New Mexico

Early 2024 Preview: Liberty at New Mexico State

Published

1 year ago

July 14, 2024

Early 2024 Preview: Liberty at New Mexico State

We have begun our series of an early look ahead to the teams on Liberty’s 2024 schedule. We will give a quick preview of all 12 teams that stand in the Flames’ way of a second straight unbeaten season as second-year head coach Jamey Chadwell prepares his team to defend its 2023 CUSA title.

Today, we turn our attention to the first FBS and CUSA game of the 2024 campaign as Liberty heads west to take on New Mexico State in a 2023 CUSA championship game rematch.

New Mexico State

When: Saturday, Sep. 7 at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, New Mexico (10:15 p.m. ESPN2)
Last year’s record: 10-5, 7-1 CUSA (2nd), lost to Fresno State 37-10 in New Mexico Bowl
Coach: Tony Sanchez, first year at New Mexico State
2024 SP+ ranking: 100th
Series History: Liberty leads, 5-2

Last Meeting: Dec. 1, 2023: Liberty claimed its first ever FBS conference title, getting two fourth quarter touchdowns to secure a 49-35 win over NMSU in the 2023 CUSA Football Championship. The game was tied at 35 entering the final quarter, but that was before Liberty added two of its five rushing touchdowns in the final stanza to close out the win. Kaidon Salter accounted for 484 of Liberty’s total offensive yards. He rushed for 165 yards and a touchdown while completing 20 of 25 passes for 319 yards and 2 scores.

Program History:

National Championships: 0

Conference Championships: 4

Bowl Record: 4-1-1

Last Bowl Appearance: 2023 – New Mexico Bowl vs. Fresno State 37-10 loss

Jerry Kill did a remarkable job in his time in Las Cruces, but he has departed and so have several key contributors from last year’s 10-win squad beginning with QB Diego Pavia.

Question marks are rampant throughout the roster under first year head coach Tony Sanchez, who was on staff at NMSU under Kill and was previously head coach at UNLV.

In addition to the loss of Pavia at QB, the Aggies lose everyone from that position including Eli Stowers and Blaze Berlowitz. They added numerous transfers including Parker Awad from JUCO ball, who finished the spring atop the depth chart.

The Aggies’ new defensive coordinator is Joe Morris who comes over from Sam Houston, who had a very good defense in their first year at the FBS and in CUSA last year.

With both teams facing an FCS opponent in Week 1, we might not learn much about either team until they square off late night on ESPN2.

What’s at Stake?

Don’t let all the turnover at NMSU fool you, the Aggies have Sept. 7 circled on their calendar as they want some revenge from losing to the Flames in last year’s CUSA title game.
Meanwhile, the Flames will be facing arguably their toughest road contest in conference play in this one. We all know if Liberty wants to compete for the top G5 champion spot and the CFP, there is no margin for error.

Additionally, looking to repeat as CUSA champions would be difficult overcoming a loss in the first conference game of the season with more challenges looming.

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New Mexico

New Mexico deserves speedier game commission appointments

Published

6 hours ago

January 9, 2026

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New Mexico deserves speedier game commission appointments

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New Mexico

What bills have been filed for New Mexico’s 2026 legislative session?

Published

18 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

What bills have been filed for New Mexico’s 2026 legislative session?

The governor sets the agenda for the session, including for the budget, so here is what they are looking at so far.

SANTA FE, N.M. — As the regular session of the New Mexico Legislature is set to begin Jan. 20, lawmakers have already filed dozens of bills.

Bills include prohibiting book bans at public libraries and protections against AI, specifically the distribution of sensitive and “Deepfake” images

Juvenile justice reform is, again, a hot topic. House Bill 25 would allow access to someone’s juvenile records during a background check if they’re trying to buy a gun.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sets the agenda and puts forth the proposed budget lawmakers will address during the session. The governor is calling for lawmakers to take up an $11.3 billion budget for the 2027 fiscal year, which is up 4.6% from current spending levels.

Where would that money go? More than $600 million would go to universal free child care. Meanwhile, more than $200 million would go to health care and to protect against federal funding cuts.

There is also $65 million for statewide affordable housing initiatives and $19 million for public safety.

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New Mexico

Understanding New Mexico’s data center boom | Opinion

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Understanding New Mexico’s data center boom | Opinion

Paul Gessing, Rio Grande Foundation
| Las Cruces Sun-News

After years of failure to land a “big fish” business for New Mexico’s economy (or effectively use the oil and gas revenues to grow the economy) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham with the help of her Economic Development Secretary Rob Black have lured no fewer than three large data centers to New Mexico. These data centers are being built to serve the booming world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and they will have profound impacts on New Mexico.

It is our view that having these data centers locate in New Mexico is better than having them locate elsewhere. While we have many differences of opinion with this governor, we are pleased to see her get serious about growing and diversifying New Mexico’s oil-dependent economy albeit quite late in her second term.

Sadly, the governor and legislature have chosen not to use broad based economic reforms like deregulation or tax cuts to improve New Mexico’s competitiveness. But, with the failure of her “preferred” economic development “wins” like Maxeon and Ebon solar both of which the governor announced a few years ago, but haven’t panned out, the focus on a more realistic strategy is welcome and long overdue.

Currently, three new data centers are slated to be built in New Mexico:

Oracle’s Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa with an investment of $165 billion.
Project Zenith slated to be built in Roswell amounts to a $11.7 billion investment.
New Era Energy & Digital, Inc. While the overall investment is unclear, the energy requirement is the largest of the three at 7 gigawatts (that’s seven times the power used by the City of San Francisco).

What is a data center? Basically, they are the real-world computing infrastructure that makes up the Internet. The rise of AI requires vast new computing power. It is critical that these facilities have uninterrupted electricity.

That electricity is going to be largely generated by traditional sources like natural gas and possibly nuclear. That contravenes New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act of 2019 which was adopted by this Gov. and many of the legislators still in office. Under the Act electrical power emissions are supposed to be eliminated in a few years.

With the amount of money being invested in these facilities and the simple fact that wind and solar and other “renewable” energy sources aren’t going to get the job done. In 2025 the Legislature passed and MLG signed HB 93 which allows for the creation of “microgrids” that won’t tax the grid and make our electricity more expensive, but the ETA will have to be amended or ignored to provide enough electricity for these data centers. There’s no other option.

New Mexicans have every right to wonder why powerful friends of the governor can set up their own natural gas microgrids while the rest of us face rising costs and decreased reliability from so-called “renewables.” Don’t get me wrong, having these data centers come to New Mexico is an economic boon.

But it comes tempered with massive subsidies including a 30-year property tax exemption and up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds. New Mexico is ideally suited as a destination for these data centers with its favorable climate and lack of natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. We shouldn’t be giving away such massive subsidies.

Welcoming the data center boom to New Mexico better than rejecting them and pushing them to locate in other states. There is no way to avoid CO2 emissions whether they happen here or somewhere else. But, there are questions about both the electricity demand and subsidies that must be addressed as New Mexico’s data center boom begins.

What will the Legislature, radical environmental groups, and future governors of our state do to hinder (or help) bring these data centers to our State? That is an open question that depends heavily on upcoming statewide elections. It is important that New Mexicans understand and appreciate these complicated issues.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility

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