LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The storied rivalry between the Aggies and Miners will reach a major milestone on Wednesday night as the two programs meet for the 100th time in the series. NM State will enter Wednesday in search of its third straight win after knocking off FIU and Sam Houston during consecutive weeks at home.

Game Information
NM State (4-3, 2-1 CUSA) at UTEP (2-5, 1-2 CUSA)
Date: October 18, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. MT
TV: ESPN2

• John Schriffen (Play-by-Play)
• Cole Cubelic (Color Analyst)
• Taylor Davis (Sidlelines)

Radio: The Aggie Radio Network, Powered by LEARFIELD

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

PICK SIX
100 - Wednesday's contest will be the 100th installment of the iconic rivaly colloquially known as the Battle of I-10.
12 - The Aggies have defeated both UNM and UTEP in the same season just 12 times in program history. With a win on Wednesday, Head Coach Jerry Kill would become the tenth Aggie head coach to accomplish this feat.
401 - Diego Pavia became the first Aggie to account for over 400 yards of total offense when he rushed for 115 yards and threw for 286 yards in the win over Sam Houston
5 - With a pair of touchdown receptions on Wednesday, Trent Hudson is now tied for most receiving touchdowns (5) among CUSA pass catchers
4 - NM State's win over Sam Houston gave the Aggies four wins before October 12 for the first time since 1992.
3 - With six games remaining on the schedule, the Aggies are in need of three wins to become bowl eligible for the second straight season.

DING DING, ROUND 100
On Wednesday night, the Aggies and Miners will collide on the gridiron for the 100th time in the storied rivalry between the two programs that are located just 40 miles apart.
 
Entering the night, the Aggies trail in the series with an all-time record of 38-59-2 against the Miners since first meeting in 1914. NM State will look to reclaim possession of the Silver Spade Trophy for the first time since 2019 as UTEP has emerged victorious in the most recent two meetings. The Miners' back-to-back wins over the Aggies comes on the heels of a three-game win streak for the Aggies.
 
Notably, this will be the first time the two sides challenge each other as members of the same conference since 1961 when the two sides resided in the Border Conference. In matchups when the Aggies and Miners were league foes, NM State holds a 7-16-1 all-time record.
 
PROTECT THIS HOUSE
With the Aggies' win over Sam Houston last Wednesday, NM State has now rattled off three consecutive home wins, a feat that has been accomplished only four times in the last 20 NM State seasons.
 
During the win streak, the Aggies have outscored opponents 119-51. NM State's offense has averaged 515.7 yards of offense per game while holding opposing teams to just 337.0 yards per game. On the ground, the Aggies have limited opponents to just 67.0 rushing yards per game.
 
THE WINNER'S CIRCLE
The win over the Bearkats of Sam Houston gave the Aggies a 4-3 overall record on the season. Though NM State has had recent success, this will be the first time that the Aggies will enter a game with a record above .500 since they were 2-1 entering a game against New Mexico on Sept. 20, 2014.
 
SPOOKY SEASON
Since Jerry Kill took over the Aggies, the month of October has been friendly to the men in crimson and white and that trend has only continued this season.
 
With Wednesday's result, the Aggies are now 2-0 this October and now move to 4-1 in the 10th month of the year across the last two seasons. With one more win this month, the Aggies will equal their number of October wins during the previous regime which spanned nine seasons.
 
RUN, AGGIE, RUN!
Despite leaning on the passing attack in the last two outings, this year's Aggie squad has also been dominant in the trenches as they have outgained their opponents in rushing yards in all but one game this season.
 
Thus far, the Aggie rushers are averaging nearly 200 rushing yards per game (194.9) while limiting rushers they face to just 128.6 yards per game.
 
IT'S A SIMPLE GAME
As Jerry Kill would say, "It's a simple game, we just like to make it hard sometimes." A primary focus for all offenses including the Aggie offense is to protect the ball. When that happens and the Aggies commit zero turnovers, NM State is a perfect 3-0 this season. On the contrary, the Aggies have won just one game this season when the opposing defense comes up with at least one turnover.
 
MVPAVIA
On Wednesday against Sam Houston, NM State quarterback Diego Pavia was responsible 401 yards of total offense as he rushed for 115 yards and threw for 286. With the showing, Pavia became the first Aggie to account for 400 or more yards since former Aggie quarterback Tyler Rogers did so against South Alabama on Dec. 2, 2017.
 
KINGS OF NEW MEXICO
For the first time since 2017, NM State tallied a win in Albuquerque as they defeated the Lobos 27-17 on Sept. 16. This also marked the second consecutive win over the Lobos and makes Jerry Kill the first Aggie coach since Dewayne Walker to begin his career with a perfect 2-0 record against the Aggies' in-state rival.
 
In the win, the Aggies were led offensively by Albuquerque native Diego Pavia who finished the night with 203 passing yards, two throwing touchdowns and 99 rushing yards. The 99-yard rushing total marked the most by any Aggie at that point in the season.
 
SPECIAL TALENT
Since his arrival in 2019, Ethan Albertson has established himself among the top kickers in the country. Two weeks ago, Albertson received recognition for his performance against New Mexico as he was named the Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Week.
 
The award came on the heels of a Saturday performance in which he made a pair of field goals and went a perfect 3-for-3 on PAT attempts.
 
Amid his senior season, the San Diego, Calif., native ranks inside the top-ten in NM State history for field goals made (4th, 38), field goals attempted (T-6th, 48), field goal percentage (1st, 78.1%), extra points made (6th, 88), extra points attempted (6th, 92) and extra point percentage (1st, 95.7%).
 
DUAL THREAT
After an impressive first season in the Crimson and White, quarterback Diego Pavia already finds himself among the Aggie greats. He currently ranks 17th all-time in program history in career passing yards (3,065) and third in career rushing yards by a quarterback (937).
 
As expected, the Albuquerque, N.M., native is averaging 230.7 passing yards per game to lead the team. However, the quarterback has also been the Aggies' most effective rusher as he is averaging 61.6 yards on the ground per game. With 63 rushing yards against the Miners on Wednesday, Pavia would join K.C. Enzminger as just the second quarterback in program history to eclipse 3000 yards passing and 1000 yards rushing.
 
THESE ARE NOT THE POINTS YOU'RE LOOKING FOR
By holding Sam Houston to just 13 points on Wednesday, NM State has now held each of its previous four opponents to 20 or fewer points. There are only five other programs in the nation that can also make this claim as NM State joins Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame and Ohio in this elite category.
 
AIR IT OUT
Between Offensive Coordinator Tim Beck and Wide Receivers Coach Tony Sanchez, the Aggies have formed an offensive attack that produces big play after big play in the passing game. Currently, the Aggies rank fifth in the nation in passing yards per completion - averaging over 16 yards per reception (16.2). Thus far, the Aggies have compiled 18 passing plays of 25 yards or more in just six games. This also includes 10 passing plays of 40 yards or longer (40, 42, 42, 49, 52, 63, 75, 75, 78, 80).
 
BLOCK THAT KICK!
On Sept. 9, the hand of Gabe Peterson helped NM State's special teams unit came up with a blocked point after attempt for the first time since since Dion Henrique did so at Florida on Sept. 5, 2015.
 
BIG PLAYS ONLY
Jordin Parker has put together one of the most unique seasons in all of college football as he has now caught three touchdown passes on just four receptions on the season.
 
His stat line gets even stranger when you look at his total receiving yards this year. Following yet another big catch against FIU, Parker now ranks second on the team in receiving yards with 194. That is good for an astonishing 48.5 yards per reception.
 
Parker's running mate Trent also has a thing for the big play as he averages 20.7 yards per catch to rank 20th in yards per reception among FBS players with at least two catches per game.
 
SATURDAYS ARE FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL... JUST NOT IN LAS CRUCES
NM State is in the midst of a stretch of 63 days in which it will not play a home game on a Saturday. For seven consecutive weeks, the Aggies will either be on the road or hosting a midweek contest.
 
During this period, the Aggies welcomed FIU on Wednesday, Oct. 4, and hosted Sam Houston on Wednesday, Oct. 11. They will now travel to El Paso on Wednesday, Oct. 18, before visiting LA Tech on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
 
NO LIMITS ON THE AGGIES
As the Aggies enter the heart of their conference schedule, some of NM State's numbers stack up against the best of the best in the new league.
 
Currently, the Aggies have six individuals who rank inside the top five in the conference in a total of 20 statistical categories.
 
Diego Pavia
Pass Efficiency (2nd, 167.0)
Passing TDs (1st, 14)
Passing Yards (3rd, 1,615)
Passing Yards per Game (4th, 230.7)
Passing Yards per Completion (2nd, 15.83)
Total Offense per Game (1st, 292.0)
Yards per Pass Attempt (2nd, 9.85)
Rushing Yards (5th, 429)
Rushing Yards Per Game (4th, 61.3)
Rush Yards per Carry (2nd, 5.72)
Completion Pct. (2nd, 62.2%)
Completions Per Game (4th, 14.57)
 
Jonathan Brady
Receiving TDs (t-4th, 3)
Combined kick return yards (4th, 148)
 
Star Thomas
Rushing TDs (3rd, 4)
Total TDs (t-2nd, 5)
 
Ethan Albertson
Field Goal Pct. (2nd, 83.3%)
Field Goals Per Game (1st, 1.43)
Scoring (1st, 54 pts)
 
Trent Hudson
Receiving TDs (t-1st, 5)
Total TDs (t-2nd, 5)
 
Jordin Parker
Receiving TDs (t-4th, 3)
 
A WINNING TRADITION
With eight wins under his belt at NM State, Jerry Kill is the tenth winningest active coach in FBS football.
 
Of note, three of the top 10 coaches on the active wins list lead CUSA programs as K.C. Keeler (ranked 4th) and Rich Rodriguez (ranked 9th) lead Sam Houston and Jacksonville State, respectively.
 
Aside from Keeler and Rodriguez, Kill trails just Nick Saban (Alabama), Mack Brown (North Carolina), Brian Kelly (LSU), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), Willie Fritz (Tulane), Chris Crieghton (Eastern Michigan), and Terry Bowden (Louisiana - Monroe).
 
BEHIND ENEMY LINES (UTEP)
NM State returns to the road for its second rivarly matchup of the season as they visit the Sun Bowl to take on UTEP for the 100th time in program history. After a 1-5 start, the Miners earned their second win of the season last Wednesday when they defeated FIU 27-14 on the road.
 
Leading from the sidelines will be Dana Dimel who is currently in his sixth season at the helm of the Miners. In five and half seasons as the head coach, Dimel has led the Miners to 19 wins, including the 2021 season when the Miners won seven games to mark the highest win total for a UTEP team since 2014.
 
Offensively, the Miners will either be led by Gavin Hardison or Cade McConnell at the quarterback position. Hardison will be the likely starter should he be able to overcome and injury that has kept him on the sidelines for the Miners' last two games. As the starter, Hardison, is averaging 189.4 passing yards per game and has thrown a team-high five touchdowns this season. While the sample size is small, potential starter Cade McConnell is averaging 155.0 passing yards per game and has thrown two touchdowns.
 
Regardless of who is under center, the Miners will lean heavily on their rushing attack which features the two-back attack of Torrance Burgess Jr. and Deion Hankins. Burgess and Hankins have nearly identical stat lines on the season as Burgess has carried the ball 87 times for 452 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Hankins has recorded 92 carries that have gone for 442 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns.
 
On the edge, the Miners' go-to receiver will be redshirt junior Kelly Akharaiyi who leads the team in receptions (25), receiving yards (513), receiving touchdowns (3) and receiving yards per game (73.29).
 
Defensively, the Aggie offense will do its best to limit the impact that UTEP linebacker Tyrice Knight has on the game. Knight, a 6-2 linebacker from Lakeland, Fla., will enter Wednesday's matchup ranked third in the nation in total tackles (82) and tackles per game (11.7). The Aggies will also look to contain edge rushers Maurice Westmoreland and Praise Amaewhule who rank second and third, respectively, in sacks per game among CUSA defenders.
 
LOCAL TIES
The Aggies' current roster features 25 student-athletes from the state of Texas, including three from El Paso as Angel Muñoz, Isaiah Rudison and Miles McWhorter each played high school football in the border city.