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The New Mexico State football team suffered its fourth consecutive loss this season in the 109th Battle of I-25 against the University of New Mexico at Aggie Memorial stadium Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018.
The Aggies (0-4, 0-0) rushed the field with an aggressive offense against the Lobos, earning a touchdown only minutes after the coin toss. Quarterback Matt Romero led the Aggies 57 yards to earn another touchdown that extended the Aggies’ lead to 14-0 at the 10-minute mark.
After a quick start from the Aggies, the Lobos finally found their way onto the board to come within one touchdown of the Aggies. Shortly after, New Mexico State made its way to midfield before Dylan Brown was able to connect on a 41-yard field goal that pushed the Aggies even further ahead of the Lobos, 17-7.
Before the end of the first half, UNM started to come back from its lack of offensive plays and scored two touchdowns, earning a 21-17 lead going into the break.
To start the second half, the Aggies brought out 2017 redshirt quarterback Josh Adkins to change the dynamics of their offense. New Mexico State made it to the 34-yard line, but missed on a field goal attempt.
After the missed field goal, the Lobos made the longest drive of the game with an 80-yard touchdown drive to put them ahead of New Mexico State 28-17. UNM scored another unanswered touchdown and increased its lead over NMSU to 35-17 in the fourth quarter.
New Mexico State struggled to make offensive gains until the fourth quarter when Adkins found the end zone with 11 minutes left on the clock, narrowing the gap to 35-25.
Looking to climb back into the game, the Aggies made progress on their next drive, but the drive ended in disaster when UNM intercepted the ball and returned it to the other side of field for a Lobo touchdown.
For the first time in three years, New Mexico State fell in the Battle of I-25 to the University of New Mexico 42-25.
NMSU linebacker Javahn Fergurson set a new personal record with a total of 22 tackles in the game on Saturday. He is the first Aggie to finish with more than 20 tackles in a single game since Rodney Butler did it in 2016.
New Mexico State will next be traveling to the University of Texas at El Paso for the battle of I-10 on Saturday, Sept. 22, at 5:30 p.m.
