NMSU falls to Troy on Homecoming night

Larry Rose III rushed his way into the NM State football career record books in the second quarter of a 52-7 loss to Troy in Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday night at Aggie Memorial Stadium in the Homecoming/Tough Enough to Wear Pink game.

Rose III finished the night with 180-yards rushing on 21 attempts to move into ninth in career rushing with 1,969 yards to surpass Anthony Singleton (1,858, 1986-89). The sophomore also had a team-best 67 reception yards with a long of 60 and wrapped up the night with 247 all-purpose yards, just shy of his season-high, 260, at New Mexico this year.

Andrew Allen finished the game with 161 yards in the air on 13-of-33 passing with one touchdown.

Derek Ibekwe and Dalton Harrington led the defense with eight tackles apiece. Ibekwe had a team-high five solo tackles to Harrington’s four, while Noah Brown was credited with 1.5 tackles for loss.

After a three-and-out first drive, Troy rattled off three-consecutive touchdowns that was capped off by a 37-yards reception by Teddy Ruben at the 2:46 mark to take a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.

Rose III put NM State on the board at the 6:29 mark in the second quarter when he hauled in a 13-yard pass from Allen. It marked the first reception touchdown for Rose III since 2014 when NM State played Cal Poly in its season opener on Aug. 28.

The Trojans tacked on 10 more points after the Aggie touchdown as NM State headed into the locker room trailing Troy, 45-7.

Rose III opened the second half with a 13-yard rush, but the Aggies weren’t able to convert in their first possession and were regulated to punt after a seven play, 20-yards drive.

The defense played well for most of the third quarter, forcing Troy to punt in their first three possessions. The Aggies looked like they were going to hold the Trojans scoreless in the third quarter, but Allen was stripped on a run to the left by Terris Lewis and was recovered by Rashad Dillard for a touchdown to make it 52-7 in favor of the visitors.

With the ball on Aggies 20-yard line to start the drive in the fourth quarter, Allen marched NM State to the Troy 35-yard line. However, the Trojan defense forced the Aggies to send out the kicking unit. With a 35-yard field goal teed up, Parker Davidson’s kick went wide left to keep the score at 52-7 until the clock hit zero.