Needing a win over New Mexico to keep their bowl game hopes alive, the Aggies battled the weather at home to secure a victory.

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First half

Utah State got on the board first in the game, scoring a touchdown in just under two minutes. Returning from injury, quarterback Cooper Legas found Terrell Vaughn for a 38-yard score and a 7-0 lead.

It seemed like the Aggies might coast to a win after the quick start, but that was not the case.

Utah State did not score for the remainder of the first half, while New Mexico tallied a field goal and a touchdown to take a 10-7 lead into the locker room.

Second half

Trailing at the half, the Aggies knew they needed to play better in the second half to keep their season alive.

On the first drive, Utah State drove 88 yards in 15 plays, scoring a touchdown when kicker Connor Coles found the endzone on a fourth-down fake field goal.

Coles then booted a 49-yard field goal at the 4:32 mark of the third quarter to make the score 17-10 in the home team’s favor.

After forcing punts on back-to-back New Mexico possessions, the Aggies made it a two-score game when Coles nailed a 27-yard field goal with just under eight minutes remaining to make the score 20-10.

With the Lobos trying to make it a one-score affair with the time running down, Utah State forced a first-down fumble that was recovered by Hunter Reynolds. Reynolds then turned on the jets, cruising 55 yards for the score and the 27-10 lead that sealed the win for the Aggies.

While the offense struggled to move the ball against New Mexico, Utah State’s defense held strong. The Aggies allowed only 10 points and 250 yards of total offense while also forcing a pair of turnovers.

Up next

Looking to even its record, Utah State (4-5) will now travel to Hawai’i on Saturday, Nov. 12.

The game will kick off at 9 p.m. MT and can be seen on Spectrum Sports.

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Spencer has always been passionate about sports, growing up playing and following various sports. He ran cross country in high school and began his journey in sports media in 2017 as a journalism intern at The Spectrum & Daily News. Since then, his work has been published in numerous outlets including Deseret News, Standard-Examiner, St. George News, Southern Utah Now, SUU's Thunderground, SB Nation's RSL Soapbox, FanSided's Venom Strikes, fan-insider.com, The Spurs Web, and Iron County Today. Spencer is the founder of Stadium Sportzz and both the Sportzz with Spencer and Mountain States Sports Report podcasts. His experience extends to public address announcing, having first served as the PA announcer for Southern Utah University soccer in 2017 and as a high school sports PA announcer. He is now entering his fourth year as a PA announcer at Utah Tech University, where he also occasionally takes on the role of in-game emcee. Spencer's versatility also extends to radio, where at The Fan Sports Network he produced high school and Utah Tech athletics broadcasts, hosted the weekly Region 9 Football Tailgate Show, and appeared daily on The Drive. Now working towards completing his Bachelor's degree in Media Studies, Spencer was recently named the Sports Director at Utah Tech University's 91.3 The Blaze for the 2024-25 year. He will host a weekly show and serve as a play-by-play broadcaster, continuing his dedication to sports journalism and broadcasting. When he isn’t talking, writing about, or watching sports, Spencer enjoys traveling and spending time with his amazing wife.