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LAS CRUCES, N. M. – The NM State football team will host Georgia State for their home opener on Saturday at 6 p.m. (MT) in Aggie Memorial Stadium in a Stuff the Stadium campaign sponsored by FirstLight Federal Credit Union.
 
The Aggies (0-1) fell to Florida (1-0) 61-13 on Saturday night in front of 90,227 fans in Gainesville, Fla. Quarterback Tyler Rogers led NM State as he completed 14-of-27 passes for 128 yards and threw for one touchdown.
 
"I think we've made a lot of progress with our quarterback and how he played, and taking care of the football," said head coach Doug Martin. "Turnovers are one thing that really decimated us last year. To come out of the game against Florida with only one turnover was huge."
 
Additionally, running back Larry Rose III racked up 106 all-purpose yards with a game-high 64 rushing yards and a team-high 42 receiving yards. The receiving yards were just eight yards shy of his career-high 50.
 
After allowing an average of almost 310 rushing yards per game last year, the NM State defense held Florida to just 224 rushing yards, with only one Gator collecting more than 50 rushing yards.
 
"I thought defensively we played much better against the run, which was huge for us," said Martin. "What our defense has to do is cause turnovers. We got one tonight and that was key for us. But, the biggest thing is our defense playing tougher against the run."
 
Linebacker Terrill Hanks had a solid performance in his collegiate debut as he collected a game-high seven tackles and a sack. Hanks also garnered a forced fumble that, six plays later, allowed Rose III to score his first touchdown of the season.
 
The Aggies and this week's visiting Panthers have only met once before on the gridiron as they played on Sept. 6, 2014. NM State scored with 15 seconds remaining to complete a 17-point comeback as they topped Georgia State 34-31 in the Georgia Dome.
 
After falling behind to Charlotte 23-6 in their season opener, Georgia State's fourth-quarter rally came up short as they dropped a 23-20 decision to the 49ers on Friday night in the Georgia Dome. The Panthers collected 93 rushing yards with running back Taz Bateman contributing 64 rushing yards. Quarterback Nick Arbuckle completed 25 of his 43 pass attempts. Arbuckle also threw for two touchdowns, had one interception and was sacked twice on the night. Wide receiver Robert Davis led the receiving corps with 57 yards. Overall, the Panthers racked up 299 receiving yards.
 
The game against Georgia State will be televised on AggieVision and will be broadcast on AM 570 in Las Cruces.
 
For more information on NM State football, follow the Aggies on Twitter at @NMStateFootball and on Instagram @nmstate_football.
 
Notes

• Terrill Hanks collected his first career forced fumble with 8:26 in left in the second quarter at Florida… Jacob Banegas grabbed his first career fumble recovery off of the play.
• QB Tyler Rogers garnered his first career punt in the first quarter at Florida.
• Parker Davidson racked up 192 kicking yards and a touchback in his first collegiate start at Florida.
• Larry Rose III had a team-high 42 receiving yards during the season opener against Florida… This was just eight yards shy of his career-high 50 receiving yards.
• The Aggies were successful on 2-of-3 fourth down conversion attempts at Florida… The Panthers succeeded on 1-of-2 fourth down conversion attempts against Charlotte.
• NM State outscored the Panthers 17-7 in the fourth quarter of the last game to capture a 34-31 victory… The win moved the Aggies to 2-0 on the season… The win was also the first Sun Belt Conference win since NM State rejoined the conference after moving to the WAC following the 2004 season.