LAS CRUCES, N.M. – One last time for the seniors. The NM State football team will take on Valparaiso in a miraculous twelfth and final regular season game. The details of the game were finalized on Tuesday afternoon, making a whirlwind week for both programs.
 
On Thursday morning, the Aggies received word for the NCAA that its waiver for bowl eligibility had been approved.  NM State will learn its bowl game destination on Sunday afternoon. Stay tuned to NM State football social media channels and nmstatesports.com for up to the minute information surrounding the Aggies destination and bowl game ticketing.
 
Game Information
Valparaiso (5-6, 4-4 Pioneer) at NM State (5-6)
Date: December 3, 2022
Time: 1:00 p.m. MT
TV: FloFootball / Bally Sports Arizona / Comcast New Mexico

• Adam Young (PxP)
• Danny Knee (Analyst)
• Tatiana Favela (Sidelines)

Radio: The Aggie Radio Network, Powered by LEARFIELD

• Jack Nixon (PxP)
• Cory Lucas (Analyst)

 
Pick Six
1 – Valparaiso's trip to Las Cruces will mark the first ever game against an FBS opponent for the Beacons. Valparaiso went 5-6 in the regular season including 4-4 in Pioneer League play.
 
6 –  Diego Pavia was responsible for six touchdowns (Three touchdowns, three rushing) in the Aggies win over Liberty. Pavia became the first FBS player in three years to pass for three touchdowns, rush for three touchdowns, and rush for 100+ yards in a single-game.
 
35 – With the 35-point victory on the road, NM State picked up its largest road victory over an FBS opponent since 1967. The Aggies took down New Mexico 54-7 on November 18, 1967 in Albuquerque.
 
45 – With three different games with 45+ points this season, NM State's offense is firing on all cylinders. The Aggies hadn't scored 45+ in three games since 1995 (45-17 win vs. UTEP; 48-13 win vs. Louisiana Tech; 58-34 win at UNLV).
 
41 – NM State has seen a 41% growth in average home attendance over last year - The largest year-over-year home growth in FBS football. The Aggies finalized the game with Valpo on Tuesday, November 29.
 
100 - In each of the five victories this season, NM State has cracked 100+ yards of rushing. The Aggies ran for 357 yards against Hawai'i, 187 yards versus Lamar, 111 yards at UMass, 104 yards versus in-state rival New Mexico, and 214 over Liberty.
 
News and Notes
UP NEXT
The Aggies welcome Valparaiso to Aggie Memorial Stadium on December 3. The Beacons finished their original season on November 17 with a 5-6 record (4-4 Pioneer).
 
HISTORY MADE
Saturday's contest in Las Cruces marks the first game against an FBS opponent in Valparaiso history.
 
CHEEZ-IT BOWL NATIONAL TEAM
NM State earned a nomination for the Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week.
 
BOWL ELIGIBILITY
On Thursday morning, NM State football learned that it would become bowl eligible for just the second time in 61 years. The Aggies last appeared in the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl in 2017, defeating Utah State 26-20.
 
On Sunday, December 4, the Aggies will learn their destination for a bowl game.
 
ELITE GROUPING
The Aggies become one of just 12 teams to make the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball tournament, the 2022 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, and become bowl eligible.
 
NM State could join Arkansas, LSU, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA, and UConn.
 
MANNING AWARD STAR OF THE WEEK
The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has named Diego Pavia as one of the eight "Stars of the Week". Pavia shares the honor with Brady Cook (Missouri), Riley Leonard (Duke), J.J. McCarthy (Michigan), Michael Penix Jr. (Washington), Tyler Shough (Texas Tech), Kyle Vantrease (Georgia Southern), and Caleb Williams (USC).
 
Following fan voting, Pavia also became the first player in NM State history to be named Manning Award Quarterback of the Week.
 
NATIONAL PERFORMER OF THE WEEK
Following his massive six-touchdown performance against Liberty, Pavia was also named the CFPA National Performer of the Week. Pavia edged out Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy, USC QB Caleb Williams, and Boise State QB Taylen Green.
 
ROCKET CITY BOWL TEAM OF THE WEEK
Following the Aggies extinguishing of the Flames, NM State also earned Rocket City Bowl Team of the Week honors.
 
LATINO PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Pavia was also named the National Latino Player of the Week.
 
WINNING BIG
Per Matt Brown of The Athletic, NM State's 35-point win at Liberty was its largest road win versus a current FBS opponent since 1967. The Aggies defeated New Mexico 54-7 on November 18, 1967.
 
PLAYING THE LONG GAME
NM State was one of the first teams to open the FBS season, playing Nevada on Week Zero (August 27).Now, the Aggies are the lone FBS team playing on Saturday, December 3 as they compete against the Big 12, MAC, Sun Belt, SEC, American, and Mountain West championship games for viewership.
 
ATTENDANCE BOOM
No school across FBS football has seen a larger attendance growth this season than NM State. The Aggies are averaging 16,701 fans per home game, up 41% from last season.
 
Also highlighting massive growth are No. 19 Tulane, (29.48%), Arizona (25.43%), No. 20 Syracuse (23.52%), and No. 7 TCU (20.02%).
 
IRONMEN
Six Aggies - Jamoni Jones, Chris Ojoh, Syrus Dumas, Bryce Jackson, Trevor Brohard, and Thomaz Whitford - have started all eleven games for the Aggies thus far.
 
RUSHING ATTACK
The Aggies have not lost a game this season in which they have ran for more than 100 yards. All four wins this season have seen the Aggies eclipse 100 yards of rushing as well.
vs. Hawai'i 357 yds., 5 TD
vs. Lamar 187 yds., 4 TD
at UMass 111 yds., 0 TD
vs. New Mexico 104 yds., 1 TD
 
OJOH'S MOJO
Senior linebacker Chris Ojoh leads the NM State defense in tackles (78), solo tackles (49), tackles for a loss (9.0), and sacks (5.0)
 
Ojoh ranks 13th nationally in solo tackles The linebacker is 21 tackles away from matching his career high of 99, set during Eastern Washington's run to the 2018 FCS National Championship game. The five sacks match his career high (2021) as well.
 
LOCK-DOWN PUNT DEFENSE
This season, NM State has allowed the sixth-fewest punt return yards in college football.
 
AIR IT OUT
Against Lamar, the NM State quarterbacks set season-highs in passing yards (246), yards-per-pass (9.8), pass completions (18), touchdown passes (2), and points (51).
 
Diego Pavia led the charge with a career-high 13 completions for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Gavin Frakes (3-4-0, 93 yds.) and Weston Eget also contributed for the Aggies success through the air against the Cardinals.
 
NO FLY ZONE
Despite having an international airport, Las Cruces is officially a no-fly zone. The Aggie defense is allowing the fewest passing yards of any FBS Independent team with 175.1 yards per game. That total also ranks 11th nationally, sandwiched by Iowa at No. 10 and Iowa State at No. 12.
 
PICK SIX
Andre Seldon's interception return for a touchdown against Lamar was the first for the Aggies since 2018. The last time NM State returned an interception for a touchdown was on November 24, 2018 when Javahn Ferguson took one back 37-yards against Liberty.
 
A WINNING TRADITION
Following the conclusion of the 2021 season, Director of Athletics Mario Moccia quickly made a coaching change, hiring Jerry Kill to lead the Aggies football program. Kill enters the 2022 season as the eighth winningest active coach in FBS football.
 
Kill trails just Nick Saban (Alabama), Mack Brown (North Carolina), Brian Kelly (LSU), Willie Fritz (Tulane), Chris Crieghton (Eastern Michigan), and Terry Bowden (Louisiana - Monroe).
 
RUNNIN' AGS
The ground game was working in full force in the win over Hawai'i. NM State ran for 357 yards and five touchdowns in the victory.
 
The game marked the first time since September 21, 2019 against New Mexico that the Aggies ran for four or more touchdowns in a game.
 
With 133 rushing yards, Star Thomas became the first Aggie to finish with between 100-149 rushing yards since Christian Gibson ran for 103 yards at UTEP in 2018.
 
Jamoni Jones ran for his first two touchdowns of the season in the win and became the second NM State player this season to run for two or more touchdowns in a game, joining Diego Pavia (2) at UTEP.
 
EL CAPITANS
Chris Ojoh, Diego Pavia, Trevor Brohard, Lazarus Williams, Canaan Yarro, Syrus Dumas, Linwood Crump, and Thomaz Whitford have each represented NM State at the coin toss this season.
 
REPRESENTING A COUNTRY
With the addition of Nikhil Webb Walker, NM State now has the only player in FBS football with a hometown located in Jamaica. The linebacker recently joined the NM State roster as a walk-on.
 
DUELING QUARTERBACKS
Both Diego Pavia and Gavin Frakes have made five starts this season at quarterback and both have played in at least nine games.
 
YOUNG GUN
As Nate Dreiling prepares to take over as the NM State Defensive Coordinator, he also becomes the second youngest DC among the FBS ranks. Only Austin Armstrong of Southern Mississippi (29) will be younger than Dreiling (31) at the beginning of the season.
 
Dreiling is tied for the third youngest coordinator in FBS, regardless of offensive or defensive. Armstrong (DC - Southern Miss.) and Tommy Rees (OC - Notre Dame) are the lone coordinators who are younger than Dreiling. The Kansas native joins Zach Kittley (OC - Western Kentucky) as the only 31-year old coordinators.
 
WOMEN BELONG IN SPORTS
In her first season as the NM State equipment manager, Paulina Mihelich becomes one of just four lead equipment managers across the FBS level.
 
Under Mihelich, the Aggies join Nevada, New Mexico, and Temple as the lone schools to be powered by women.
 
With Rachel Phillips also serving as the Aggies' Director of Football Operations, NM State and Temple are the only two programs that feature women at both the head equipment manager and DFO positions.
 
Phillips is one of just eight female DFOs around the country, joining women at Temple, Notre Dame, TCU, Kansas State, Maryland, Bowling Green, and FAU.
 
Also new to Las Cruces is Associate Athletic Trainer Sam Graff. With Graff leading the way for the Aggies, NM State becomes one of 12 schools at the FBS level with a female lead athletic trainer for football - Rice, Georgia Southern, Bowling Green, Troy, Kansas State, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan, Iowa, Virginia, BYU, and UCF are the other 11.
 
The Aggies have also added Kaylee Nilsson to the staff as a Graduate Assistant Nutritionist. In her role, Nilsson keeps NM State at optimal nutrition levels for training, competition, recovery, hydration, immunity, travel, and more.
 
STEELE LIKES THE AGGIES
Led by Chris Ojoh and Trevor Brohard, the Aggies were well represented on Phil Steele's Preseason All-Independent team. In addition to the linebacker duo, tight end Thomaz Whitford, punter Josh Carlson, and kicker Ethan Albertson all earned spots on Steele's list.
 
BEHIND ENEMY LINES (Valparaiso)
Valparaiso heads to Las Cruces for its first-ever game against an FBS opponent. The Beacons wrapped up their initial season with a 5-6 record, going 4-4 in the Pioneer League. Valpo recorded victories over Indiana Wesleyan, San Diego, Presbyterian, Morehead State, and Marist.
 
Aaron Dawson and Michael Appel Jr. look to lead the charge for the Beacon offense. Dawson has rushed for 1,244 and ten touchdowns on 209 carries. Under center, Appel has completed 133 passes for 1,772 yards and ten touchdowns.
 
Ben Hines and Kohlton Sherman have caused havoc for opposing offenses this season. Hines leads all Valpo defenders with 88 total tackles, including seven for a loss and a sack. Sherman totaled four interceptions and 175 return yards.