New Mexico State takes down New Mexico behind Pavia in 27-17 win

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico State quarterback Diego Pavia threw for 203 yards and two touchdowns, and he added another 96 yards on the ground to spark the Aggies to a 27-17 win over rival New Mexico on Saturday.

New Mexico State (3-1) held a 20-10 lead until Andrew Erickson caught a touchdown pass for the Lobos (1-2). But the Aggies immediately responded with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Pavia to Jonathan Brady to restore a 10-point advantage at 27-17.

This is the second straight win in the series for New Mexico State, who got 54 rushing yards and touchdown from Star Thomas.

Dylan Hopkins threw for 247 yards and a score for New Mexico and Jacory Croskey-Merritt had 83 rushing yards with a score.

THE TAKEAWAY

A brawl at least year’s game in Las Cruces, New Mexico, months later led to a campus shooting by an Aggies basketball player that killed a New Mexico student in the early morning hours of the schools’ first of two basketball games.

Both games were ultimately cancelled and relations between the school remained strained for many months before both agreed to resume play amid increased security on both campuses.

UP NEXT

New Mexico State: The Aggies travel to Hawai’i on Sept. 23 for a non-conference meeting.

New Mexico: Travels to UMass Sept. 23 for the teams’ first-ever meeting. The two were supposed to play in Albuquerque in 2020, but UNM played an abbreviated, conference schedule that season due to the pandemic.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll