New Mexico State football stays silent on Tyler Wright after loss to New Mexico

New Mexico State football's offense had been struggling all season, and the Aggies were a coach down for one of their biggest games of the season.

Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tyler Wright is currently "not with the team" pending an investigation into his more than 150 racist, sexist and homophobic remarks made on his account on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. The Las Cruces Sun-News reported the nature of these posts on Friday evening, and they remained on Wright's account as of Saturday evening.

Aggies coach Tony Sanchez said he briefly spoke with his team Saturday morning on Wright's situation but declined to share what he said. Junior linebacker Tyler Martinez and junior quarterback Santino Marucci flanked Sanchez as he made his statement with more NM State media relations personnel in the room than in past home games.

After previous home games this season, Sanchez would make postgame comments on his own before leaving. Players would then enter the room to speak with media. Aggies athletic director Mario Moccia was also present Saturday.

Sanchez did not mention if he has seen Wright's posts in question and declined to comment on them. Moccia's comment to the Sun-News of Wright's absence during NM State's investigation is the only comment from any university-related individual so far.

"We talked to the boys very briefly this morning. ... We talked about some changes," Sanchez said. "When we have a chance, we'll comment on it further."

Wright had struggled to get the offense rolling this season, and NM State tried to improve with a replacement play-caller. Offensive line coach and run game coordinator Andrew Mitchell called plays in Wright's absence.

The Aggies' offense vastly improved. NM State tallied season highs in points (33) and total yards (474). However, it wasn't enough as defense was the Aggies' problem in a 50-40 loss to New Mexico (1-4) at home. The 50 points are the most the Lobos have scored in Las Cruces since registering 51 in 1994.

NM State (1-4) is now on a four-game losing streak and has 11 days to regroup and move on before reentering CUSA play against Jacksonville State on the road Oct. 9.

Defense fails to contain Lobos

While the Aggies played their best offensive game, their defense played their worst game this season.

UNM tallied 568 total yards against NM State, including 320 rushing yards. The Lobos converted nine of their 15 third-down plays and averaged 7.5 yards per play. UNM also scored seven rushing touchdowns, tied for sixth-most in a game in Lobos history. UNM's Naquari Rogers scored three rushing touchdowns, recording 122 rushing yards on 28 carries.

Quarterback Devon Dampier also scored three rushing touchdowns, including one where he dived over an NM State defender and into the end zone to complete a 24-yard score. He threw for 248 yards and completed 13 of 28 passes.

"The biggest critical error we made all night was the amount of time we gave them," Sanchez said. "Their quarterback is a pretty athletic kid ... but we have to be better."

NM State was also productive on the ground, rushing for 285 yards, including an 84-yard rushing touchdown from junior running back Larenzo McMillan.

Marucci improves in second start

Marucci made his second start and showed improvement from NM State's 31-11 loss to Sam Houston the previous week.

The Jacksonville, Florida. native tallied 189 passing yards, the most from an Aggies' QB this season. He completed 13 of 29 passes for 189 yards and two total touchdowns, one rushing and one passing.

Sanchez and Marucci both believe the latter has become "more comfortable" running NM State's offense.

"I definitely feel like I've gotten a lot more comfortable from last week to this week," Marucci said. "We had a great week of practice execution-wise, but ... there's some stuff out there that needs to get fixed. I take accountability for all the throws that weren't there."

Six NM State players caught a pass, the most from any game this season. Freshman wide receiver TJ Pride led the way with 68 receiving yards on three catches.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico State football stays silent on Tyler Wright after loss to New Mexico