Links of Interest:
Live Video |
Live Stats |
Twitter |
NM State Notes | Texas State Notes
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Following a thrilling come-from-behind overtime victory on Halloween, the NM State football team is ready to travel to San Marcos, Texas to face Texas State on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. MT on ESPN3. The game will also be broadcast on AM 570.
"Idaho came in with a two- game winning streak, playing with a lot of confidence and to get down like we did and come back, I think that really says something about the character of our football team, character of our coaches and our administration and particularly the future of this football program," said head coach
Doug Martin. "There's no better way to win a game and to start building something in a football program than be able to come from behind and win."
Despite having zero touchdowns in the first three quarters of the game,
Larry Rose III scored a career-high four touchdowns in the fourth quarter and in overtime to give the Aggies (1-7, 1-3 SBC) a 55-48 victory over Idaho on Saturday night. This is the first time NM State has had a player rush for four or more touchdowns since 1999. Rose III scored to make it a one-possession game with under 10 minutes to go in the game, but Idaho extended the lead again. That is when Rose III put the team on his back and carried them to victory to snap a 17-game losing streak. With 3:56 remaining, Rose III scrambled into the end zone to cut the Vandals lead back to one score. With 00:51 left on the clock, the sophomore once again used a 1-yard run for a touchdown to force overtime.
Rose III then leaped over the pile and into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown over the Vandals. As quarterback Matt Linehan attempted a pass on Idaho's overtime possession, freshman
Terrill Hanks grabbed an interception as he caught the ball between his feet to secure the win for the home team.
Rose III finished the game with 212 rushing yards and four touchdowns. With these 212 yards, he now has 1,083 rushing yards for the season to become the first back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher for NM State since Denvis Manns, who had 1,000-yard seasons from 1995-98. Rose III needs just 20 yards for a new season-high after he amassed 1,102 rushing yards during the 2014 season.
Additionally, Rose III now has 2,185 career rushing yards to rank No. 6 all-time in the Aggie record books. With his four touchdowns against Idaho, the running back has 19 rushing touchdowns in his career, which is tied for ninth all-time in the NM State record books. Rose III ranks second in the Sun Belt in rushing through all games.
"We've got the best running back in the Sun Belt conference, and he [
Larry Rose III] might be the best running back in the nation," said Martin. "He's not just special on game day, he's special every day. We were right about him in recruiting."
Quarterback
Andrew Allen went 22-of-38 for 300 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback
Nick Jeanty was 2-of-2 for 26 yards in overtime.
Joshua Bowen had a career-high 106 yards on a personal-best 10 receptions, while
Royce Caldwell chipped in a career-best 73 receiving yards.
Freshman linebacker
Javahn Fergurson, who played just his second game of the season on Saturday night, had an impressive game-high 17 tackles with 1.0 sacks and 1.0 tackles for loss. Fergurson's sack came in overtime as he stopped Idaho's Linehan on first down prior to Hanks collecting the game-ending interception. Hanks finished the night with eight tackles as well.
Next week's opponent, Texas State, is currently 2-5 on the season and 1-2 in conference play after they fell 37-13 to Georgia Southern last Thursday night. Robert Lowe led Texas State in rushing as he amassed 90 yards on 20 carries. Quarterback Tyler Jones was 10-of-25 for 87 yards and a touchdown. He also threw one interception.
The Aggies and the Bobcats have only met on the gridiron twice before, with Texas State capturing victories in both meetings. The teams last played on Nov. 1, 2014 as Texas State won 37-29.
In addition to AM 570, the game will be broadcast on the following affiliate stations:
Alamagordo - 103.7 KNMZ-FM
Albuquerque – 1240 KDSK-AM/93.7 K229CL-FM
Carlsbad – 1240 KAMQ-AM
Gallup – 1230 KYVA-AM
Notes
- The game against Idaho was the second overtime game NM State has played this year, following an OT loss to UTEP on Sept. 17.
- With the win against Idaho, NM State ended a 17-game losing streak.
- Xavier Hall scored his first touchdown of the season. This was the eighth touchdown of his career.
- Jordan Bergstrom scored his second touchdown of the season. It was the third of his career.
- Larry Rose III had 212 rushing yards for the game. He now has 1,117 yards on the season to become the first back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher since Denvis Manns, who had four 1,000-yard rushing seasons from 1995-98.
- Rose III has 2,185 career yards to rank No. 6 all-time in career rushing yards.
- Rose III currently ranks second in the conference in rushing yards.
- Rose III has 19 career rushing touchdowns to rank tied for No. 9 all-time for career touchdowns.
- Jaden Wright intercepted a ball in the end zone to prevent a touchdown in the first quarter. This was his third career interception and his second of the season. This was the team's fifth interception of the season.
- Stephen Meredith's sack in the first quarter was the team's first sack since Rodney Butler collected one against Georgia State on Sept. 12, 2015.
- The Aggies had 3.0 sacks against Idaho, which is more than the first seven games combined (2.0 sacks).
- Terrill Hanks had the game-winning interception, which he caught with his feet.
- Javahn Fergurson had a career-high 17 tackles and 1.0 sacks.
