Aggies look to home opener after promising debut

The New Mexico State University football team came home from Tallahassee without a win, but perhaps with a little more certainty about what it has. Now the Aggies get their first opportunity to find out what they can do with it.

After opening the season at Florida State, NM State returns to Aggie Memorial Stadium to face Mercyhurst at 7 p.m. Saturday in the first meeting between the programs.

Both teams arrive at 0-1, though by considerably different routes. The Aggies showed flashes of an offense that could have more ways to attack defenses this season, while Mercyhurst, an FCS program, opened with a 43-10 loss at Youngstown State.

The most encouraging development for NMSU in Tallahassee may have been quarterback Trey Hedden. The Furman transfer completed 26 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns in his Aggie debut, earning Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week honors. It was the most passing yards by an NM State quarterback in a season opener since Tyler Rogers threw for 398 against Arizona State in 2017.

Hedden also quickly found some weapons. Sophomore Brodie Malone-Bradford established career highs with six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown, while TK King caught seven passes for 78 yards and a score. Together, they accounted for 174 receiving yards, the highest total by a pair of teammates during college football's Week 0 games.

The next step may be creating more balance around them. NMSU added Delaware State transfer James Jones after he rushed for 958 yards on just 98 carries last season. His six 100-yard performances in 2025 are notable for an Aggie offense that surpassed 100 rushing yards as a team just twice last season.

There were encouraging signs on the other side of the ball as well.

Safety Nick Session intercepted Florida State quarterback Ashton Daniels, extending NM State's streak of games with a forced turnover to 17. Linebacker Sone Aupiu led the Aggies with eight tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, while defensive end Gabe Peterson earned CUSA Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording seven tackles, a tackle for loss and half a sack.

Saturday presents a considerably different challenge. Mercyhurst is in just its third season competing at the FCS level and is led by first-year head coach Tom Sydeski, who spent the previous two seasons as the Lakers' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

The Aggies will look to continue a recent run of success at home. NMSU has won its home opener in each of Tony Sanchez's first two seasons as head coach. A victory Saturday would give the Aggies three consecutive home-opening wins for the first time since 2002-04.

Florida State provided the first glimpse of what this Aggie team might become.

Against Mercyhurst, it’s time for the Aggies to turn some of those encouraging signs into a win.