COLUMBIA, Mo. - A tough test on the road for NM State football (4-6) was to be expected. In the early stages, the Aggies once again proved that they could play with any team in the country before Missouri (5-6, 2-5 SEC) pulled away for a 45-14 victory on Senior Day.
 
The Aggies battled with the SEC foe through the first quarter. Diego Pavia had the offense firing on all cylinders before a dropped pass on fourth-and-two halted the momentum. On the following drive, Missouri found the end zone on a 12-yard touchdown pass to go up seven.
 
From there, NM State and Missouri would battle for the remainder of the quarter. Heading into the second frame, the Aggies trailed by just seven.
 
Nonetheless, Missouri rattled off 14 unanswered points in the second quarter. The Tigers got a pair of touchdowns with one on the ground and one through the air.
 
After halftime, the Tigers opened the scoring once again with a 5-yard rush by Cody Schrader, his second score of the day.
 
Star Thomas broke the scoring drought for the Aggies with 4:29 remaining in the third quarter. Taking a pitch from Pavia, Thomas powered his way into the end zone for a ten-yard score. Thomas become the first Aggie to rush for a touchdown against a Power Five opponent since Josh Adkins on August 31, 2019 against No. 23 Washington State.
 
A 40-yard interception return for a touchdown gave Missouri a 42-7 lead. Replacing Pavia at quarterback, the first drive by Gavin Frakes also ended in an interception. The Tigers capped off the ensuing drive with a 43-yard field goal.
 
Following a forced fumble by Missouri native Sterling Webb, Frakes managed to bounce back, leading a five-play, 44-yard scoring drive. On the final play, Frakes called his own number and ran for a 13-yard touchdown.
 
The Aggies will once again hit the road to take on Liberty next weekend. With a 10:00 a.m. MT kickoff from Lynchburg, fans can find all of the action on ESPN+.
 
News and Notes

• Star Thomas' touchdown was the first rushing touchdown for an Aggie against a Power Five team since August 31, 2019.
• Before Saturday night, the Aggies had not committed a turnover since the third quarter against Hawai'i
• Mike Edwards recovered the fourth quarter fumble forced by Sterling Webb
• Lazarus Williams was also credited with a forced fumble in the game
• Chris Ojoh led all players with seven tackles on the night
• Diego Pavia led the Aggies in both passing (76 yds.) and rushing (50 yards).
• The Tigers used 261 yards of passing and three touchdowns to pick apart the NM State defense.
• With an official temperature of 26 degrees at kickoff, the game marked the coldest for NM State since at least 2015.