LYNCHBURG, Va. – Rivalry week looks a little different when you're an FBS Independent school. That's exactly the case as NM State football travels to battle Liberty in Lynchburg, Virginia. Following a loss to Missouri, the Aggies look to bounce back against the Flames, who found themselves in the Top 25 before back-to-back losses caused them to fall out.
 
Both NM State and Liberty will join Conference USA, beginning next season. The two squads will square off with one last shot to see each other as non-conference foes.
 
Game Information
NM State (4-6) at Liberty (8-3)
Date: November 26, 2022
Time: 10:00 a.m. MT / 12:00 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+

• Matt Warner (PxP)
• Joe Jauch (Analyst)
• Emily Austen (Sidelines)

Radio: The Aggie Radio Network, Powered by LEARFIELD

• Jack Nixon (PxP)
• Cory Lucas (Analyst)

PICK SIX
4 - Future Conference USA foes NM State and Liberty have met four times previously with the Flames winning each of the last three. NM State's lone win over Liberty came in Las Cruces during 2018.

5 - The Aggies look to reach five wins for just the second time since 2005, joining the 2017 Arizona Bowl team. Under first year head coach Jerry Kill, the Aggies have made great strides on the gridiron.

9 - Liberty and NM State will both join Conference USA for the 2023 season. The addition of NM State, Liberty, Sam Houston, and Jacksonville State moves C-USA to nine football members with UTEP, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, and FIU.

10 - With a ten-yard touchdown run in the third quarter against Missouri, Star Thomas became the second Aggie to run for a touchdown against a Power Five opponent this season. Ahmonte Watkins powered in for a one-yard score against Wisconsin in September.

41 - NM State has seen a 41% growth in average home attendance over last year - The largest year-over-year home growth in FBS football. The Aggies still look to add a December 3 home game.

100 - In each of the four victories this season, NM State has cracked 100+ yards of rushing. The Aggies ran for 357 yards against Hawai'i, 187 yards versus Lamar, 111 yards at UMass, and 104 yards versus in-state rival New Mexico.

News and Notes
UP NEXT
 The Aggies will meet with Liberty to close out its regularly scheduled season. Despite losing their last two, the Flames enter at 8-3 and look to notch their sixth season in program history with at least nine wins.
 
NM State is still looking to add an opponent for December 3 to replace the postponed game versus San José State.
 
COFFEE, PLEASE
The Aggies and Flames will kick off at 10:00 a.m. MT and will be the earliest kickoff of the season for NM State. Prior to the trip to Virginia, the Aggies had only kicked off at noon once (versus Lamar)
 
FROM SEA TO SHINING C-USA
Beginning in 2023, NM State and Liberty will both be members of the new look Conference USA. Both the Aggies and Flames are currently FBS Independents but will join C-USA soon.
 
Also joining NM State and Liberty will be current FCS members Sam Houston (Huntsville, Texas) and Jacksonville State (Jacksonville, Ala.).
 
SEEING DOUBLE
With only four previous meetings between liberty and NM State, there is an oddity between the programs. In 2018 and 2019, the Flames and Aggies met twice per season, totaling four game. The Flames won three of the four meetings with NM State's lone win coming on October 6, 2018 in Las Cruces.
 
ATTENDANCE BOOM
No school across FBS football has seen a larger attendance growth this season than NM State. The Aggies are averaging 16,701 fans per home game, up 41% from last season.
 
Also highlighting massive growth are No. 19 Tulane, (29.48%), Arizona (25.43%), No. 20 Syracuse (23.52%), and No. 7 TCU (20.02%).
 
IRONMEN
Six Aggies - Jamoni Jones, Chris Ojoh, Syrus Dumas, Bryce Jackson, Trevor Brohard, and Thomaz Whitford - have started all nine games for the Aggies thus far.
 
RUSHING ATTACK
The Aggies have not lost a game this season in which they have ran for more than 100 yards. All four wins this season have seen the Aggies eclipse 100 yards of rushing as well.
vs. Hawai'i 357 yds., 5 TD
vs. Lamar 187 yds., 4 TD
at UMass 111 yds., 0 TD
vs. New Mexic0 104 yds., 1 TD
 
STAR'S OUT
 In the loss to Missouri, Star Thomas became second Aggie to rush for a touchdown against a Power Five opponent this season, joining Ahmonte Watkins at Wisconsin.  
 
BEST OF THE BEST
Liberty has been dominant in the backfield throughout the season as they lead the nation in Tackles for Loss (9.0/Game) and Sacks (3.64/Game).
 
BALL SECURITY
Against Missouri, the Aggies saw an impressive streak of ball security snapped. NM State had not committed a turnover since the third quarter against Hawai'i (9/24/22). Following the Hawai'i game, NM State had battled FIU, New Mexico, UMass, and Lamar without allowing a takeaway.
 
OJOH'S MOJO
Senior linebacker Chris Ojoh leads the NM State defense in tackles (78), solo tackles (49), tackles for a loss (9.0), and sacks (5.0)
 
Ojoh ranks 13th nationally in solo tackles The linebacker is 21 tackles away from matching his career high of 99, set during Eastern Washington's run to the 2018 FCS National Championship game. The five sacks match his career high (2021) as well.
 
LOCK-DOWN PUNT DEFENSE
This season, NM State has allowed the third-fewest punt return yards in college football. In fact, the Aggies are holding opponents to -0.36 punt return yards per game. NM State trails just Army and Rutgers (Both -2.00) in punt return defense.
 
AIR IT OUT
Against Lamar, the NM State quarterbacks set season-highs in passing yards (246), yards-per-pass (9.8), pass completions (18), touchdown passes (2), and points (51). Diego Pavia led the charge with a career-high 13 completions for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Gavin Frakes (3-4-0, 93 yds.) and Weston Eget also contributed for the Aggies success through the air against the Cardinals.
 
NO FLY ZONE
Despite having an international airport, Las Cruces is officially a no-fly zone. The Aggie defense is allowing the fewest passing yards of any FBS Independent team with 175.1 yards per game. That total also ranks 11th nationally, sandwiched by Iowa at No. 10 and Iowa State at No. 12.
 
BOWL ELIGIBILITY
With four wins this season, NM State is staring down potential bowl eligibility for the first time since 2017 (Arizona Bowl).
 
Three teams on NM State's original schedule - Minnesota, San José State, and Liberty - have each already hit the six-win threshold for bowl elibility.
 
PICK SIX
Andre Seldon's interception return for a touchdown against Lamar was the first for the Aggies since 2018. The last time NM State returned an interception for a touchdown was on November 24, 2018 when Javahn Ferguson took one back 37-yards against Liberty
 
RUNNIN' AGS
The ground game was working in full force in the win over Hawai'i. NM State ran for 357 yards and five touchdowns in the victory.
 
The game marked the first time since September 21, 2019 against New Mexico that the Aggies ran for four or more touchdowns in a game. With 133 rushing yards, Star Thomas became the first Aggie to finish with between 100-149 rushing yards since Christian Gibson ran for 103 yards at UTEP in 2018.
 
Jamoni Jones ran for his first two touchdowns of the season in the win and became the second NM State player this season to run for two or more touchdowns in a game, joining Diego Pavia (2) at UTEP.
 
EL CAPITANS
Chris Ojoh, Diego Pavia, Trevor Brohard, Lazarus Williams, Canaan Yarro, Syrus Dumas, Linwood Crump, and Thomaz Whitford have each represented NM State at the coin toss this season.
 
Against Missouri, NM State was represented by Ojoh, Brohard, and Pavia.
 
REPRESENTING A COUNTRY
With the addition of Nikhil Webb Walker, NM State now has the only player in FBS football with a hometown located in Jamaica. The linebacker recently joined the NM State roster as a walk-on.
 
DUELING QUARTERBACKS
Both Diego Pavia and Gavin Frakes have made five starts this season at quarterback and both have played in at least nine games.
 
Pavia has started each of the last two games for NM State against Lamar and Missouri before giving way to Frakes in some form or fashion.
 
NOTABLES: LAST GAME (Missouri)
NM State proved that they could battle with any team in FBS football when they squared off with Missouri. After one quarter, the Aggies had held the Tigers to just a touchdown and had pieced together an efficient offensive drive before dropped passes continued to halt progress. The Tigers proved why they play in the Southeastern Conference and pulled away from NM State for a 45-14 victory in Columbia.
 
The loss moved NM State to a 4-6 record for the season, making Liberty a must-win game to keep any potential bowl game dreams alive. The Aggies have not been bowl eligible since 2017 but look to change that in the first season under Jerry Kill.
 
Star Thomas and Gavin Frakes both added rushing touchdowns in the contest.
 
BEHIND ENEMY LINES (Liberty)
Liberty has put together one of the best seasons in program history, even cracking into the Top 25. The Flames torched opponents for seven consecutive wins before falling to UConn and Virginia Tech in back-to-back weeks.
 
The Flames are averaging over 400 yards of offense per game, led by Johnathan Bennett and Dae Dae Hunter. Bennett has thrown for 1,462 yards and 12 touchdowns this season with Demario Douglas being his favorite target (66 receptions, 899 yards, 6 touchdowns).
 
Defensively, the Flames are among the best in FBS football. Liberty leads the nation in tackles for loss per game (9.0) and trails just Louisville in sacks per game (3.64). Durrell Johnson has been a dominant force for Liberty with an FBS-leading 21.5 tackles for loss and 8 sacks on the season.