New Mexico State caps regular season with home win vs. Jacksonville State
The historic season continues for the New Mexico State football team.
On Saturday, the Aggies won their eighth straight game in dramatic fashion with a 20-17 home victory against Jacksonville State on a 42-yard field goal by senior Ethan Albertson as time expired at Aggie Memorial Stadium to end the regular season.
Albertson has been in the Aggies program since 2019 after joining the program from Grossmont College.
The Aggies are 10-3 overall and 7-1 in Conference USA. It's the first time since 1960 that the Aggies have double-digit wins and during that season, NMSU went 11-0.
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Jacksonville State ended the regular season with an 8-4 overall record and a 6-2 mark in league play. Saturday's game was the first-ever between the two teams.
Albertson's field goal capped a wild sequence of events. The Gamecocks tied the game at 17 with 43 seconds left on an Alen Karajic 27-yard field goal.
New Mexico State raced down the field using a 10-yard run by quarterback Diego Pavia and a 36-yard catch by Trent Hudson to set up the winning score. Pavia finished the game with 269 yards passing and 68 yards rushing. Hudson finished with 70 yards receiving.
Turnovers get Gamecocks back in game
The Aggies had a chance to put the game away in the second half. But Pavia fumbled at the Jacksonville State 1-yard line and also threw two interceptions in the second half.
Jacksonville State got within 17-14 on an 11-yard scoring run by Malik Jackson and a two-point conversion run by quarterback Zion Webb.
Aggies defense solid
The Aggies once again played well on defense, intercepting Webb twice in the second half and limiting the Gamecocks to 85 yards rushing.
Defensive backs Dylan Early and Myles Rowser had the interceptions for NMSU. Gabe Peterson and Keyshaun Elliott had nine tackles apiece to lead the Aggies.
Entering Saturday's game, the Aggies were allowing just 20.4 points per game, including 10 in a win at Auburn last week, seven against UTEP and seven against Middle Tennessee.
First half
New Mexico State controlled the first half and led 17-3 at halftime. The Aggies outgained the Gamecocks 301-145, had the ball for 22:08 of the first half and were 6-of-8 on third-down conversions.
The Aggies led 14-0 after the first quarter as Jamoni Jones, who finished with 44 yards rushing, scored on a 1-yard touchdown run and Pavia connected on an 11-yard touchdown pass to Hudson.
The Gamecocks got within 14-3 on a Karajic 33-yard field goal but missed out on a big opportunity to close the game even further. The Aggies turned the ball over and the Gamecocks got inside the NMSU 20 but couldn't get into the end zone and Karajic missed a 36-yard field goal.
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The Aggies then raced down and scored right at the end of the first half on a 27-yard field goal by Albertson, who has made 18-of-23 field goals this season.
Ten NMSU players caught a pass in the first half, led by Hudsson with three catches for 27 yards. Pavia passed for 194 yards and rushed for 37.
Gabe Peterson led the NMSU defense with four tackles, a sack and tackle for a loss.
Perry Carter led the Gamecocks offense with 86 yards receiving. The Gamecocks rushed for 25 yards in the first half on 12 carries and was 0-for-4 on third-down conversions.
What the NMSU coach said
"It took a while for our team to trust in one another but once they did and once they believed in us, we have been playing well," said NMSU coach Jerry Kill, who won his 175th career game on Saturday. "Ethan Albertson made a tough kick into the wind and he's been great for us during his career. Our offensive coaches said let's go win after Jacksonville State tied it and our kids executed. Jacksonville State is a good team and my hat is off to their coach Rich Rodriguez."
What the NMSU players said
"We believed in Ethan and we knew he was going to make that field goal," Hudson said. "It's a great win for us. I just made sure I got that ball into my hands on that last drive, it was a great throw. We did some good things in the first half. We made mistakes on offense, but our defense stepped up like it has been all season and they gave us a chance."
Added Peterson: "After the Hawaii game we started trusting each other and we've been believing in ourselves ever since. Our preparation has been key to the success we've been having on defense."
Up Next
The Aggies will play Friday at Liberty in the Conference USA championship game. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia. Next Sunday, the Aggies will find out which bowl they will be invited to. A bowl official from the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque was in attendance at Saturday's game.
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Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on X (Formerly Twitter)
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Ethan Albertson's game-winning field goal lifts NMSU to win
