Story by
Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
Aggies looking for an island upset at Hawaii
- Story byAlbuquerque Journal, N.M.
- Aggies looking for an island upset at Hawaii
The NCAA's statistics page does not have a chart for mileage. If it did, you'd see the NM State Aggies right near the top.
Short of NM State and TCU — who kicked off the season in Ireland — no FBS program has covered more ground so far than the Aggies, who opened Aug. 29 in Tallahassee, Florida, and flew out this week to Hawaii for Saturday night's nonconference showdown with the Mountain West's Rainbow Warriors — a trendy preseason pick to maybe not win that conference, but certainly be among to the contenders.
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Now, just two weeks into the season for both programs, the Aggies are rising with confidence after a solid debut in defeat at Florida State followed by a blowout home win over outmanned FCS Mercyhurst last weekend.
The Rainbow Warriors, meanwhile, are 0-2 and need a win in the worst way — though haven't played poorly in either their Aug. 29 road loss at ACC Stanford or last week's home loss to UNLV.
What you need to know
WHO: NM State Aggies (1-1) at Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (0-2)
WHERE: Clarence T.C. Ching Complex (Honolulu, Hawaii)
WHEN: Saturday, 10 p.m. MT
HOW TO WATCH: MW+ (stream, subscription required)
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BETTING LINE: Hawaii by 7
HE SAID IT: "When you give yourself a chance to marinate, you taste a whole lot better." — NM State coach Tony Sanchez on the fast start to the season for safety Nick Session who has been in the program three years in an era of high roster turnover due to the transfer portal.
KEEP AN EYE ON (for NMSU): S Nick Session has an interception in each of the team's first two games (one of just seven FBS players with multiple interceptions already this season) and his pick-6 touchdown vs. Mercyhurst last week was his first collegiate score. He also leads the team in tackles (14).
KEEP AN EYE ON (for Hawaii): QB Michael Alejado, voted the preseason Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, has averaged 224 passing yards, completed just 52.2% of his passes, and thrown two TDs in two games so far for Hawaii — numbers you wouldn't expect for a Timmy Chang-coached team. He was held out of a practice earlier this week, but only to rest, his coach said, adding he'll be ready for the NM State game. Safe to say, Hawaii will look to get their star signal caller going this week.
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Three Notes
1.
QB Trey Hedden threw two TDs in each of his first two games, making him the first Aggie to throw multiple TDs in each of his first two games since 2014 (Tyler Rogers).
2.
The two teams have played 12 times through the years, with this being the fifth just since COVID. NMSU's lone win in the 12-game series was a 45-26 win in Las Cruces on Sept. 24, 2022. The following year, the Aggies lost by just a field goal — 20-17 — in Honolulu.
3.
This game is the first in a confusing, oft-altered scheduling agreement between Hawaii and NMSU. The two teams had four games scheduled in the 2024, 2026, 2027 and 2028 seasons. When NMSU joined Conference USA, the teams agreed to axe the 2024 and 2028 games. Now, the more traditional home-and-home series will wrap up next year with Hawaii scheduled to play in Las Cruces on Sept. 11, 2027. (Got all that?)
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Geoff Grammer is the Sports Editor of the Journal, a podcaster, columnist and covers UNM Lobos basketball, among other things. Reach him at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) @GeoffGrammer.
