Aggies drop weekday clash in Miami

Playing in its second midweek game of the season, the NM State football team returned to action on Wednesday night, taking on the FIU Panthers as part of Weekday CUSA. Behind a trio of giveaways, the Aggies recorded their lowest scoring output of the season, falling 22-3.

With the loss, NMSU falls to 2-4 on the season, with a 1-1 mark in Conference USA action. After playing three games in a span of 12 days, the Aggies now look ahead to a bye week, before visiting Huntsville, Texas, for a Wednesday night matchup with Sam Houston on Oct. 21.

Following a lightning delay that set kickoff back 34 minutes, NM State opened its first drive with a big run from reigning CUSA Offensive Player of the Week James Jones. However, it was unable to produce any points on either of its first two drives. While both drives stalled, the Aggies’ Brody Richter pinned the Panthers inside the 10-yard line with each of his first two boots.

Richter has now pinned 15 of his 21 punts inside the 20, including dropping three inside the 10-yard line.

On the Aggies’ third drive of the night, FIU took the ball away on the first play of the possession as a pass sailed over the receiver’s head and into the hands of the Panther safety. Following the turnover, FIU tallied a nine-play, 53-yard drive that finished with a score by Anthony Carrie to give the home side a 7-0 edge nearing the end of the opening quarter.

The NMSU offense responded with its only points of the night on the following possession, using a 26-yard third-down completion to Terrione Graves and eight rushes before capping the drive with a field goal by Kyah Francone from 26 yards out. Francone recorded his first made collegiate field goal.

Despite several big defensive stops that forced FIU into 3rd-and-long multiple times, the Panthers answered with a 14-play, 56-yard scoring drive that put the Aggies behind by a touchdown with 2:29 remaining in the first half.

NM State was fueled offensively by its run game in the first half, amassing 92 yards, including 69 from Jones. Defensively, the Aggie defensive front consistently created pressure, coming away with three tackles for loss, including a pair of sacks for veteran Gabe Peterson.

Entering Wednesday’s game, FIU had allowed just three sacks on the season before Peterson tallied two of his own against the Panthers, with veteran linebacker Sone Aupiu adding one sack. For Peterson, this marked a new career high in sacks. He also logged a career-best three tackles for loss.

Finishing with six tackles in Miami, Sone Aupiu now sits just two tackles shy of 200 for his career.

For the game, Jones led the Aggie attack on the ground, finishing with 89 yards on 15 carries, including a long of 27 yards on the opening snap. The senior from Baltimore has 607 yards on 89 carries for the season. He was also the leading receiver in receptions for the Crimson & White, finishing with three catches for 19 yards, a new season high in both receptions and yards.

FIU added a field goal to its total on its first possession after intermission as it worked the ball deep into Aggie territory. Despite a sack fumble forced by Sone Aupiu that pushed the Panthers’ back 16 yards, the FIU kicker was true from 52 yards to give the Panthers a 13-3 lead.

The Panthers once again pushed the ball deep onto the Aggies’ side of the field, but the NMSU defense bowed up and limited the home side to another field goal, keeping the game within 13 points.

NM State threatened on its next drive as Adam Damante hooked up with AJ Williams III for 32 yards on 3rd-and-18, marking the longest play of the night for the Crimson and White. However, the FIU defense came up with a stop on fourth down just four plays later to keep the Aggies at bay.

With senior cornerback Javon Gillipsie’s interception late in the game on Thursday night, the Aggies have now recorded at least one turnover in 21 of the last 22 games. Tallying 13 total tackles, including nine solo stops, safety Nick Session posted the most tackles by an Aggie in a single game this season. This also marks a new career high for the fifth year Aggie.

The Aggies are at Sam Houston on Oct. 21, another midweek game following a bye week.