2004: Pierce enters fall camp as the Aggies’ starting quarterback. He missed spring practice while rehabilitating an injury, but should be 100 percent by fall camp. Pierce has a career completion percentage of 65.6 percent and a career effictency rating of 147.4. Both of those marks are better than the current school record.
2003 (Junior): Pierce had another outstanding season, breaking the school record for completion percentage for the second consecutive year. He completed 69.4 percent of his passes and finished 14th in the nation in passing efficiency with a school record 150.55 mark. He led the team in rushing touchdowns with eight and threw for seven more scores. He scored all four of the Aggies’ , fourth quarter touchdowns. He started seven games last year including the final five. In his final five games, Pierce completed 78 of 109 passes for 71.6 percent and 976 yards. He also ran for 219 yards and six touchdowns over the final five games. He ran for 85 yards on six carries and a touchdown in the Aggies’ 21-14 win at UL Monroe (10/25). The following week he threw for a career-high 314 yards and two scores while rushing for 66 yards and a touchdown against Arkansas State (11/1). His 380 yards of total offense were the most for an Aggie player since Chad Salisbury had 415 yards against Boise State in 1996. His 314 yards passing was the most for an Aggie quarterback since K.C. Enzminger had 346 yards against Boise State in 1999. Against Utah State (11/6), Pierce ran for two touchdowns and completed 18 of 23 passes for 208 yards. Pierce scored a touchdown in the third and fourth quarter to rally the Aggies from a 7-3 deficit to a 26-21 win. Against bowl winner Arkansas (11/15), Pierce completed 19 of 26 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns. He completed 12 consecutive passes in the second and third quarters against the Razorbacks, getting the Aggies to within 21-17 with 8:08 left in the third quarter. Pierce was busy riddling another top ranked defense in the season finale when he suffered a game-ending leg injury just before the end of the first half on national television against North Texas (11/25). Pierce completed 15 of 19 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown.
2002 (Sophomore): Buck broke the Aggie single season record for passing efficiency with a 154.69 mark, breaking the old record of 141.65 set by Charles Puleri in 1991. He also tied Puleri’s completion record set the same season of 63.6%. Both quarterbacks completed the same number of passes (68) in the same number of attempts (107), but Pierce threw for more yards (949-846) and threw more touchdown passes (6-5) while throwing one fewer interception (1-2). Pierce had a streak of 134 passes without an interception. He did not throw an interception in 2001 and did not throw one in 2002 until the fourth quarter against North Texas (11/16) in the next to last game of the season. Buck was the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 64 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown and completing 17 of 26 passes for 207 yards and another score against nationally ranked South Carolina (8/31) in the season opener. His 271 yards of total offense was a career high and the most for an Aggie player since the 2000 season. All 207 of his passing yards came after the first quarter. He completed a fourth down touchdown pass of 34 yards to Alex Davis in the second quarter and ran for a 13-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. The following week he ran for 62 yards and completed 12 of 17 passes for 121 yards against Cal (9/7), but was forced from the game in the third quarter with an injury. He missed the Aggies’ next game two weeks later against New Mexico and saw very limited action three weeks later against nationally ranked Georgia. He returned to the starting lineup against UTEP (10/5) and completed nine of 15 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Aggies to a 49-14 win over the Miners. He completed a career-long 66-yard scoring strike to P.J. Winston in the second quarter. Buck was on his way to a monster game the following week against UL Lafayette (10/12). He threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Lamar Hill on the first drive of the game and then ran 41 yards for another score on the third drive of the game to give the Aggies a 14-7 lead. But he was hurt on that touchdown run and missed the next three weeks. He returned against Utah State (11/9), but played just briefly. He returned to full-time duty the final two weeks against North Texas and Idaho. Buck completed 11 of 17 passes for 180 yards against North Texas (11/16) including a 62 yard touchdown pass to P.J. Winston. It was the longest pass completion against the nationally ranked North Texas defense all season. He also ran four yards for a touchdown with just over four minutes left in the first half to give the Aggies a 20-14 halftime lead. The following week against Idaho (11/23), Pierce completed 10 of 17 passes for 158 yards and a score. He completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Winston in the second quarter to give the Aggies a 14-10 lead in an eventual 35-31 victory.
2001 (Redshirt Freshman): Pierce saw action in all 12 games coming off the bench behind starter K.C. Enzminger. On his first run from scrimmage as a college player, Pierce ripped off a 75-yard run against Louisville to give the Aggies a first and 10 at the Cardinal 12-yard line. Pierce would finish with 96 yards rushing on seven carries for an average of 13.7 yards per carry. He also completed both of his passes for 12 yards. He also had a 14-yard run from scrimmage. Pierce led the Aggies on drives of 79 and 55 yards against Louisville. He completed 6-for-12 passes for 74 yards in the Aggies’ season ending loss at New Mexico (11/24). Pierce completed five of seven passes for 29 yards against nationally ranked Kansas State (9/22) including a 12-yard pass to H.B. Briscoe. He completed 3-of-7 passes for 30 yards and ran for 22 yards against Middle Tennessee (10/27). He had a 22-yard completion to Manwell Talbert against Middle Tennessee in the fourth quarter and had a one-yard run for a touchdown in the third quarter. He had two rushes for 19 yards in a win over UL Monroe (9/29). He completed 2-for-4 passes for 40 yards in the Aggie victory over Arkansas State (11/10). In that game, he completed an 18-yard pass to P.J. Winston and a 22-yard pass to Ronshay Jenkins. He led the Aggies on a six-play, 46-yard drive in that contest. Against UL Lafayette, he led the Aggies on a nine play, 42-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown in the Aggies 49-46 victory. He had two rushes for 12 yards and completed a 16-yard pass to Manwell Talbert on that drive.
2000 (Freshman): Buck redshirted his first season at NMSU.
High School: Buck was a three-year starter at quarterback for Del Norte High School in Crescent City, Calif. He guided Coach Lewis Nova’s Warriors to a 16-4 record as a junior and senior. He passed for 2,225 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior in 1999, earning Big 5 Conference Most Valuable Player honors for the second consecutive season. He broke the school’s single-season and career records for both passing yardage and passing TD’s in 1999. Buck threw for 2,010 yards and 19 TD’s as a junior in 1998 and 1,180 yards and 10 TD’s as a sophomore in 1997. He was voted to the Times Standard North Coast California All-Century team. He qualified for North State meet as a long jumper, leaping better than 22 feet as a junior. He also led DNHS to a pair of league titles as a starting guard on the basketball squad.
Personal: Buck James Pierce was born in Garden City, Kan. and is the son of Tim and Connie Pierce. He is majoring in Kinesiology.
