LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Looking to bounce back from its Week Zero loss, New Mexico State football (0-1, 0-0 CUSA) opens its home schedule against FCS opponent Mercyhurst (0-1, 0-0 NEC) 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, at Aggie Memorial Stadium.
After suffering a 34-17 loss to Florida State last week, the Aggies hope to get on track with a win on Saturday. NMSU enters the game Saturday as heavy favorites, with sportsbooks having the Aggies favored by as much as four touchdowns.
Head coach Tony Sanchez is no stranger to winning home openers. With a victory, the Aggies would secure its third consecutive home-opening win, a feat the program has not accomplished since the 2002-04 seasons.
NMSU looked impressive in its matchup versus FSU, with key players making plays to keep the game competitive. Four Aggies took home a Conference USA Player of the Week award, including quarterback Trey Hedden. Hedden, in his Aggie debut, was fearless in the pocket, completing 26 of 42 passes for 272 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Hedden was able to find receivers Brodie Malone-Bradford and TK King for the touchdowns.
Safety Nick Session continued a familiar trend for the Aggie defense forcing a turnover, with an interception of his own. New Mexico State has now forced a turnover in 17 straight games dating back to 2024. Defensive end Gabe Peterson also shined in the loss, finishing with 0.5 sacks, one tackle for loss and seven total tackles earning him CUSA Defensive Player of the Week.
Last year, statistically, NMSU had the worst rushing offense in the nation; this year the Aggies want to get back to the run game. Against FSU, the Aggies struggled to run the ball, only rushing for 47 yards on 23 carries. However, in the third quarter on the Aggies opening drive of the second half the run game showed flashes.
NMSU ran for 36 yards on only four carries, leading to a field goal, from new kicker Ilya Uvaydov. The Aggies have a chance to better show off their improved run game against Mercyhurst.
Mercyhurst lost its season opener 43-10 to Youngstown State. The Lakers went 5-7 last year, but are under a newly hired head coach Thomas Sydeski. Although there is a change of leadership, multiple key starters stayed and look to give NMSU trouble.
Wide receivers Dylan Evans and Evan Van Dyke were the two leading pass catchers for the Lakers last season. Defensively for Mercyhurst, linebacker Jeff Leavell returns and looks to lead a young defense this season.
Quarterback Alex Gevaudan leads the Lakers offense into Aggie Memorial Stadium, looking to pull off an upset.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MT and you can catch the Aggies on ESPN+
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