EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — New Mexico State football suffered a 30-27 loss to Liberty in a Conference USA game at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia on Tuesday night. New Mexico State’s play on special teams proved costly in the closely contested competition against the Flames. The Aggies gave up a 96-yard kickoff return for […]
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — New Mexico State football suffered a 30-27 loss to Liberty in a Conference USA game at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia on Tuesday night.
New Mexico State’s play on special teams proved costly in the closely contested competition against the Flames.
The Aggies gave up a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, muffed two punts, and missed a potential game-tying 47-yard field goal as time expired.
“This is a tough one. I don’t know if I’ve been involved in a game like that where, I mean, my goodness, the amount of opportunities we gave Liberty tonight was egregious.” NM State football head coach Tony Sanchez said postgame.
New Mexico State struggled to score in the first half. Thanks to a pair of made field goals by Ryan Hawk, the Aggies found themselves down 20-6 at halftime.
Liberty opened the second half with possession, but it didn’t last long. Ezra Christensen broke through for a strip sack, and the Aggies recovered at the Liberty 36.
Ten plays later, Kadarius Calloway punched it in from two yards out to cut Liberty’s lead to 20-13.
Later in the third, the Aggies tied it up. Facing 3rd and 15, Logan Fife rifled a pass to Donovan Faupel, who made an impressive grab in the end zone to knot the game at 20 heading into the fourth.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Liberty quarterback Ethan Vasko’s pass was intercepted by Josiah Charles, giving NMSU a chance to seize control.
New Mexico State’s defense came up with two interceptions in the game. Along with Charles’ pick to open the fourth quarter, Zedekiah Rodriguez-Brown also recorded an interception in the first quarter, giving the Aggies multiple takeaways on the night.
They did just that — Fife connected with true freshman Brodie Malone-Bradford for a touchdown, capping off 21 unanswered points by the Aggies and giving them their first lead of the night, 27-20.
New Mexico State forced a punt on Liberty’s next drive, but special teams issues continued. TJ Pride muffed the return, and Liberty recovered at the Aggies’ 14-yard line.
The NMSU defense held strong to prevent a touchdown, but Liberty still came away with a field goal to trim the lead to 27-23.
Liberty forced a New Mexico State punt on the next drive and took over with 3:46 left in the fourth quarter. The Flames then put together their best drive of the night — a 13-play, 92-yard march capped by an 8-yard touchdown run from Evan Dickens.
That score put Liberty back in front, 30-27 with 36 seconds left in the game.
New Mexico State had one final chance with 10 seconds left. Fife hit Gavin Harris for a 32-yard gain to set up a potential game-tying field goal. But Hawk — who had been 4-of-5 from 40-49 yards this season — missed wide left from 47 yards as time expired.
New Mexico State dropped to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in Conference USA play.
NUMBERS OF NOTE (COURTESY: NM State football)
- Entering the night, NM State averaged just 50.8 rushing yards per contest. Against the Flames, the Aggies tallied 146 yards, setting a new season best on a 2025-high 38 attempts.
- Redshirt senior Ezra Christensen tallied the first forced fumble of his Aggie tenure, doing so via a strip sack in the second quarter.
- In addition to a touchdown, Kadarius Calloway racked up 84 yards on the ground. The graduate student surpassed his previous season and Aggie high of 66, which he set against Sam Houston on Oct. 2.
- Donovan Faupel hauled in his second receiving touchdown of the campaign in the third quarter. The junior has now accounted for three total scores on the season, including a passing touchdown at New Mexico.
- Liberty’s 293 total yards were the fewest by an Aggie FBS opponent this season. NM State’s previous low allowed was 313 last time out against Sam Houston (Oct. 2).
- Brodie Malone-Bradford caught his second touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter, doing so on a 20-yard strike from Logan Fife.
- Through six contests this season, the Aggie defense has recorded at least one turnover in each game. In 2024, NM State accomplished this feat in just seven of 12 games.
- Defensive lineman Ezra Christensen followed up his dominant outing against Sam Houston with another stellar showing. The defensive lineman recorded five total tackles, including four solo tackles that included two sacks and his first forced fumble as an Aggie.
- Nick Session led the team with eight total tackles on Tuesday, including five solo stops. The senior safety bested his previous season high of seven tackles.
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Category: General Sports
