Georgia Southern runs all over NMSU in 48-31 victory
The New Mexico State Aggies were unable to stop a potent Georgia Southern rushing attack Saturday at Aggie Memorial.
Georgia Southern racked up nearly 400 yards on the ground to go along with six rushing touchdowns in a 48-31 win.
NMSU got off to a dream start in the first quarter, scoring touchdowns on two separate 75-yard drives to jump out to a quick 14-3 lead over a Georgia Southern team that entered the game with just one loss on the year. Christian Gibson and Jason Huntley each scored on the ground in the opening minutes of the game for the Aggies.
But the Eagles went on a 21-3 run from that point to close out the first half thanks in large part to two rushing scores from Wesley Kennedy III.
Georgia Southern, which relies heavily on the run, only attempted three first half passes, but racked up 199 yards on the ground through two quarters to take a 24-17 lead into the half.
The Eagles then scored on their very first possession of the second half on a short run by Logan Wright to take a 31-17 lead.
Things got worse for NMSU when quarterback Josh Adkins fumbled on the team’s next drive. Georgia Southern wasted little time capitalizing with another touchdown to take a commanding 38-17 lead in the third. The Eagles went on to capture their sixth win of the year in convincing fashion.
NMSU defensive back Ron LaForce racked up a career-best 21 total tackles, but the defense as a whole was unable to contain Georgia Southern’s unique attack.
“I mean, I feel like the last four games it’s gonna be on the defense because obviously our offense has got some momentum together. You know, they’re starting to score points almost as efficiently as they did last year,” said LaForce.
The Aggies fell to 2-6 on the season ahead of next week’s matchup against Texas State.
Coach Doug Martin says right now the pressure is on the NMSU offense to simply try to outscore opponents going forward.
“I know we’ve just got to keep playing aggressive on offense and keep scoring,” said Martin. “You know, no lead is safe when you’re giving up points like we’re giving up now. So, offensively, we’ve just got to find a way to not worry about what the scoreboard says but just get points.”
Attendance at Aggie Memorial was reported to be approximately 7,300 Saturday evening.
