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A closely fought first half that ended in a 7-7 tie busted loose for NM State in the second half, as the Aggies cruised to a 28-7 victory in the 100th football meeting between NMSU and UTEP.
It was the Aggies’ best defensive performance of the season, in terms of fewest points allowed. Safety Jordan Vincent led the defense with eight tackles during the game in El Paso, attended by 19,727 fans in the Sun Bowl.
Offensively, senior tight end Thomaz Whitford hauled in a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Diego Pavia, who had another solid performance through the air and on the ground.
In the second half, NM State mixed things up offensively and gave the Miners several different formations, looks and plays. Pavia, a junior from Albuquerque, finished the night 15 of 25 passing for 186 yards and, for the third straight game had a touchdown run of 22 or more yards. Against UTEP, he scored on a 41-yard run, as well as a 10-yarder, giving him 96 yards for the game.
Leading the Aggies on the ground was sophomore Ahmonte Watkins, who ran for 109 yards on 10 carries.
For the season, Pavia and Watkins are first and second on the Aggies’ rushing leader board. Pavia has 527 yards and Watkins has 415 on 35 attempts, averaging an astonishing 11.9 yards per carry.
Pavia’s passing efficiency has improved throughout the season. He has thrown only one interception in the last five games, after throwing four in the first three games. His passer rating of 164.6 is second best in the conference and 19th in the nation.
The Aggies are now 5-3 on the season and 3-1 in Conference USA play.
Having won on three consecutive Wednesday nights, the Aggies next play on Tuesday, Oct. 24, against Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana. The Bulldogs are 3-5 on the season and 2-2 in Conference USA. The only common opponents so far for NM State and La Tech are UTEP and Florida International, which both teams beat. The Aggies beat FIU 34-17 and La Tech beat them 22-17. La Tech beat UTEP 24-10. The Bulldogs last played Oct. 10, when they lost to Middle Tennessee State 31-23.
The NM State-La Tech game has an early start for Aggie fans, 5 p.m. Mountain time, and will be broadcast on 99.5 FM with Jack Nixon and Cory Lucas on the call; it will also be televised on CBS Sports Network.
The Aggies have just two home games left, both on Saturdays in November: a 4 p.m. start against Middle Tennessee for Homecoming Nov. 4, and a 2 p.m. start against Jacksonville State Nov. 25. Of their remaining five games, NM State needs two more victories to become bowl eligible.
