LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico State football team played host to Battle of I-10 rival UTEP on Saturday night. After getting on the board early, NM State continued to dominate on both sides of the ball with strong play that featured three interceptions by Shamad Lomax and a pair of touchdowns by Larry Rose III en route to a 41-14 victory for the Aggies.

After notching the second rivalry win of the season, head coach Doug Martin said, "To win both these rivalry games, says a lot about our assistant coaches and how well they've recruited here. Right now, we're the best football team of these three and we proved it on the field. It's been 15 years since we have been able to say that so that's a huge accomplishment. The UTEP rivalry was more of a measuring tool because they have always physically beaten us and that's why we couldn't win this game. But tonight they weren't and this one is a good measure of where we're at."

NM State (2-2, 0-1 Sun Belt) got rolling on their third drive of the game. On first-and-10, Rose III raced past multiple UTEP (0-4, 0-1 C-USA) defenders for a 40-yard touchdown rush, his first of the season. However, the Miners answered on their next drive with a five-yard quarterback keeper which knotted the score at seven apiece with 2:48 left in the opening quarter.

After forcing UTEP to punt on the first drive of the second quarter, NM State got moving again offensively. Tyler Rogers handed the ball of to Rose III who evaded a pair of would-be tackles in the backfield and broke free for a 28-yard touchdown rush which capped off a 97-yard drive for NM State.

A pair of punts for each team kept the score close for the majority of the second quarter, but then on a third-and-four UTEP quarterback Ryan Metz looked to the sideline but instead found Lomax who took the ball back for a 19-yard pick-six to put NM State up 21-7 with 1:37 left in the first half. The Aggie cornerback then added to his totals with his third interception to keep the Aggies up two scores heading into the third quarter.

Even after switching quarterbacks to start the second half, the passing woes continued for the Miners. UTEP's first drive of the second half saw Mark Torrez try to get a pass over NM State's Terrill Hanks but the linebacker tipped the ball out of the air and turned the deflection into another Aggie interception.

After an NM State punt, the team then began their next series on their own 26-yard line. Rogers went right to the air connecting with Anthony Muse and Jonathan Boone for a pair of catches to each receiver which quickly moved the Aggies onto the Miners' side of the field. Rose III then took off for a 17-yard rush to get the Aggie two yards out of the end zone before Rogers found the senior running back with a pass to put NM State up 28-7 at the 7:44 mark.

The Aggie defense again forced the Miners to punt to which the NM State offense used the momentum to take over. The seven-play drive saw the Aggies only fail to gain yardage on one occasion. This culminated with a third-and-eight where Rogers' offensive line gave him tons of time before he found Conner Cramer open in the back of the end zone to put the team up 34-7 with just one quarter remaining.

Leading by four scores, NM State still did not want to take any chances and looked to expand their lead. On fourth-and-10 from the UTEP 27, Rogers found Izaiah Lottie 24 yards down the field to move the chains. The quarterback then scrambled on the next play for a three-yard score to give the Aggies a 41-7 edge just 25 seconds into the fourth quarter.

UTEP added to the board with a fumble return for touchdown to cut into the Aggies lead, but their late tally was not enough as NM State hung on to win, 41-14.

The Aggies now hit the road to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks at 10 a.m. MT in Fayetteville, Ark. on Sept. 30.

NOTABLES

- The victory was the first time NM State had beaten both rivals (UNM and UTEP) in the same season since 2002. That was also the last season the Aggies had a winning record (7-5).

- This is the first season NM State has beaten UNM on the road and UTEP at home since 1976.

- Larry Rose III moved into second all-time in rushing yards for NM State (3,990) and eight all-time in scoring (198).

- Tyler Rogers moved into second all-time in total offense (8,385).

- Shamad Lomax's interception return for a touchdown was the first by an Aggie since Jaden Wright's against UL Lafayette (10/1/16).

- Lomax set a career-high with three interceptions.

- This was the first time an Aggie has had three interceptions in one game since Donald Stowers at UNLV (11/18/95).

- NM State totaled five interceptions and was the first time the team had four or more since playing Florida International (10/30/04)

- Rose III totaled three touchdowns, his first time have more than two since the game versus Idaho (10/31/15)

- Conner Cramer recorded the first receiving touchdown of his career as an Aggie.

- The Aggies totaled the most interceptions since tallying six against Long Beach State (10/7/88) and Wichita State (10/15/66).