LAS CRUCES, N.M. – New Mexico State finalized their 2018 football schedule on Friday, Aug. 25. The team's slate features five home and seven road contests in the Aggies first season competing as a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) independent.
 
"Completing the 2018 football schedule has been one of the most satisfying achievements in the department of athletics in my tenure," said Director of Athletics Mario Moccia. "Our goal was to play a competitive schedule with regional and familiar opponents for our fans. All while keeping in mind the necessary revenue needed to generate enough to meet our deficit payback plan ($823,036), as well as assist in funding the entire athletic program and I believe this has been accomplished. The 2018 schedule would not have been made possible without tremendous work from Dave Brown, CEO of Gridiron Inc. and Deputy AD, Braun Cartwright. They worked extremely hard on a daily basis to complete the best possible schedule, and I appreciate their efforts."
 
NM State opens the season during week zero against Wyoming on Aug. 25, in Aggie Memorial Stadium. Week zero games are played the weekend prior to the full opening weekend of Division I football. The week zero contests open up the Thursday prior to Labor Day Weekend.
 
The Aggies then travel to Minneapolis to square off against Big Ten opponent Minnesota on Aug. 30. The all-time series between the two teams is split at 1-1 with NM State earning their first win against a Big Ten team when they took down the Gophers, 28-21, back on Sept. 10, 2011.
 
Remaining on the road, the team heads to Logan, Utah to battle former Western Athletic Conference rival Utah State on Sept. 8. The two teams have faced each other 40 times prior dating back all the way to the Aggies last bowl win. The team defeated Utah State, 20-13, in the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31, 1960.
 
NM State returns home to host Battle of I-25 rival New Mexico on Sept. 15. The rivalry week continues when the squad makes a trip to El Paso, Texas, to face off against Battle of I-10 rival UTEP on Sept. 22.
 
After a bye week, the Aggies get set for a home contest against Liberty on Oct. 6. This is the first-ever meeting between the teams as the Flames travel to Aggie Memorial Stadium.
 
"Liberty will be a really well coached team," said head coach Doug Martin. "Turner Gill does a great job as a head coach there. He's a first-class guy and a really good football coach with a strong program."
 
Then on Oct. 13, the team battles current Sun Belt foe Louisiana in Lafayette, La. Staying with current Sun Belt opponents, the Crimson and White welcome Georgia Southern to Aggie Memorial Stadium for a game on Oct. 20.
 
The final contest in October sees NM State travel to San Marcos, Texas, for a game against Texas State on Oct. 27. The team tied a program record for touchdowns thrown (5) in a game against the Bobcats on Nov. 19, 2016.
 
"I really like the three games against Sun Belt opponents because all three of them have been nice games for us," said Martin. "They've been exciting, rivalry games that create big crowds which is good for our players and the fans."
 
The Aggies close out their home schedule when they play host to Alcorn State on Nov. 3. NM State holds a 1-0 record over the FCS opponent after a 45-10 win at home on Oct. 4, 2008.
 
Martin commented on the FCS opponent saying, "Getting and FCS opponent is huge for us because it's an advantage that many teams have had that we now gain. Those games are good for any team because it really helps us as we look to gain momentum from it."
 
The team then wraps up the regular season with two road contests.  The first pits them against BYU for the first time since 2012 when they meet on Nov. 17. The regular season concludes with the second match-up of the season against Liberty on Nov. 24.
 
"Finalizing this schedule solidifies my belief on the importance of having both strong and quality relationships in the business and I'd like to thank the AD's of these schools for scheduling games with NM State," said Moccia. "With three games against Mountain West opponents and three from the Sun Belt along with UTEP, our fans should be very pleased. In addition, we have scheduled an FCS opponent for the first time since 2014, a game that most all other FBS programs play on a regular basis. Finally, we have nine games scheduled for the 2019 season and will be releasing that as soon as we can."
 
Schools who compete along with NM State as FBS independents are Army, BYU, Liberty, UMass and Notre Dame.
 

Date	Opponent	Location
August
25	Wyoming	Aggie Memorial Stadium
30	Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minn.
September
8	Utah State	Logan, Utah
15	New Mexico	Aggie Memorial Stadium
22	UTEP	El Paso, Texas
October
6	Liberty	Aggie Memorial Stadium
13	Louisiana	Lafayette, La.
20	Georgia Southern	Aggie Memorial Stadium
27	Texas State	San Marcos, Texas
November
3 17	Alcorn State BYU	Aggie Memorial Stadium Provo, Utah
24	Liberty	Lynchburg, Va.

 
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