LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State takes to the road for the second time this season as they take the 3,200-mile flight to the island of Hawaii to take on the Rainbow Warriors. This will mark the third time since 2021 that the Aggies venture to the island of O'ahu. Saturday also serves as the 12^th time that the two sides meet on the gridiron.
 
GAME THREE
Who: NM State (1-1, 0-0 CUSA) at Hawaii (0-2, 0-0 MW)
Where: Honolulu, Hawaii – Clarence T.C. Ching Complex (15,000)
When: Saturday, September 12, 2026 – 10 p.m. MT
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: MW+
Play-by-Play: Kanoa Leahey
Analyst: Rich Miano
Sideline: Cienna Pilotin
Sideline: Kyle Chinen

Radio: 99.5 FM KXPZ / TuneIn App
Play-by-Play: MJ Newsom
Analyst: Eli Kleinmann

Live Stats: NMStateSports.com/Stats
 
TALLYING TAKEAWAYS                                
After finishing 14th in the nation in turnovers forced in 2025, the Aggie defense has picked up right where it left off. On Saturday, safety Nick Session tallied his second interception of the season as he recorded a pick-six on the first play of the game. Later, Sone Aupiu would also come away with an interception.
 
With this, the Aggies have now forced a turnover in 18 consecutive games, dating back to the 2024 campaign. During this stretch, the Aggies have recorded an interception in 14 of the 18 contests.
 
GOING THE OTHER WAY             
Nick Session's pick-six against Mercyhurst on Saturday marked the Aggies' first defensive touchdown of the young season. With this, NM State is one of just 17 FBS teams in the nation with a defensive touchdown this year.
 
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST                                  
Thanks to a second half surge that saw the Aggies outscore Mercyhurst 28-0 across the third and fourth quarters, NM State put forth its first 50-point effort since it scored 58 points against Western Illinois on Sept. 2, 2023. Additionally, the Aggie offense amassed 553 total yards to serve as the most in a single game since recording 650 yards on the same night they scored 58 against the Leathernecks.
 
Saturday's performance included 236 yards on the ground to mark the Aggies' most rushing yards in a single game since it recorded 331 yards against Western Kentucky on Nov. 9, 2024.
 
ECLIPSING THE CENTURY MARK            
On Saturday, the Aggie rushing attack was fueled by James Jones who finished the night with 19 carries for 137 yards and one touchdown.
 
Jones' output was the most rushing yards by an Aggie running back since Mike Washington broke out for 153 yards on Nov. 9, 2024, against Western Kentucky.
 
With 19 carries, this marked the most rushing attempts in a collegiate game for the Baltimore native.
 
Jones is familiar with big days in the backfield as he went over the 100-yard mark six times last season as a member of Delaware State. Dating back to his time with the Hornets, Jones has now rushed for 100-plus yards in four of his last six games.
 
As a junior at Delaware State, Jones compiled 958 rushing yards on just 98 carries to post an average of 9.8 yards per carry and 87.1 yards per game.
 
QB1                                                             
For the third consecutive season, the Aggies handed the keys to the offense over to a new quarterback. This year, transfer Trey Hedden earned the starting job after spending the previous two seasons slinging it at Furman.
 
With the Paladins, Hedden compiled 4,734 passing yards and 30 touchdowns through the air, including posting a program record 2,967 passing yards as a sophomore in 2025. At Furman, Hedden tallied nine games with 250-plus passing yards, including eclipsing 300 yards twice. He also threw multiple touchdowns in 11 total games.
 
Across his first two outings with the Aggies, Hedden compiled 37 completions for 525 yards and four touchdowns. His 272 yards against Florida State marked the most by an Aggie quarterback in the season opener since Tyler Rogers finished with 398 yards on the road at Arizona State in 2017.
 
With two touchdowns in each of the last two games, Hedden also becomes the first Aggie quarterback to throw multiple touchdown passes in his first two games with the program since Tyler Rogers did so as a sophomore in 2014.
 
YEAR THREE FOR TONY SANCHEZ         
NM State is in its third season under the leadership of Head Coach Tony Sanchez. Last year, the Aggies tallied four wins, increasing their win total by one game from the 2024 campaign. This marks Sanchez's eighth season as a head coach at the FBS level after previously spending five seasons at the helm of the UNLV program (2015-19).
 
In total, Sanchez holds a career record of 28-58 and a record of 8-18 as the leader of the Crimson and White.
 
During Sanchez's tenure, the Aggies have seen 15 individuals earn all-conference honors, including a pair of First Team All-CUSA selections in 2025.
 
This year, the Aggies are seeking their third appearance in a bowl game in a five-year span - a feat that has never been done at NM State.
 
KING OF THE GRIDIRON                                
After recording 41 catches for 588 yards to introduce himself to Aggie fans in 2025, TK King got off to a strong start to his final collegiate season.
 
At Florida State, King hauled in a team-high seven catches for 78 yards and one touchdown. The Houston native followed this with three catches for 94 yards against Mercyhurst on Saturday This gives King 476 receiving yards in his last five games with the Crimson and White, giving him an average of 95.2 receiving yards per game during this stretch.
 
CLASS IS IN SESSION                       
One of the biggest plays in Saturday's win came from safety Nick Session who intercepted a pass on the first play of the game and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.
 
With this, Session now has two interceptions on the season to serve as one of just seven players at the FBS level with multiple picks this season.
 
His performance on Saturday also garnered attention from the Conference USA office as he collected defensive player of the week honors. He is now the second Aggie defender to earn the award this season.
 
Prior to his interception in the season opener, Session had just one interception in his collegiate career with his first coming as a member of the Oklahoma State defense in 2021.
 
AGGIES OFF THE MAINLAND                      
NM State will make its eighth trip ever to Honolulu and third since 2021. However, the Aggies are still seeking their first win on the island.
 
While the Aggies have struggled to defeat Hawaii historically, Head Coach Tony Sanchez does hold a winning record over the Rainbow Warriors as he was 3-2 during his time at UNLV. This included a 41-38 win in Honolulu in 2016.
 
BACK ON THE ISLAND                   
Cornerbacks Coach Steve Irvin makes his return to Hawaii after he spent the 2023 campaign coaching the corners under Head Coach Timmy Chang.
 
Additionally, this will also serve as a homecoming for Aggie linebacker Fa'apaia Fualema who hails from Waipahu, Hawaii, and prepped at Waipahu High School.
 
FAMILIAR FOE                                    
The Aggies and Rainbow Warriors will square off as non-conference opponents for the fifth time, but the two programs were once battling one another for a conference title.
 
From 2005-11, NM State and Hawaii were both members of the Western Athletic Conference.
 
MAKING THE SWITCH                   
A pair of notable Aggies began their careers on the opposite side of the ball. Defensive tackle Kaian Roberts-Day first started his career as a running back and tight end at Baylor. Coming out of high school, Roberts-Day was rated a four-star prospect by 247Sports and ESPN and as named the No. 6 tight end prospect in the country according to ESPN. Roberts-Day made the switch to the defensive line while still at Baylor. He then played one season at UTSA before transferring to NM State this offseason.
 
On the other side of the ball, running back Jalen Brown enters his fourth season with the Aggie program, but will be playing offense for the first time. Across his first three years in Las Cruces, Brown appeared in 11 games, made seven tackles and recovered a fumble against New Mexico last season. In high school, Brown starred on both sides of the ball at Glenbard South High School in Chicago. As a senior, Brown ran for 1,418 yards and 18 touchdowns while averaging 157.6 rushing yards per game.
 
FREQUENT FLYER MILES                              
This season, the Aggies will be near the top of the nation in movies downloaded as they are set to take on a schedule which includes trips to Tallahassee, Honolulu and Miami. According to CFBMap.com, the Aggies' schedule features the seventh most travel miles among all FBS programs. In total, the Aggies are slated to travel a total of 17,763 miles to rank behind only Hawaii, Stanford, Sacramento State, North Dakota State, Arizona State and California.
 
This week will serve as the Aggies' longest road trip of the season as they will account for 6,420 round trip miles over the weekend.
 
WHERE TO WATCH THE AGGIES             
After just three of the Aggies' 12 games were featured on national networks in 2025, the Aggies will find themselves in the national spotlight six times this season. This year, NM State is slated to play three games on ESPN2, two games on CBS Sports Network and one game on The CW
 
The Aggies' Week 2 matchup against the Rainbow Warriors will stream live on MW+ with Kanoa Leahey (PxP), Rich Miano (Analyst) and Kainoa Carlson (Analyst) on the call.
 
 
 
WHERE TO LISTEN TO THE AGGIES      
Once again, all games this season will air live on 99.5 FM KXPZ for those in Las Cruces and the surrounding areas. Additionally, all home games will be available in Spanish on 96.7 FM La Equis with the call provided by Abel Rodriguez (play-by-play) and Eddie Rubio (analyst). Radio broadcasts for all Aggie games will also be available to listen to nationwide via the TuneIn App. Radio play-by-play for Saturday's game will be provided by MJ Newsome, with analysis provided by Eli Kleinmann.
 
ON THIS DATE IN AGGIE HISTORY         
In their history, the Aggies have played eight times on September 12, most recently doing so in 2015, when they hosted Georgia State. This will mark just the third time the Aggies play on the road on September 12.
 
In total, the Aggies hold a record of 4-4 on September 12, with wins coming over Northern Arizona (1959), New Mexico (1987 & 1992) and Prairie View A&M (2009).
 
The Aggies' 1959 victory over Northern Arizona was a 35-0 win that propelled the squad to one of the best seasons in program history. The Crimson and White went on to win eight games and win their first bowl game in program history, defeating North Texas in the 1959 Sun Bowl.
 
MORE ON THE RAINBOW WARRIORS 
This Saturday marks the 12th all-time meeting between the Aggies and Rainbow Warriors. The Aggies enter the weekend with a 1-11 record against Hawaii with their lone win coming at home in 2022 when Star Thomas rushed for 144 yards to lead the Aggies to a 45-26 victory at Aggie Memorial Stadium.
 
Selected as one of the preseason favorites in the Mountain West, Hawaii is coming off back-to-back losses to start the season, falling on the road at Stanford before dropping its home opener to UNLV.
 
Their offense is led by sophomore quarterback Micah Alejado who threw for 3,106 yards as freshman in 2025. Defensively, Kona Moore serves as the team's leader in tackles with 24 through two games. The Saturday contest will serve as a break from the Rainbow Warriors' early Mountain West slate as they will travel to Wyoming before hosting San Jose State following a meeting with the Aggies.
 
For complete coverage of the NM State football program, visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Football), X (@NMStateFootball) and Instagram (@NMStateFB).