Aggies head for the islands

The New Mexico State football team will find out Saturday night whether the second-half surge that overwhelmed Mercyhurst can travel across the Pacific.

The Aggies head to Honolulu to face Hawaii at 10 p.m. Mountain time Saturday at Clarence T.C. Ching Complex, looking for a second straight victory after pulling away for a 51-14 win over Mercyhurst in their home opener.

NM State enters the game 1-1, while Hawaii is looking for its first victory after opening the season with losses at Stanford and at home against UNLV.

The trip comes after an encouraging performance that looked considerably different for the Aggies after halftime.

Mercyhurst stayed within striking distance for most of the first half before NMSU took control, outgaining the Lakers 335-29 over the final two quarters and scoring 28 unanswered points. The Aggies finished with 553 yards of offense, their highest total since 2023.

The performance also gave NM State something it lacked in its season-opening 34-17 loss at Florida State — an established running game.

James Jones rushed 19 times for 137 yards against Mercyhurst, including a 46-yard touchdown. It was his seventh career 100-yard rushing performance and his fourth in his past six games dating to last season at Delaware State.

Quarterback Trey Hedden has also been productive through his first two starts since transferring from Furman. Hedden has completed 37 passes for 525 yards and four touchdowns, throwing two touchdown passes in each game.

One of his primary targets has been returning receiver TK King. After catching seven passes for 78 yards and a touchdown at Florida State, King added three receptions for 94 yards against Mercyhurst. He has 476 receiving yards over his past five games for NM State.

The Aggie defense will face a different challenge against Hawaii sophomore quarterback Micah Alejado, who threw for 3,106 yards as a freshman last season. The Rainbow Warriors entered the season among the Mountain West's preseason favorites but have stumbled out of the gate.

NMSU’s defense has created problems of its own for opposing quarterbacks.

Safety Nick Session intercepted a pass on the first play against Mercyhurst and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown, his second interception in as many games. Session was named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week, while the Aggies extended their streak of games with at least one forced turnover to 18.

Saturday also presents NM State with an opportunity to change some decidedly one-sided history. Hawaii leads the all-time series 11-1 and has won all seven meetings played in Honolulu. The Aggies' lone victory came in Las Cruces in 2022, while Hawaii won the most recent meeting 20-17 in Honolulu in 2023.

Aggie coach Tony Sanchez has had considerably more success against the Rainbow Warriors. Sanchez went 3-2 against Hawaii while coaching UNLV, including a 41-38 victory in Honolulu in 2016.

Now his Aggies return to the island with some momentum, and a chance to show that the team that dominated the final 30 minutes against Mercyhurst can do the same a long way from home.