2018 New Mexico State Aggies football team

The 2018 New Mexico State Aggies football team represented New Mexico State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies were led by sixth–year head coach Doug Martin and played their home games at Aggie Memorial Stadium. They competed as an independent. They finished the season 3–9.

2018 New Mexico State Aggies football
Conference	Independent
2018 record	3–9
Head coach	Doug Martin (6th season)
Associate head coach	Oliver Soukup (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Doug Martin (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Frank Spaziani (3rd season)
Home stadium	Aggie Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 30,343)

2018 NCAA Division I FBS independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 5 Notre Dame ^			–						12	–	1
No. 19 Army			–						11	–	2
BYU			–						7	–	6
Liberty			–						6	–	6
UMass			–						4	–	8
New Mexico State			–						3	–	9
Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Aggies finished the 2017 season 7–6, 4–4 in the final Sun Belt play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. The Aggies received a bowl bid for the first time in 57 years where they defeated Utah State in the Arizona Bowl.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Butkus Award[1]	Terrill Hanks	LB	JR
Paul Hornung Award[2]	Jason Huntley	RB/KR	JR
Wuerffel Trophy[3]	Jamin Smith	OL	SR
Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award[4]	Jason Huntley	RB	JR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 25	8:00 p.m.	Wyoming	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM	ESPN2	L 7–29	20,322
August 30	5:00 p.m.	at Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	L 10–48	41,291
September 8	6:00 p.m.	at Utah State	Maverik Stadium Logan, UT	Stadium	L 13–60	18,223
September 15	6:00 p.m.	New Mexico	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM (Rio Grande Rivalry)	ELVN	L 25–42	20,673
September 22	5:30 p.m.	at UTEP	Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, TX (Battle of I-10)	ESPN3	W 27–20	19,412
October 6	6:00 p.m.	Liberty	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM	Aggie Vision	W 49–41	8,337
October 13	3:00 p.m.	at Louisiana	Cajun Field Lafayette, LA	ESPN+	L 38–66	18,131
October 20	2:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM	Aggie Vision	L 31–48	7,300
October 27	5:00 p.m.	at Texas State	Bobcat Stadium San Marcos, TX	ESPN3	L 20–27	15,045
November 3	2:00 p.m.	Alcorn State	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM	Aggie Vision	W 52–42	11,897
November 17	8:15 p.m.	at BYU	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT	ESPN2	L 10–45	47,505
November 24	12:00 p.m.	at Liberty	Williams Stadium Lynchburg, VA	ESPN3	L 21–28	16,022
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

Game summaries

Wyoming

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	9	6	7	7	29
Aggies	0	0	0	7	7

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP WYO NMSU 1 6:34 9 60 4:37 WYO Nico Evans 24-yard touchdown run, Cooper Rothe kick good 7 0 1 6:16 WYO Jason Huntley rush for a loss of 2 yards, safety 9 0 2 11:49 13 49 6:27 WYO 36-yard field goal by Cooper Rothe 12 0 2 10:48 5 44 1:58 WYO 39-yard field goal by Cooper Rothe 15 0 3 7:13 1 56 0:12 WYO Nico Evans 56-yard touchdown run, Cooper Rothe kick good 22 0 4 10:07 12 71 7:00 WYO Jevon Bigelow 23-yard touchdown run, Cooper Rothe kick good 29 0 4 1:16 10 93 2:52 NMSU Drew Dan 31-yard touchdown reception from Matt Romero, Dylan Brown kick good 29 7 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 29 7

at Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	7	3	0	0	10
Golden Gophers	7	28	3	10	48

at Utah State

	1	2	3	4	Total
NMSU Aggies	7	3	3	0	13
USU Aggies	16	17	14	13	60

New Mexico

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lobos	7	14	7	14	42
Aggies	17	0	0	8	25

at UTEP

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	10	7	7	3	27
Miners	7	3	7	3	20

Liberty

	1	2	3	4	Total
Flames	7	7	14	13	41
Aggies	7	14	14	14	49

at Louisiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	14	7	10	7	38
Ragin' Cajuns	28	17	7	14	66

Georgia Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	10	14	21	3	48
Aggies	14	3	7	7	31

at Texas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	0	13	7	0	20
Bobcats	13	7	7	0	27

Alcorn State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Braves	7	7	7	21	42
Aggies	14	21	3	14	52

at BYU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	7	0	3	0	10
Cougars	7	24	7	7	45

at Liberty

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	14	0	0	7	21
Flames	17	11	0	0	28

References

1. "Butkus Award - 2018 Collegiate Watchlist". The Butkus Award. July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
2. "43 PLAYERS NAMED TO 2018 PAUL HORNUNG AWARD WATCH LIST". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
3. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
4. "2018 Nominations The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award" (PDF). August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.