LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The New Mexico State football team had an up-and-down season in 2025.
Safety Naeten Mitchell, who was named second-team All-Defense in Conference USA, said he was expecting a better season, but is optimistic about the future.
“The season didn’t go as anyone planned,” Mitchell said. “With every loss, there is a lesson and I feel like one thing I learned and the players have learned is that we have the coaches to win a championship. We just need to find the right players to fit into the puzzle to close out games.”
The Aggies started off the year 2-0, with wins against FCS level Bryant and fellow Group of Five school Tulsa out of the American Athletic Conference.
NMSU then slipped on the road against Conference USA foe Louisiana Tech in Ruston, Louisiana, and once more in Albuquerque when the Aggies faced the University of New Mexico Lobos.
Back-to-back losses had NMSU at 2-2 going into October and facing Sam Houston State University for their Conference USA home opener. The Aggies beat SHSU 37-10 to improve to 1-1 in conference play.
NMSU then traveled to Virginia to face Liberty in a back-and-forth game that came down to the final drive, which would be the story of the Aggies’ season. NMSU found themselves on the losing end of this one, 30-27. They were unable to get into the end zone or make a game-tying field goal after the Flames scored the final touchdown to take the lead within the last minute of the game.
Then the losses piled up as FCS call-up Missouri State defeated the Aggies at home in overtime 24-17. NMSU then hit the road to Western Kentucky, losing 35-16 and dropping to 3-5.
The Aggies returned to Las Cruces the following week for Homecoming and took on the Kennesaw State Owls. NMSU showed improvement, but still did not pull off the win as they fell to the eventual conference champion 24-21 to drop to 3-6 on the brink of elimination from bowl contention with Tennessee looming the following week.
The Aggies traveled to Tennessee and did not just get the experience, but also $1.6 million to play in Neyland Stadium. Tennessee handled business as expected from the No. 23 team in the nation at the time, winning 42-9 and knocking NMSU out of bowl contention with their fifth straight loss.
The following week, the Aggies traveled 40 miles south to El Paso to Sun Bowl Stadium to take on the UTEP Miners in what could be the final game between the two rivals for quite some time due to UTEP’s conference changing to the Mountain West. UTEP would jump out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and things were looking bleak for NMSU.
That was until the Aggies themselves scored 21 unanswered points to bring the game to 21-21 at halftime. The teams exchanged field goals in the third quarter, with not much else happening immediately after the half. The Aggies and Miners went into the fourth period tied at 24. The final quarter continued to be a back-and-forth exchange, with NMSU for the sixth time this season having a game come down to the final drive.
Luckily for the Aggies this time, the clock was on their side. They scored the eventual game-winning touchdown after a six-play, 75-yard drive to break their streak.
NMSU returned home for Senior Day in the final game of the season against Middle Tennessee. Despite the Aggies’ best efforts, the Blue Raiders won the game in overtime 31-24.
The Aggies showed fight all year, but could not win on the road or close out games. NMSU finished 1-5 on the road with their only win being 40 miles from home. The Aggies also were 0-2 in overtime games and 2-4 in single possession games.
A 4-8 record is an improvement upon Coach Tony Sanchez’s first year in which NMSU went 3-9.
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