Aggies Host Southeast Missouri to Begin Sanchez Era Football at NMSU

Aggies seeking first season-opening victory since 2014.

Source: NMSU Athletics

Who: NM State vs. Southeast Missouri
Where: Las Cruces, N.M. – Aggie Memorial Stadium
When: Saturday, August 31, 2024 – 7 p.m. MT

HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Adam Young
Color Analyst: Danny Knee

Listen: 99.5 FM KXPZ
Play-by-Play: Jack Nixon
Color Analyst: Javahn Ferguson

Listen: 96.7 FM La Equis (Spanish Broadcast)
Play-by-Play: Abel Rodriguez
Color Analyst: Eddie Rubio

Live Stats: NMStateStats.com

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State officially begins a new era on Saturday as Head Coach Tony Sanchez begins his tenure as the program’s leader when the Aggies play host to FCS opponent Southeast Missouri on Saturday evening inside Aggie Memorial Stadium.

NUMBERS OF NOTE
1 – The Aggies enter a new era as Head Coach Tony Sanchez begins his first season at the helm of the program. This marks Sanchez’s second stint as the leader of an FBS school after guiding UNLV from 2015-19.
3 – NM State is seeking its third-straight appearance in a bowl game – an achievement that has never been accomplished in program history.
9 – With a victory over the Redhawks, NM State would end a streak of nine consecutive seasons without a win in its season opener.
59 – Despite the roster turnover, the Aggies will enter the year with a bevy of maturity as 59 of the Aggies 113 student-athletes are juniors, seniors or graduate students.
2 – After reaching the Conference USA Championship game thanks to a 7-1 record in league play, the Aggies will begin their second season as members of CUSA.
101 – In 2023, the Aggies finished the year ranked 14th at the FBS level in rushing yards per game. This season, the Aggies offensive linemen bring a combined 101 total starts to the table and will be the Aggies most experienced position group by a wide margin.

YEAR TWO
The Aggies are now amid their second year as members of Conference USA. NM State made quite the splash in its debut campaign – going 7-1 in league play on its way to an appearance in the CUSA Championship Game in addition to being one of only 27 FBS programs to reach the 10-win mark in 2023.

Despite the addition of league newcomer Kennesaw State, the Aggies’ list of conference opponents will mirror what it was in 2023. However, this season the Aggies will swap home and away designations with their eight CUSA counterparts. In 2024 they will host Liberty, LA Tech, Western Kentucky and UTEP – all teams they traveled to play last season. Meanwhile, the Aggies will visit Sam Houston, Jax State, FIU and Middle Tennessee after hosting these four programs in 2023.

TURKEY HUNTING
After earning bowl bids in both 2023 (Quick Lane Bowl) and 2024 (Isleta New Mexico Bowl), the Aggies will look to make it three straight bowl appearances for the first time in program history.

Similarly, a winning season for the Aggies would mark the first time since the 1965, 1966 and 1967 seasons that NM State would piece together back-to-back-to-back seasons with a record of above .500. In fact, the 2022 and 2023 seasons represented the first time since 1966 and 1967 that the Aggies tallied consecutive seasons with a winning record.

START FAST
On Saturday, the Aggies will look to do something they haven’t accomplished since the 2014 season – start the season with a win.

Despite coming off of two of the most successful seasons in program history and reaching a bowl game three times since 2016, the last time the Aggies opened the year with a 1-0 record was the 2014 campaign when they came away with a 28-10 win over Cal Poly.

The win over the Mustangs was fueled by running back Larry Rose who finished the day with 149 rushing yards and two total touchdowns.

In the program’s history, the Aggies are 65-59-3 in season openers while maintaining an impressive 82-41-2 record in home openers. This excludes the 1901 and 2020 seasons in which the Aggies did not play any true home games.

Along these lines, Head Coach Tony Sanchez will look to become the 15th NM State head coach to win his first game as the leader of the program. This would also mark the first time this feat has been accomplished since 1978 when Gil Krueger did so.

ONE FINAL RIDE
NM State broadcaster Jack Nixon returns for his 45th and final year of broadcasting Aggie athletics for the NM State radio network. A legend on the Aggie airwaves, Nixon begins the 2024 football season with 500 games under his belt in addition to over 1,400 basketball games.

For much of the season, the “Voice of the Aggies” and NM State Hall of Fame selection, Nixon will handle the radio duties alongside former Aggie Cory Lucas, who joined the broadcaster ahead of the 2017 season. However, former Aggie football player Javahn Fergurson will fill in for Lucas for the Aggies’ season opener versus SEMO.

For complete coverage of the NM State football program, visit NMStateSports.com – the official home of Aggie athletics – and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Football), Twitter (@NMStateFootball) and Instagram (@NMStateFB).

Article posted by:

Levi Gwaltney

Levi Gwaltney is the Editor In Chief of Las Cruces Digest. The Editor makes editorial and posting decisions regarding content published on this site. In most cases, the Editor makes little if any contribution to content published, and takes no credit for the content of republished posts. If available, the source or author of posts is provided at the top of the article.