record in home games.

FIRST-TIME STARTERS

Following the Aggies’ first 10-win season since 1960, NM State has begun year one under Head Coach Tony Sanchez with some new faces in key roles. This year, NM State welcomed 36 transfers during the offseason – a mark that ranks fifth-most at the FBS level and six behind Saturday’s opponent New Mexico. Aside from the Lobos, only Charlotte (44), Colorado (44), and Utah State (38) brought in more offseason transfers than the Aggies.

Additionally, the Aggies returned just eight of their 22 starters on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. And, in total, NM State brings back 28 of its 67 letterwinners from last season.

In total, 19 different Aggies have logged their first collegiate start this season, including 14 in the opener against SEMO. At 19, the Aggies are currently ranked third in total first-time starters this season.

This new outlook is also reflected in the amount of returning production entering the year. After having one of the highest rates of returning production entering the 2023 season (returned 83% of total gained yardage), only 23% (1,268/5,606) of its total all-purpose yardage from 2023 belongs to someone still wearing Crimson and White in 2024.

From a broken-down perspective, the Aggies brought back 0% (0/3,206) of their passing yards, 17.3% (471/2,715) of their receiving yards, 32.5% (755/2,325) of their rushing yards and 7.4% (42/566) of their return yards.

SIMILAR SPOT

The Aggies carry a 1-5 record into the meeting with the Bulldogs. Despite recording two of the most successful seasons in program history during the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, the Aggies are familiar with slow starts.

During a 2022 season which was capped off by a win in the Quick Lane bowl to finalize their record at 7-6, the Aggies entered the week seven with a 1-5 record – identical to their current state. A 21-9 Aggie victory over New Mexico ended a streak of three consecutive losses to the Lobos and ignited a back half of the season in which the Aggies finished 6-1 to earn the program’s first bowl bid since the 2017 campaign.

One year later, the Aggies would travel to Albuquerque with a 1-2 record in hand. NM State would then improve to 2-2 with a 27-17 win at University Stadium. After dropping the following game on the road at Hawaii, the Aggies would fall to 2-3 prior to kicking things in gear to finish the regular season with a 10-3 record.

While Tony Sanchez and staff would not opt to be in a position with one win through six games, it is a space that the Aggies have proven they can bounce back from. In fact, in six of the Aggies’ last seven seasons that resulted in plus-.500 winning percentage, NM State held a losing record through at least five games.

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