Renewing the Rio Grande rivalry

The Rio Grande Rivalry has been around for 116 games, but most of the Aggies playing Saturday haven’t experienced much of it.

That is one of the contradictions of college football’s changing landscape. New Mexico State and New Mexico have played every year since 1946 with one exception, the pandemic-altered 2020 season. Generations of players have grown up understanding what the game means on either side of the state.

But when the Aggies and Lobos meet at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Aggie Memorial Stadium, only six NMSU players will have faced New Mexico more than once.

Gabe Peterson is the only current Aggie who has played in the rivalry at least three times. And Peterson and Sone Aupiu are the only players on the roster who have experienced an NMSU victory over the Lobos.

Head coach Tony Sanchez has considerably more history with the game than most of the players he will send onto the field.

Sanchez played against New Mexico twice, in 1994 and 1995, and has been involved in five more rivalry games as a coach. Now he takes a 1-2 Aggie team into a game that has become increasingly competitive in recent years.

New Mexico owns the considerable advantage in the history of the series, but the Aggies and Lobos have split their past four meetings. NMSU won 21-9 in Las Cruces in 2022 and 27-17 in Albuquerque the following year, but the Lobos won the last two.

Saturday also offers this year’s Aggies a chance to find out whether some encouraging trends through the first three games can translate into another rivalry win.

NMSU comes into the game following a bye week and a 29-19 loss at Hawai‘i, a game in which the Aggies fell behind by 16 points before fighting back to within 22-19 entering the fourth quarter.

They didn't finish the comeback, but they did leave Honolulu with evidence that their running game and defense may be developing identities. Running back James Jones rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries against Hawai‘i, giving him 215 yards over the past two games. Through three games, Jones has rushed for a team-high 243 yards on 43 carries, an average of 5.7 yards per attempt. His 81 rushing yards per game lead Conference USA.

Jones, who rushed for 137 yards against Mercyhurst, has topped 100 yards 11 times during a college career that has included stops at Garden City Community College and Delaware State. He rushed for 958 yards at Delaware State last season while averaging 9.8 yards per carry.

The Aggies have also found ways to stretch the field through the air.

Wide receiver TK King has caught 14 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 17.1 yards per reception. King has 543 receiving yards over his past six games dating to last season, an average of 90.5 per game.

AJ Williams III is averaging 16.9 yards on his eight receptions, helping NMSU average 14.3 yards per completion, which ranks 21st nationally.

Perhaps more significant for an offense still finding its footing is what the Aggies have done when they need to keep drives alive. NMSU has converted 52.5% of its third downs through three games, the best mark in Conference USA and 17th nationally.

On the other side of the ball, the Aggies have been increasingly difficult to run against.

Mercyhurst managed 70 rushing yards against NMSU before Hawai‘i was held to 67. The combined 137 yards marked the first time since 2022 that the Aggies held consecutive opponents below 75 yards rushing.

The defense has also continued a much longer trend of creating opportunities for the offense — or scoring without it.

NMSU has forced at least one turnover in 19 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the country. The Aggies have intercepted at least one pass in 14 of those games and already have two defensive touchdowns this season.

Nick Session returned an interception for a touchdown against Mercyhurst, and De'Marcus Peters added an 84-yard fumble return against Hawai‘i.

Those numbers provide a snapshot of a team that is still difficult to define after only three games.

NMSU opened the season against Florida State, responded by piling up 553 yards in a 51-14 victory over Mercyhurst and then showed enough resilience at Hawai‘i to erase most of an early 16-point deficit before falling away late.

The opponent arriving in Las Cruces has already shown some resilience of its own. New Mexico is 2-1 after coming considerably closer than expected to knocking off No. 24/21 Oklahoma on Saturday in Norman. The Lobos trailed just 7-6 at halftime and were still within eight points when they drove to the Oklahoma 17 late in the fourth quarter. The Sooners stopped them on fourth down with just over three minutes remaining to preserve a 14-6 victory.

UNM's defense forced three turnovers and limited Oklahoma to 299 total yards and 61 yards rushing. The loss followed convincing home victories over Central Michigan, 38-7, and Mercyhurst, 70-7.

That sets up a rivalry game between two teams that arrive by different routes but with reasons to believe they are better than their records, particularly an Aggie team that has had an extra week to prepare.

Saturday brings something different. It's a game that doesn't need much explanation to people who have followed football in New Mexico for very long, even if many of the players taking part in it haven't been around nearly as long.

The uniforms remain familiar. The schools are still separated by a few hours of interstate. And for the 116th time, New Mexico State and New Mexico will play for the state's football bragging rights.

For much of this Aggie roster, it will just feel a little more like the first time.