MADISON, Wis. - After a 60 year hiatus, NM State will make a return to Madison, Wisconsin for the second ever meeting between the Aggies and the Badgers. NM State's second trip to play a Big Ten opponent this season will not be an easy task as the Badgers had the top defense in college football throughout the 2021 season.
Game Information
NM State (0-3) at RV/RV Wisconsin (1-1)
Date: September 17, 2022
Time: 1:30 p.m. MT/2:30 p.m. CT
TV: Big Ten Network
- Brandon Gaudin (PxP)
- Joshua Perry (Analyst)
- Rick Pizzo (Sideline)
Radio: Aggie Radio Network from LEARFIELD
- Cory Lucas (Analyst)
Pick Six
RV - NM State's trip to the Badger State will mark the second time this season an Aggie opponent is receiving votes in the AP Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll. Minnesota also met the criteria in week one.
1 - Last season, Wisconsin led the country in total defense. With Jim Leonhard as Defensive Coordinator, the Badgers allowed just 239.1 yards per game. Eventual National Champions Georgia came in second, allowing nearly 30 extra yards per contest.
2 - In all three games this season, NM State has played a pair of Aggies at quarterback. Both
Diego Pavia and
Gavin Frakes have seen plenty of significant action and lead the Aggies in statistical categories.
12 - In the Battle of I-10, NM State set team-highs in 12 statistical categories - Rushes, rushing yards, yards per rush, TD rushes, total plays, total offense, points, sacks by, first downs, and more.
22 - Through the first two weeks of the season, UNLV transfer
Bryce Jackson ranks 23rd among FBS players with 23 total tackles. After opening the season with eight tackles against Nevada, Jackson once again led the Aggies with nine stops in the Thursday night showdown with Minnesota.
60 - It has been 60 years since NM State and Wisconsin have met. With only one previous meeting between the two schools, Wisconsin holds a 1-0 series lead, winning 69-13 on September 29, 1962 in Madison.
Jerry Kill would have been just one year old when the teams last met.
News and Notes
FEELS LIKE '62
The Aggies and Badgers have only met once previously - A 69-13 Wisconsin win in Madison on September 29, 1962.
In case you forgot what else happened in 1962...
- John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth.
- The Cuban Missile Crisis
- The Space Needle in Seattle is completed
- Spider-Man makes his first appearance in a comic
ROAD TRIPPIN'
Saturday's game in Madison marks the final of three straight weeks on the road for NM State. The Aggies have the longest active losing streak away from home in FBS football, sitting at 20 games.
The last true road win for the Aggies? A 27-20 win over the UTEP in El Paso on September 22, 2018 - 1,456 days from September 10, 2022.
EL CAPITANS
TOUGH TESTS AHEAD
The Aggies will face off with six opponents who participated in a bowl game last season - Nevada (Quick Lane), Minnesota (Guaranteed Rate), UTEP (New Mexico), Wisconsin (Las Vegas), Missouri (Armed Forces), and Liberty (LendingTree).
GET THE BALL BOWLIN'
When the Aggies take on Wisconsin, it will be the fourth straight game to open the season against teams who appeared in a bowl game last season.
BIG LEG CARLSON
Josh Carlson had a strong showing on special teams for NM State against UTEP. The redshirt junior recorded his longest punt of the season (55 yards) and also his highest average punt of the season (44.0).
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.
TAKEAWAY BATTLE
In the UTEP game, the NM State defense forced its first turnover of the season. Strong pressure on the ball carrier forced a fumble, allowing
Lazarus Williams to scoop up the first Aggie takeaway of the season.
Later in the game, the special teams unit decided to get in on the action. With the troops swarming downfield, UTEP's punt returner muffed a punt, allowing
J.J. Dervil to fall on the ball at the UTEP 14-yard line. On the first offensive play,
Diego Pavia took a quarterback keeper to the house for the first NM State rushing touchdown of the season.
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.
THE HONORABLE MR. JACKSON
Bryce Jackson earned Pro Football Focus Team of the Week honors after a big game against Nevada. Leading all players with eight tackles, Jackson made a massive impact in his first game as an Aggie.
Jackson once again led the Aggies with nine tackles against Minnesota, totaling 17 stops on the season. Jackson is tied for seventh among all FBS players this year,
STEELE LIKES THE AGGIES
MOJO FOR OJOH
After being named to Phil Steele's Preseason All-Independent team, Ojoh was also named to the Bednarik Award and Rotary Lombardi Award watch lists.
The Chuck Bednarik Award is given annually to the top defensive player in college football.
One of just 77 players across the nation on the Rotary Lombardi watch list, Ojoh finds himself among the nations best at one of the more unique awards. The Lombardi award is open to players on both sides of the ball - offensive and defensive linemen, backfield members, and linebackers.
THE LAST MEETING
NM State and Wisconsin have only met once previously - A 69-13 win for the Badgers in 1962.
The Badgers were led by All-American and eventual College Football Hall of Fame member Pat Richter in 1962 on their way to the highest season-ending ranking in school history (No. 2). Wisconsin ended the 1962 season with the Rose Bowl against No. 1 USC - The first ever meeting between the top two teams in the rankings.
NOTABLES: LAST GAME (UTEP)
The Battle of I-10 ended in heartbreaking fashion for the Aggies last weekend, falling 20-13 despite having a chance to tie the contest in the closing seconds.
Gavin Frakes made his first collegiate start at quarterback but gave way to
Diego Pavia before halftime. The Aggies struggled to find any sort of offensive rhythm, trailing 17-0 at the break.
Pavia led the charge offensively to turn the game into an instant classic. Pavia scampered for two touchdowns - The first two Aggie rushing touchdowns of the season. On the final drive, Pavia found freshman
Jonathan Brady for a fourth-down conversion to put the Aggies in the red zone.
At the 14-yard line with less than ten seconds to play, Pavia fumbled and the defense recovered to seal the victory for UTEP.
With the loss, NM State's nation-leading road losing streak has now reached 20 games, dating back to September 22, 2018.
BEHIND ENEMY LINES (Wisconsin):
Wisconsin comes into Saturday's contest after being upset by the Wisconsin State Cougars in Madison, 17-14. The loss dropped the Badgers out of the top 25 rankings and to a 1-1 record on the season.
Seasoned veteran Graham Mertz is in his third season as the Wisconsin starting quarterback. Traditionally, Wisconsin is known for a strong offensive line and a productive running game. The 2022 version of the Badgers appears to be more of the same with Braelon Allen running the football and Michael Furtney leading the offensive line. Furtney is on the Senior Bowl watch list while Allen appears on the watch lists for the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, and Doak Walker Award while also being named a Preseason All-American (AP - Second Team; Phil Steele - Fourth Team).
Defensively, Preseason All-Americans Nick Gerbig (Phil Steele - First Team; AP - Second Team) and Keeanu Benton (Phil Steele - Fourth Team) lead the way for the Badgers.
The Badgers have played in a bowl game for the last 20 consecutive seasons - The second longest streak in Big Ten history. At 20 seasons, Wisconsin has the thirdlongest streak in the FBS, trailing just Georgia (25) and Oklahoma (23).
##NM State##
