2023-09-19 19:13:50
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LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Aggies hit the road for third straight week as they make the long trip to Hawai’i for a Saturday bout versus the Rainbow Warriors. After defeating the Lobos 27-17 last weekend, NM State will be looking to piece together back-to-back wins while Hawai’i is seeking its second win of the season.
Game Information
NM State (2-2, 0-1 CUSA) at Hawai’i (1-1, 0-0 Mountain West)
Date: September 23, 2023
Time: 10:00 p.m. MT
TV: Spectrum PPV
Canoe Leahey (PxP) Rich Miano (Analyst)
Radio: The Aggie Radio Network, Powered by LEARFIELD
Jack Nixon (PxP)
Cory Lucas (Analyst)
PICK SIX
12 – Saturday’s meeting between the Aggies and Rainbow Warriors will mark the 12th meeting of the two sides and the fourth time in the previous three seasons that they will have faced off.
6 – With two touchdown passes on Saturday, Diego Pavia has now thrown for multiple scores in six of the Aggies’ last seven games dating back to last season
17.8 – By posting an average of 17.8 yards per completion, the NM State offense ranks sixth in the nation in this category among FBS teams.
8 – The Aggie offensive line is among the best in the country at preventing negative plays as they are currently giving up only 3.25 tackles for loss per game to rank eighth-best in the nation.
2 – For the first time this season, the Aggies were perfect in the red zone as they scored on their only two trips beyond the 20-yard line on Saturday.
3 – Saturday’s contest will mark NM State’s third consecutive road game after going to Liberty two weeks ago and New Mexico last Saturday.
KINGS OF NEW MEXICO
For the first time since 2017, NM State tallied a win in Albuquerque as they defeated the Lobos 27-17 in its last outing. This also marked the second consecutive win over the Lobos and makes Jerry Kill the first Aggie coach since Dewayne Walker to begin his career with a perfect 2-0 record against the Aggies’ in-state rival.
In Saturday’s win, the Aggies were led offensively by Albuquerque native Diego Pavia who finished the night with 203 passing yards, two throwing touchdowns and 99 rushing yards. The 99-yard rushing total marks the most by any Aggie this season.
BRADY BOOM
In year two with the program, sophomore wide receiver Jonathan Brady has 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 252 total receiving yards.
His 109-yard receiving game against New Mexico marked the second time that the Las Vegas native has eclipsed the century mark this season. With Saturday’s performance, Brady becomes the first Aggie receiver with multiple 100-yard receiving games since Jared Wyatt did so in 2021.
Brady’s hot start puts him in elite company as he is the first NM State wideout to have two 100-yard games in the first four outings since Teldrick Morgan did so in 2014 when he had receiving totals of 202 yards in the third game of the season before posting 122 yards in game four.
He is also one of just 20 FBS wide receivers to have multiple 100-yard receiving games this season. Interestingly enough, Saturday’s contest between the Aggies and Rainbow Warriors will feature two of those 20 receivers as Brady is joined on that short list by Hawai’i pass catcher Pofele Ashlock who has also gone over 100 yards receiving twice this year.
FBS Receivers with 2+ 100-yard Games in 2023
Rome Odunze, Washington (3)
Pofele Ashlock, Hawaii (2)
Jonathan Brady, NM State (2)
Erik Brooks, Fresno St. (2)
Samuel Brown, Houston (2)
Luther Burden, Mizzou (2)
CJ Daniels, Liberty (2)
Troy Franklin, Oregon (2)
Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio St. (2)
Xzavier Henderson, Cincinatti (2)
Kobe Hudson, UCF (2)
Caulllin Lacy, South Alabama (2)
Xavier Legette, South Carolina (2)
Ja’Lynn Polk, Washington (2)
Xavier Restrepo, Miami (2)
Lincoln Victor, Washington State (2)
Jordan Watkins, Ole Miss (2)
Malik Washington, Virginia (2)
Xavier Weaver, Colorado (2)
LaJohntay Wester, FAU (2)
Brady and Hawai’i’s Ashlock are also two of the top receivers in the nation in terms of catching touchdowns as they each have three touchdown receptions on the young season – tying them for 18th in the nation.
THE ‘T’ IN TRENT STANDS FOR TOUCHDOWN
NM State receiver Trent Hudson also joins Brady as one of the elite wideouts in the nation as he hauled in three touchdowns in the Aggies’ first three games this season. This makes 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.
By NM State putting a pair of receivers in this category, it is one of just 12 schools at the FBS level to have multiple receivers with three or more receiving touchdowns this season. The other schools on this short list are Arizona, Hawaii, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, LSU, USC, Vanderbilt, Washington and Washington St.
SPECIAL TALENT
Since his arrival in 2019, Ethan Albertson has established himself among the top kickers in the country. On Monday morning, Albertson received recognition for his performance against New Mexico on Saturday as he was named the Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Week.
The award came on the heels of a Saturday performance in which he made a pair of field goals and went a perfect 3-for-3 on PAT attempts.
Amid his senior season, the San Diego, Calif., native ranks inside the top-ten in NM State history for field goals made (T-4th, 33), field goals attempted (7th, 42), field goal percentage (1st, 78.6%), extra points made (8th, 73), extra points attempted (9th, 77) and extra point percentage (94.8%).
DUAL THREAT
After an impressive first season in the Crimson and White, quarterback Diego Pavia already finds himself among the Aggie greats. He currently ranks 23rd all-time in career passing yards (2,368) and sixth in career rushing yards (679).
VAIPULU TIMES TWO-LU
Saturday’s meeting with Hawai’i will feature a pair of siblings working to achieve opposite goals as brothers AJ Vaipulu (NM State) and Solo Vaipulu (Hawai’i) take the field versus one another.
The Aggies’ Vaipulu has become a staple on the offensive line – starting the first four games of the season after appearing in 11 games during the 2022 season. Meanwhile, Solo Vaipulu makes his presence felt in the backfield as he is amid his first year playing running back for the Rainbow Warriors after playing 32 games as a member of the Hawai’i offensive line.
AIR IT OUT
Between Offensive Coordinator Tim Beck and Wide Receivers Coach Tony Sanchez, the Aggies have formed an offensive attack that produces big play after big play in the passing game. Currently, the Aggies rank sixth in the nation in passing yards per completion – averaging nearly 18 yards per reception (17.8). Thus far, the Aggies have compiled 11 passing plays of 25 yards or more.
BLOCK THAT KICK!
On Sept. 9, 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.
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.
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.
A WINNING TRADITION
With eight wins under his belt at NM State, Jerry Kill is the tenth winningest active coach in FBS football.
Of note, 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).
BEHIND ENEMY LINES (HAWAI’I)
The Aggies will make the flight over the Pacific Ocean in search of the program’s first ever win on the island of Hawai’i as NM State is currently 1-10 all-time against the Rainbow Warriors with its lone victory coming in Las Cruces last season.
While the team’s will meet for the fifth time as non-conference counterparts, much of the series history between the two programs came while both institutions were members of the Western Athletic Conference. From 2005-11, the Aggies and Rainbow Warriors donned the WAC patch and met seven times with Hawai’i winning all seven matchups.
At the helm for Hawai’i will be former Rainbow Warrior quarterback Timmy Chang. Chang is in his second year as the program’s head coach after managing a three-win season in his first year. Thus far, the Rainbow Warriors’ lone victory in 2023 has come over FCS program Albany. Although, the rest of the Rainbow Warriors’ schedule has featured solely Power Five competition, including No. 10 Oregon who defeated Hawai’i 55-10 this past Saturday.
Offensively, Hawai’i is led at the quarterback position by Brayden Schager who is currently accounting for 78.1% of the Rainbow Warrior offense (1,032/1,321 yards). Through four games, Schager has thrown for 11 touchdowns to rank tied for fourth in the country.
Schager will often be looking for his top two targets in Pofele Ashlock and Steven McBride who are responsible for a combined 47 catches, 604 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
The Aggie secondary will receive much of the attention on Saturday as Hawai’i is currently averaging only 51.8 rushing yards per game.
As a team, Hawai’i is averaging 23.3 points per game while allowing opposing teams to score an average of 36.8 points.
LAST TIME VERSUS THE RAINBOW WARRIORS (9/24/22)
Last season, the Aggies picked up their first-ever win over Hawai’i in program history and their first win of the 2022 campign as a 144-yard rushing performance from Star Thomas helped NM State defeat the Rainbow Warriors 45-26 in Las Cruces.
In the win, the Aggies produced 438 yards of offense, including 357 yards via the run game while averaging 7.9 yards per carry. In total, the Aggies scored five rushing touchdowns in the win, led by
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 44thyear 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.
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