LAS CRUCES, N.M. – First win of the Jerry Kill era: Check. First win over the University of Hawai'i: Check.
 
After three straight road games, NM State returned home to sunny Las Cruces and cruised to a 45-26 win over the Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors. The victory over Hawai'i snapped a ten-game losing streak and gave NM State their first ever win over the Rainbow Warriors.
 
"Hey, there's a party in Las Cruces, baby, and it starts at six o' clock. And I said, 'I don't know when it's gonna end. I don't really care right now," Kill joked. "The only way you're gonna win is if you go out there and have fun and I think our kids had fun ... I mean, the victory lap - There ain't nothing better than that."
 
Hawai'i received the opening kickoff and promptly marched down the field to take a 7-0 lead. The Rainbow Warriors needed just eight plays to go 75 yards and find the end zone. NM State answered with a scoring drive of their own, one-upping Hawai'i and using just seven plays to go the 75 yards. The drive was capped off with Star Thomas' first touchdown run in an Aggie uniform – A then career long 27-yard run.
 
Thomas became the first Aggie to rush for over 100 yards in the season and he achieved the feat with five minutes remaining in the first half. Thomas ran for 111 yards on six carries, highlighted by a 57-yard rush.
 
After the Thomas touchdown, NM State rattled off 21 unanswered points with additional rushing touchdowns by Gavin Frakes and Jamoni Jones. With 3:41 left in the opening half, Jones scampered in for his second score of the day – NM State's fourth. It marked the first time NM State ran for four or more touchdowns in a game since September 21, 2019 against New Mexico.
 
Frakes and friends were not settled with an 18 point lead late in the half. In just 1:44, the NM State offense went 72 yards on eight plays and finished it off with Thomaz Whitford's first receiving touchdown of the season.
 
A 35-10 lead at the break marked NM State's first halftime lead of the season. The team showed no signs of letting up in the second half either, cruising to a 19-point victory. On defense, Chris Ojoh had a career-day, racking up a career-best 14 tackles. A man known for performing on the biggest stages, Ojoh's previous career-high came against No. 1 Alabama in Tuscaloosa last season.
 
"I feel like the whole team was [really] looking forward to this, our first win, especially new coaching staff, a rebuilding year. It's usually hard the first year for any program to get things rolling, but we [were] definitely looking for this first win and just get the ball rolling now," Ojoh stated. "It's not only just to win once, but to keep doing it week-in and week-out and just keep going back-to-back at a steady basis." 
 
NM State's ground attack continued to be dynamic throughout the game as the team averaged 8.4 yards per rush. Star Thomas boosted his career day to 144 yards on just 11 carries, averaging 13.1 yards per attempt. As a team, NM State outgained Hawai'i 357-150 on the ground, shattering the teams previous rushing high of 187 yards.
 
For the second straight week, Ahmonte Watkins found the end zone for an Aggie touchdown. After scoring a late touchdown against Wisconsin, Watkins added a one-yard touchdown run against the Rainbow Warriors. From there, Hawai'I rattled off ten unanswered points before Brett Money cashed in on his first career field goal.
 
NM State

• Star Thomas recorded his first NM State touchdown on a 27-yard rush in the first quarter. The rush was also the longest of his NM State career, surpassing a 22-yard run at Wisconsin.
• Thomas quickly shattered that with a 57-yard run to close the first quarter.
• All four first half touchdowns for NM State came via the running game. Thomas, Gavin Frakes, and Jamoni Jones all recorded scores with Jones adding two.
• Jones' second rushing touchdown marked the first time since September 21, 2019 against New Mexico that NM State had four or more rushing touchdowns.
• Frakes made his second start of the season at quarterback.
• Jones became the second Aggie to have a multi-touchdown game this season, joining Diego Pavia at UTEP.
• Thomaz Whitford recorded his first receiving touchdown of the season with 16 seconds remaining in the opening half.
• Lawrence Dixon broke off a career-long 37-yard punt return in the third quarter.
• Chris Ojoh became the first Aggie to record 10+ tackles in a game this season, setting a career-high in the process. The linebacker recorded 14 stops on Saturday night, surpassing his previous high of 13 (at No. 1 Alabama, 2021)

Hawai'i

• Hawai'i called a timeout before their first offensive snap - 15:00 remaining in the first quarter.
• UH has now dropped 21 of their last 23 non-conference regular-season road games since 2010 with wins over UMass (2017) and NM State (2021).
• Hawai'i set new season-highs in points (26) and total offense (411).

 
Game Notes

• For the second consecutive week, NM State won the coin toss and elected to defer.
• Canaan Yarro and Trevor Brohard represented NM State at the coin toss.
• The 45-26 final was NM State's first ever win over Hawai'i. The Rainbow Warriors lead the all-time series 10-1.
• Attendance: 12,892.
• Saturday's game was the first of four straight at Aggie Memorial Stadium. NM State will host FIU on Saturday, October 1.