NMSU falls to Western Kentucky 41-28
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- NM State’s (2-7, 1-5 CUSA) offense put together one of its best rushing performances of the season on Saturday night at Aggie Memorial Stadium, however, Western Kentucky forced five turnovers to emerge with a 41-28 win.
Despite entering the halftime locker room trailing 24-7, the Aggies fought back to cut the lead to just three points with over five minutes remaining in the third quarter. However, turnovers proved costly as the Hilltopper offense was able to score 17 second-half points to defeat the Crimson and White by 13 points.
Individually, Mike Washington tallied 158 rushing yards while Seth McGowan recorded 119 yards on the ground to mark the first time since Larry Rose III (170) and Conner Cramer (110) accomplished this feat against South Alabama on December 3, 2016. In total, the Aggies’ rushing night was the best for the program since a 357-yard showing against Hawaii in 2022.
FIRST QUARTER
After winning the coin toss and electing to receive, Western Kentucky used a 54-yard touchdown pass to cap off a four-play 70-yard drive that spanned just 1:49 to allow the Hilltoppers to claim an early 7-0 lead. NM State’s first possession was short-lived as Santino Marucci’s pass deflected off the hands of Jerry Lydiatt and into the hands of a WKU defender on the very first play of the drive.
Western Kentucky took full advantage of the turnover as Caden Veltkamp punched in their second touchdown of the day to go ahead by 14 points just five minutes into the contest.
In need of a response, NM State did exactly that as the Aggies used 13 plays to drive the ball 70 yards down the field where Mike Washington punched in a one-yard rushing touchdown to pull back within one score.
Scoring plays: WKU - E. Messer 54-yard touchdown reception (Kick by L. Carneiro); WKU - C. Veltkamp 1-yard rushing touchdown (Kick by L. Carneiro); NMSU - M. Washington (Kick by A. Montaño)
End Q1: Western Kentucky 14, NM State 7
SECOND QUARTER
Western Kentucky built on its lead on the first play of the second quarter as Veltkamp found a streaking receiver for his second passing touchdown of more than 50 yards - putting the Hilltoppers ahead 21-7 with 14:52 remaining in the quarter.
Before NM State could generate any real movement, Western Kentucky forced its second interception of the first half when Anthony Johnson Jr. came away with a pass intended for Donovan Faupel. This set the Hilltoppers up at the Aggie 43-yard line.
Following a 3-and-out from Western Kentucky, the Aggies moved the ball into plus territory, however, the drive would end in a missed field goal from 54 yards out.
The Aggies still found themselves with a chance to score just two plays later as Da’Marcus Crosby came away with the Aggies’ first turnover since Saturday, Sept. 21, when he intercepted a deep pass along the visiting sideline to bring the Aggie offense back on the field. From there, the Aggies produced a promising 12-play drive that ultimately ended with a fumble in the red zone due to miscommunication at on a read handoff.
This would eventually lead to the Hilltoppers scoring on the very last play of the quarter after also scoring on the first play of the second period. This time, WKU tacked on three points via a 51-yard field goal from Lucas Carneiro to hand them a 24-7 lead entering the break.
Scoring plays: WKU - K. Johnson 51-yard receiving touchdown (Kick by L. Carneiro); WKU - L. Carneiro 42-yard field goal
End Q2: Western Kentucky 24, NM State 7
THIRD QUARTER
After a sputtering drive, NM State’s Dakerric Hobbs came up with a potentially game-changing interception on the first play of the ensuing WKU drive as he dove in front of a Hilltopper receiver to give the Aggies the ball at the plus 36-yard line.
As they did all game, the Aggies leaned on their rushing attack as Seth McGowan, Mike Washington and Brandon Nuñez combined for 36 rushing yards to get into the south end zone. This included Washington’s second rushing touchdown of the night when he punched it in from three yards out.
This new-found energy turned into momentum for the Aggies as the NM State defense forced a 3-and-out from the WKU offense on its ensuing possession. Moments later, the Aggies found themselves as the WKU 7-yard line thanks in large part to a 47-yard rush from Washington and a 34-yard reception from McGowan. Following his reception to set the Aggies up inside the 10, McGowan bulldozed his way through the WKU defensive line and into the end zone to help bring the Aggies within three points despite staring at a 17-point deficit less than 10 minutes prior to the score.
Unfortunately, WKU came up with the drive it needed to put a halt to the Aggie momentum as they drove 75 yards in nine plays to push the lead back to 10 points via a rushing touchdown from their quarterback.
Scoring plays: FIU - A. Prado 24-yard field goal; FIU - E. Rivers 51-yard receiving touchdown (A. Prado kick); FIU A. Prado 38-yard field goal
End Q3: NMSU - M. Washington 3-yard rushing touchdown (Kick by A. Montaño); NMSU - S. McGowan 7-yard rushing touchdown (Kick by A. Montaño); WKU - C. Veltkamp 3-yard rushing touchdown (Kick by L. Carneiro)
FOURTH QUARTER
Following a 3-and-out to end the third quarter, NM State’s first possession of the fourth quarter ended with a fumble which the Hilltoppers up near midfield. WKU would then add to their points-off-turnovers total as they scored on a 28-yard passing play to K.D. Hutchinson. Later, WKU would add a 53-yard field goal while NM State would add a touchdown in the form of a passing touchdown to Donovan Faupel. However, neither score would affect the outcome of game as Western Kentucky came away with its fifth Conference USA win of the season.
Scoring plays: WKU - K. Hutchinson 28-yard receiving touchdown (Kick from L. Carneiro); WKU - L. Carneiro 53-yard field goal; NMSU - D. Faupel 29-yard receiving touchdown (Kick from A. Montaño)
Final: Western Kentucky 41, NM State 28
UP NEXT
Following the Homecoming bout, the Aggies will travel to College Station, Texas, to take on No. 14 Texas A&M at Kyle Field. NM State will kickoff against the Aggies at 5:30 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed on the SEC Network for those unable to attend.
For complete coverage of the NM State football program, visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Football), Twitter (@NMStateFootball) and Instagram (@NMStateFB).
Noteworthy
NM State became just the second team this season to score more than 21 points against Western Kentucky’s defense - joining Alabama who defeated the Hilltoppers 63-0 in the season opener.
NM State drops to 1-1 all-time against WKU and 0-1 at home against the Hilltoppers as Saturday marked the first trip to Las Cruces for the visiting Hilltoppers.
The Aggies are now 2-3 in home games this season.
NM State tallied a season-best 331 rushing yards on 55 carries. The bulk of the carries came from the duo of Mike Washington and Seth McGowan who combined 271 rushing yards.
Washington’s 158-yard rushing performance marks the first time an Aggie back rushed for more than 150 rushing yards since Juwaun Price recorded 156 rushing yards against UMass on Nov. 27, 2021. This total also eclipses a career mark for the transfer from Buffalo whose previous best was 155 yards against Bowling Green during his time with the Bulls.
Washington’s two touchdowns marks the fourth time that an Aggie rusher has reached the end zone twice in the same game - matching his own performance against New Mexico, Brandon Nuñez’s outing against LA Tech and Seth McGowan’s showing against SEMO.
NM State turned the ball over a total of five times which marks the most since the season opener in 2022 against Nevada when the Aggies threw four interceptions and lost a fumble.
On the contrary, NM State came away with two turnovers tonight which marked the first turnover since the fourth game of the season against Sam Houston when they also came away with two turnovers. Tonight’s turnovers came from Sam Houston transfers Da’Marcus Crosby and Dakerric Hobbs who each came up with interceptions.
NM State drew just one penalty for 10 yards to mark the lowest in each category this season. In total, the Aggies and Hilltoppers combined for just two penalties on Saturday evening.
The Aggie offense produced its third-highest scoring mark of the season and in doing so, they punted the ball away only three times to mark the fewest punts in a game for George Eberle this year.
For the second time this year, the Aggie offensive line allowed zero sacks - matching their performance in their most recent home game when they kept the quarterbacks off the ground against LA Tech.
Mike - 19 for 152 (season highs) and two TDs (ties season high - Nunez LA Tech, himself UNM and Mcgowan SEMO
On the Aggies’ final drive of the game, Santino Marucci found sophomore Donovan Faupel for the first touchdown of his collegiate career.
