LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The NM State defense was on full display Saturday afternoon at Aggie Memorial Stadium, forcing five takeaways that led to 28 points in the first quarter en route to its resounding 50-10 victory against Texas State.
"Most of our problems this year is when we have to go 80 yards to score," said Aggies head coach Doug Martin, whose team matched last year's win total at 3-7 and 2-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. "When the defense does what it did tonight, it makes life easier. We can be a quick strike offense when given that opportunity."
The 40-point margin over Texas State was also the largest since NM State's 49-14 win over UTEP in 2002. Tyler Rogers finished with five touchdowns for the Aggies, three passing, one rushing as well as a reception – all of which came in the first half.
The NM State defense forced off four-straight turnovers once it took the field against the Bobcats (2-8, 0-6 SBC) and the Aggie offense rewarded them with four-straight scores. After Jaden Wright forced a fumble, NM State marched down the field and scored on a trick play with Johnathan Boone completing a nine-yard pass to Tyler Rogers in the end zone.
After a second fumble by Texas State's Stedman Mayberry, Rogers found Royce Caldwell for a 25-yarder for his first touchdown since being sidelined three games into the season. Shamad Lomax picked off Texas State's quarterback Tyler Jones on the very next play for the Bobcats that Rogers ran into the house himself, giving the Peoria, Ariz., product a passing, rushing and receiving TD before the halfway point in the first quarter.
The Aggies tacked on their fourth TD of the first quarter on a dart from Rogers to Tyrian Taylor after Terrill Hanks picked off Jones at the 5:37 mark.
With a 28-0 lead, the Aggies punted their first series of the second quarter. However, Lomax and the NM State defense only needed one play to give its offense the ball back when the true freshman picked off Jones for the second time. The last time an NM State player recorded two picks in a game was Jacob Nwangwa last season at Texas State.
Luckily for the Bobcats, NM State wasn't able to convert on that turnover. Parker Davidson hit is first of three field-goals on the next offensive series and gave the Aggies a 31-0 lead before Rogers connected with Anthony Muse for this first-career touchdown with 4:04 left in the first half.
Davidson gave the Aggies a 41-0 cushion when he drilled a 27-yarder through the uprights before NM State surrendered a field-goal to Texas State with 3:44 left in the third frame. Davidson's third field-goal of the evening made it 44-3 to start the fourth quarter.
In his first offensive drive after relieving Rogers under center, NickJeantyconnected with Jaleel Scott for a 35-yard bomb before settling for the 50-10 victory at home.
The Aggies stay at home Thanksgiving weekend as they play host to a 6-1 Appalachian State team at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26, in another ESPN3 broadcast.
POSTGAME NOTES
• Saturday's win gave Martin his 10th win as an Aggie since taking over the program in 2012.
• Rogers passed Sal Olivas (40, 1964-97) with his 42nd career passing touchdown to move into third all-time in passing touchdowns.
• Rogers also passed Sal Olivas (49, 1964-67) with his 50th career touchdown scored to move into 4th all-time in total touchdowns.
• Rogers passed David Spriggs with his 186 passing yards Saturday for a single-season total of 2,588 passing yards to move into 8th all-time.
• Rogers passes David Spriggs with 2,921 total offensive yards to move into 6th all-time in single-season for total offensive yards.
• Lomax became the first NM State player to record two interceptions since Nwangwa did it at Texas State on 11/7/15.
• Lomax finished with a career-high 11 tackles, including 0.5 tackles for loss and two picks.
• Hanks recorded his fifth career interception in the first quarter.
• Bradley forced his first career fumble on Texas State's second drive of the game.
• The last time NM State intercepted three passes in a game was against San Jose State back on 10/18/08.
Aggies Defeat Texas State 50-10 In Las Cruces
