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NM State Notes | UL-Lafayette Notes
LAFAYETTE, La. – After its second and final bye week of the season, the NM State football team returns to action on Saturday as they travel to UL-Lafayette to take on the Ragin' Cajuns in a 3 p.m. MT contest on ESPN3. The game will be broadcast on AM 570.
Prior to the week off, the Aggies collected back-to-back wins, the second being a 31-21 win over Texas State on the road. NM State jumped out to an early lead against the Bobcats as
Larry Rose III scored his first touchdown of the night on a 22-yard run up the right sideline.
Parker Davidson extended the lead with a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter. Texas State took their first lead of the game as they garnered two touchdowns before halftime, but
Clayton Granch caught scored his first touchdown as an Aggie to give the visiting team the lead again. Rose III scored twice in the fourth quarter to give NM State the win.
"This was just a great team win," said head coach
Doug Martin. "We came down here still without our guards, without [Teldrick] Morgan, and you know our guys stepped up and made plays. It was huge, a great team win."
Rose III led the offensive attack with 207 rushing yards, three touchdowns and a game-high 292 all-purpose yards. The sophomore carried the ball 31 times on the night. This is his third 200-yard rushing game this season and his second in a row. Rose III now has 1,290 rushing yards this season to lead the Sun Belt in that category. These rushing yards also rank fourth in the NM State record books for rushing yards in a single season. With three games left in the season, the Fairfield, Texas native has already surpassed his 1,102 rushing yards from the 2014 season. After his two rushing touchdowns, Rose III now has 21 career rushing touchdowns to rank seventh all-time in the Aggie record books.
Nick Jeanty was 24-of-45 for 297 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. With Jeanty guiding the Aggies, the team converted 13-of-23 third downs and 2-of-3 fourth downs. The team was also 3-for-3 in the red zone.
Jacob Nwangwa led NM State's defensive efforts as he amassed 10 tackles. Nwangwa grabbed two interceptions on the final two Bobcat drives of the game to secure the victory for the Aggies. With Texas State in the red zone, Nwangwa stepped in front of a Tyler Jones pass and collected his second interception of the season with 3:36 left in the game to prevent the Bobcats from cutting into the lead. On the final drive of the game, the sophomore again stepped in front of a pass to ensure a NM State win.
Nwangwa is second on the team in tackles with 61. He is tied for a team-high three interceptions and has 1.0 tackles for loss and one fumble recovery on the season.
Next week's opponent, UL-Lafayette, holds a 6-3 series lead over the Aggies. The two teams last met on Nov. 8, 2014. The Ragin' Cajuns captured a 44-16 victory in that contest.
Notes
- NM State scored on their first possession of the game against Texas State. This is the third time this season they have scored a touchdown on the opening drive.
- Larry Rose III had 207 yards against Texas State. He now has 1,290 rushing yards on the season. This surpasses his 1,102 yards from the 2014 season.
- Rose III now leads the Sun Belt Conference in rushing for the season.
- With his two touchdowns against Texas State, Rose III now has 21 touchdowns in his career, which is seventh all-time in the Aggie record books.
- Clayton Granch caught his first career touchdown for the Aggies to give NM State a 17-14 advantage in the third quarter.
- Stephen Meredith collected his first fumble recovery this season and the second of his career. His only other one came against LSU on Sept. 27, 2014.
- Meredith also had his second sack of the season. This is his second game in a row with a sack.
- Jacob Nwangwa had two interceptions on back-to-back drives for the Aggies. This is a single game career-high in interceptions.
- Anthony Torres had a career-long 70 yard punt in the second quarter.
