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EL PASO, Texas – The NM State football team is set to kick off the 2016 season against Battle of I-10 rival UTEP on Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Sun Bowl. The 94th battle between the two teams will be televised on BeIN Sports.
Matt Martucci will do play-by-play, while Brett Romberg will be the color analyst and Jordan Daigle will be on the sideline. The game is available on Time Warner Cable channel 417, Xfinity/Comcast channel 268, DirecTV channel 620 and DISH Network channel 392 in Las Cruces an online at
http://www.beinsports.com/us/getbein/.
The game will also be broadcast on the Aggie Sports Network with Voice of the Aggies and Hall of Famer
Jack Nixon on play-by-play, while Preston Williams will be the color analyst. The game will be carried on the Aggies' flagship station KXPZ 99.5 FM in Las Cruces. Additionally, the Aggie Sports Network will carry the game on affiliate stations KNMZ 103.7 FM (Alamogordo), KAMQ 1240 AM (Carlsbad), KYVA 1230 AM and 94.9 FM (Gallup) and KMDS 107.1 FM (Las Vegas, NM).
The Aggies have a 35-56-2 all-time record against the Miners in a record that dates back to 1914. The 2015 season game saw 97 points and over 1,000 yards of total offense.
Larry Rose III racked up 196 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, while quarterback
Tyler Rogers went 14-of-28 for 285 yards and three touchdowns.
The 2016 NM State football team looks to build upon the foundation head coach
Doug Martin has been building since he began coaching the Aggies three years ago. NM State has a seasoned quarterback crew with senior
Tyler Rogers and sophomore
Nick Jeanty leading the pack.
In the backfield, NM State is led by junior AP All-American running back
Larry Rose III, who had back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons as a freshman and sophomore. The offensive line returns three starters who helped Rose III amass 1,651 yards to break the NM State all-time single season record during the 2015 campaign.
Defensively, the squad is headed by junior linebacker
Derek Ibekwe and junior defensive back
Jacob Nwangwa who led the team with 93 total tackles and 85 total tackles, respectively, during the 2015 season. In addition, Nwangwa had a team-high three interceptions, which included an interception returned 41 yards for a touchdown against UTEP.
Follow the Aggies on Saturday and throughout the season on nmstatesports.com and on Twitter @nmstatefootball.
Notables from 2015
- With 2,753 rushing yards during his first two years, Larry Rose III ranks No. 5 all-time in career rushing yards.
- Rose III's 426 carries over his first two seasons rank No. nine all-time in the record books in career carries.
- Rose III currently has 23 rushing touchdowns, which is tied for fifth all-time in Aggie history in career rushing touchdowns.
- With 3,208 career all-purpose yards, Rose III lands at No. 10 all-time in the record books.
- Tyler Rogers amassed 3,753 passing yards during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He is currently 319 yards away from being in the top 10 in all-time career passing yards.
- With 340 career completions, Rogers ranks No. 8 all-time in that category.
- Tyler Rogers racked up 26 touchdowns during his first two seasons as an Aggie and currently ranks No. 10 all-time in career touchdowns.
