New Mexico State Beats Sam Houston 30-24 as James Jones Runs for 178

Less than three minutes in, it looked like the same old road trip for New Mexico State. A punt got blocked, Sam Houston fell on it in the end zone, and the Aggies, who had scored three points in their previous game against FIU, were chasing again.

They caught up. Then they leaned on James Jones until the clock ran out.

New Mexico State beat Sam Houston 30-24 on Wednesday night, Oct. 21, at Bowers Stadium in Huntsville, Texas. Jones ran 27 times for 178 yards and a touchdown, the Aggie defense held the Bearkats to 11 rushing yards and NMSU picked up its first road win of the season. The Aggies moved to 3-4 and 2-1 in Conference USA. Sam Houston fell to 1-6 and 0-3.

It was also the first time New Mexico State has ever won in Huntsville, and it pushed the Aggies to 3-1 all-time against the Bearkats. For a program that had gone 3-14 in away games since the end of the 2023 season, per The New Mexican, that is not a small thing.

A strange, sloppy first half

Sam Houston's opening score came from its special teams. Terrence Guillory II blocked Brody Richter's punt, and Railyn Adams recovered it in the end zone at 12:40 of the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.

After that, the Bearkat offense could not get out of its own way. Josiah Charles intercepted Landyn Locke in the second quarter and returned it all the way to the doorstep, and Jones punched it in from a yard out on the next play to tie it at 7 with 10:07 left in the half.

Then came the oddest sequence of the night. Adam Damante threw a screen toward AJ Williams III that was ruled a backward pass, the ball hit the ground and Sam Houston recovered at the NMSU 20. The Bearkats gained nothing on the next three plays, and Samuel Carpenter kicked a 38-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead at 6:32.

NMSU answered right before halftime. Damante hit Brodie Malone-Bradford for 16 yards and then found Williams for a 27-yard touchdown with 24 seconds left. The two-play, 43-yard drive put the Aggies up 14-10 at the break.

The halftime numbers were lopsided. NMSU had 162 total yards. Sam Houston had 13, with one first down and three three-and-outs.

The turning point: 16 straight in the third

Sam Houston did not waste time coming out of the locker room. On the first play of the second half, Locke threw a screen to Tim Burns Jr., who went 81 yards for a touchdown and a 17-14 lead with 14:40 left in the third.

That was the Bearkats' last real punch for a while. Dijon Stanley returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards, and Jones broke a 31-yard run that pushed him past 100 yards for the night. Damante finished the 60-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Williams at 10:35, and NMSU led 21-17.

Kyah Francone added a 25-yard field goal at 2:03. Then the Aggie defense made another play. Ishmel Atkins fumbled a pitch, and defensive tackle Kaian Roberts-Day recovered in Bearkat territory. NMSU went to the trick bag, with TJ Washington Jr. throwing a backward pass to Damante, who hit Williams for 20 yards. Washington then scored from 7 yards out with 33 seconds left in the quarter. The extra point failed, but the Aggies led 30-17.

A nervy finish

The Aggies made the fourth quarter harder than it needed to be. Damante threw an interception in NMSU territory, and Sam Houston turned the short field into points, although it took some help. The Bearkats had a touchdown catch wiped out by holding, were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and faced second-and-31 before a defensive pass interference call kept the drive alive. MJ Dowdy scored on a 1-yard run with 4:00 left, and it was 30-24.

NMSU never gave the ball back. The Aggies ran it on six straight plays, with Jones doing most of the work, and faced fourth-and-2 at the Sam Houston 33 with about 30 seconds left. Rather than punt or try a long field goal, they gave it to Jones again. He got the first down, and the Aggies ran out the clock.

James Jones, workhorse

Jones, the leading rusher in Conference USA, averaged 6.6 yards per carry. His 178 yards were the most by an NMSU rusher since Jason Huntley ran for 191 against UTEP in November 2019, according to Organ Mountain News, and he went past 2,000 career rushing yards along the way.

Damante was efficient enough, going 19-of-29 for 160 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Williams turned three catches into 52 yards and both of those scores. Washington added 40 rushing yards and a touchdown.

For Sam Houston, Locke went 18-of-31 for 235 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Burns caught four passes for 117 yards. The problem was that the Bearkats had nothing else. Take away the 81-yard screen and a running game that never got going, and the Sam Houston offense spent most of the night stuck in neutral.

The numbers that matter

The rushing totals are the whole story. NMSU ran for 203 yards. Sam Houston ran for 11 on 20 carries, the Aggies' best day against the run since they held Alcorn State to minus-13 yards in October 2008. NMSU is now 3-0 this season when it rushes for at least 200 yards.

The Aggies outgained the Bearkats 363-246, won the first-down battle 21-9 and held the ball for 34:34. They went 4-for-4 in the red zone. Gabe Peterson had a sack, and Sone Aupiu added seven tackles with two for loss.

Sam Houston also hurt itself badly with flags, committing 13 penalties for 118 yards. NMSU was called for six for 48. Each team turned it over twice, and NMSU's defense has now forced at least one turnover in 22 of its last 23 games.

The Bearkats came in allowing just 137.8 passing yards per game, fourth-best in the country. NMSU did not need to test that much. It ran the ball 42 times and threw it 29. Find the full numbers in NM State's official box score (opens in a new tab) and game recap (opens in a new tab).

What it means

For New Mexico State, this was a needed reset after the FIU game. At 2-1 in league play, the Aggies are back above .500 in Conference USA, and this was the third of four straight midweek games for them. They still need three more wins to reach bowl eligibility, and the next test was a big one, a home game against league co-leader Jacksonville State on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

For Sam Houston, the season keeps slipping. The Bearkats were in this game because of a blocked punt, two takeaways and an 81-yard screen, and that is not a formula that holds up over 60 minutes when the running game produces 11 yards. They were still looking for their first conference win heading into a trip to Missouri State on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

The last word

James Baca, who covers the Aggies in the Go Aggies newsletter, summed up the final snap about as well as anyone could.

"He got two yards. First down. Ball game."

It was not pretty, and it did not need to be. For a team that has struggled to win anywhere outside Las Cruces, a 30-24 grind in Huntsville counts the same as any other win.

Sources: NM State Athletics recap and box score, ESPN, The New Mexican, Organ Mountain News, the Albuquerque Journal, KBTX and the Go Aggies newsletter. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: NM State Athletics.