LYNCHBURG, Va. – What a journey. The Aggies' historic Conference USA season came to a close on Friday night in Williams Stadium as they fell 35-49 in the CUSA title game to No. 20 Liberty who remains undefeated.
The Aggies, who finished conference play with a 6-1 record to earn their spot in the championship bout, battled hard in the first half, however, the high-powered Liberty offense fueled by Kaidon Salter proved to be too much as the Flames posted 712 yards of total offense.
NM State's offense was almost equally as potent as it concluded the game just one yard shy of 500 total yards. This attack was led by Diego Pavia who threw for 188 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for a team high 45 yards and one touchdown before exiting the game early.
FIRST QUARTER
The Aggies' offense resembled Usain Bolt getting out of the blocks on the opening drive of the game as they earned a new set of downs on three of their first four snaps of the game. The success continued later in the drive as Diego Pavia ran 25 yards for the game's first touchdown through a gaping hole on a designed quarterback run.
The Liberty offense also came out swinging and had an equally effective drive to even the score at seven points a piece. After Pavia finished the first drive a perfect 3-for-3 on pass attempts, Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter was also perfect on the Flames' first touch – going 4-for-4 before handing the ball off to Quinton Cooley who used a one-yard run to put the home side on the board.
NM State continued the impressive display of offense on the second drive as it ran on the first six plays of the possession – going for 43 yards. Following a massive third-down conversion thanks to the creativity of Pavia, the Aggies would eventually work the ball into the red zone before the teams flipped the field as the quarter ended with the Aggies threatening.
Scoring Plays: Diego Pavia (NMSU) rushing TD (25 yards); Quinton Cooley (LU) rushing TD (1 yard)
End 1st Quarter: NM State 7, Liberty 7
SECOND QUARTER
The Aggie threat immediately turned into points as Diego Pavia found Ron Tiavaasue for six points on the first play of the quarter to cap off the 11-play drive and put NM State ahead 14-7 in enemy territory.
NM State's defense then came up with the first defensive stop of the game as Liberty drove the ball all the way down to the Aggie eight-yard line before Keyshaun Elliott and Sterling Webb stuffed the Liberty rusher on fourth down to give the ball back to Pavia and the Aggie offense.
Backed up in the shadow of their own end zone, the Aggies went three-and-out and were forced to punt it back to the Flames who began their next possession at their own 45-yard line. This would eventually turn into points as the Flames Quinton Cooley found the end zone for the second time in the game.
Later in the quarter, Liberty forced the Aggies to punt the ball – returning the ball to the Flames with 1:51 remaining in the half. The Flames wasted no time and constructed an eight-play drive that left just 25 seconds on the clock.
Following a botched squib kick, this would prove to be too much time for the Aggies' lethal offense who pieced together a four-play 58-yard drive in just 22 seconds to tie the game just before the halftime break.
Scoring Plays: Ron Tiavaasue (NMSU) receiving TD (10 yards); Quinton Cooley (LU) rushing TD (12 yards); Noah Frith (LU) receiving TD (26 yards); Trent Hudson (NMSU) receiving TD (17 yards)
End 2nd: NM State 21, Liberty 21
THIRD QUARTER
Liberty opened the half with a pair of touchdown drives on its first two possessions while the Aggies' first drive resulted in a three-and-out – putting the Flames ahead by two touchdowns. In desperate need of a score, the Aggies struck on the first play of the ensuing drive as Pavia found Jonathan Brady who leapt over the Flames' defender to haul in the pass before sprinting away from a pair of Liberty defenders and into the end zone.
The Aggies then completely erased the deficit as they forced Liberty to attempt a field goal which it missed then followed the Flames' empty possession with a touchdown score. However, instead of the Aggies do-it-all leader Diego Pavia leading the charge, it was true freshman Blaze Berlowitz guiding the Aggies down the field. The true freshman who had yet to throw a pass before Friday stepped in and immediately impacted the game – completing four of his first five passes, including the final pass of the drive which landed in the hands of Trent Hudson for a touchdown.
Scoring Plays: Quinton Cooley (LU) rushing TD (4 yards); CJ Daniels (LU) receiving TD (20 yards); Jonathan Brady (NMSU) receiving TD (75 yards); Trent Hudson (NMSU) receiving TD (11 yards)
FOURTH QUARTER
Liberty eventually added two more touchdowns to the high-scoring affair, including a rushing touchdown from eventual game MVP Kaidon Salter who weaved in and out of the Aggie defense to find the end zone 35 yards later. The Aggies would only touch the ball one more time in the last eight-plus minutes of the game.
The game seemed all but over after a Berlowitz fourth-and-15 pass to Bryce Childress was reviewed and ruled incomplete. The turnover on downs handed Liberty the ball with 2:40 left on the clock, before Salter found 52 yards of open grass to drain the clock and seal the win.
Scoring Plays: Billy Lucas (LU) rushing TD (2 yards); Kaidon Salter (LU) rushing TD (35 yards)
Final: NM State 35, Liberty 49
##NM State##
