NM State ready for rematch against Liberty in Conference USA football championship game

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KTSM) — New Mexico State (10-3, 7-1 CUSA) and No. 24 Liberty (12-0, 8-0 CUSA) will go head-to-head in the 19th annual Conference USA football championship game at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, VA on Friday.

Both programs are currently in its first year as members of Conference USA and they’ll make their maiden appearances in the conference title game on Friday.

Back in July, a panel of media members that cover CUSA forecasted a championship game between Western Kentucky and Liberty and had New Mexico State finishing the regular season in fifth place. Liberty playing in the CUSA title game doesn’t come as much of a surprise but what does come as a surprise when you look at the preseason poll is New Mexico State’s appearance in the big game. The doubt by the outside was used as motivation by a team that put together a 10-win season, a season that will go down as one of the best in NMSU football program history.

A sampling of Conference USA championship preview sound from New Mexico State's Jerry Kill, Star Thomas and Andre Seldon, as well #24 Liberty's Jamey Chadwell. Less than 48 hours until kickoff, as the Aggies look for their first conference title since 1978. pic.twitter.com/kMUnR0YpXA

— Colin Deaver November 30, 2023

“It’s a privilege to be playing in the conference championship game. It’s been a wild ride for us in our second year, but our kids have responded to what we’re doing and what we’re asking them to do,” NM State football head coach Jerry Kill said. “It’s been a year that I think we’ve worked, where we’ve kind of fought which is kind of or lunch pail, hard hat mentality.”

“This was one of our goals that we had on our board in the winter and in the spring,” NM State defensive back Andre Seldon said. “To be here just shows how much work we put in. There’s one more game. They beat us earlier in the year. We didn’t forget about that so at the of the day we are happy we are in the conference championship and all, but we want to win.”

This will be the third time in a span of 370 days that New Mexico State and Liberty meet on the football field. This time around the stakes are much higher than ever before, as the Conference USA championship is on the line. All three of the previous contests between NMSU and Liberty took place at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, VA. New Mexico State won the first meeting, 49-14, on Nov. 26, 2022. This year, the Aggies and Flames matchup on Sept. 9 was both programs’ first CUSA game of the season and Liberty handed New Mexico State a 33-17 loss.

Meanwhile, after a 2-3 start to the year, New Mexico State won its next eight games in regular season play to get them to a 10-3 overall record and a 7-1 league record. This is New Mexico State’s first double-digit win season since 1960 and second ever in program history. That Aggies squad from 1960 win 11-0 and that includes a bowl game victory over Utah State in the Sun Bowl. This year’s Aggies squad has the opportunity to eclipse the program record for wins in a season as they’ll play in the CUSA title game and in a bowl game later this year.

Going back to the NMSU and Liberty matchup, both teams are ready for round two. The Aggies feel a lot more confident about where they are at now as a team heading into Friday’s contest. They’ll be hoping to show that they are the better team when they head behind enemy lines to take on Liberty.

“I think they [Liberty] have improved since we played them and I think we’ve improved and probably improved a lot since we played them the last time,” Kill said. “We just got to go out there and do what we’ve been doing, but we can’t turn the ball over four times and expect to win the game.”

“I feel like our chemistry as a team is way better now,” NM State running back Star Thomas said. “We played them earlier in the year and I feel like as a team we were just getting the feel of everybody, trying to get how everybody plays, trying to just get everybody comfortable with their role, and now everybody is bought in. We are playing a lot better as a team.”

“It’ll be exciting. I think we play our best in the bigger environments,” NM State linebacker Keyshaun Elliott said. “The crowd really gets us up so we just can’t get too much distracted by it.”

Liberty is currently listed as 11-point favorites as of Thursday morning. Just because they are the favorites doesn’t mean they are expecting an easy game. Liberty is prepared to get New Mexico State’s best shot on Friday.

“Right now you’re just thinking about getting your team ready to try and play their best. We are going to need to play our best for a chance to win,” Liberty football head coach Jamey Chadwell said. “New Mexico State is arguably playing the best football of any team in the country and that’s power five, FBS, anywhere. They are playing with tremendous confidence, so we are going to have to play well.”

New Mexico State enters Friday’s game with the best defense in the conference. NMSU has held opponents to scoring an average of 19.7 points per game, the best in CUSA. The Aggies’ defense is also the 20th-ranked scoring defense in the country at the FBS level. Linebacker Keyshaun Elliott, defensive backs Andre Seldon and Myles Rowser, and defensive lineman Izaiah Reed will be players to watch out for on that side of the ball for the Aggies.

On offense, NMSU averages 28.2 points per game and 422.5 yards of total offense. Quarterback Diego Pavia has been a big driving force in the Aggies’ offensive success. Pavia leads the team in passing and rushing. He’s thrown for 2,727 yards, rushed for 941 yards, and has recorded 28 total touchdowns so far this season. The running back trio of Star Thomas, Monte Watkins, and Jamoni Jones are also threats on the ground to be reckoned with. Wide receivers Jonathan Brady, Trent Hudson, and Eli Stowers, who is the Aggies’ ultimate athlete, have been his go to targets.

While New Mexico State enters Friday’s matchup with the best defense in the conference, Liberty enters with the best offense in the conference. Liberty scores 40.08 points per game and leads the conference in scoring offense. The Flames rank No. 1 nationally in rushing offense (295.4 ypg). Running back Quinton Cooley leads the way with 1,251 yards, ranking No. 5 in program history and No. 11 in the nation this season. Quarterback Kaidon Salter is also a threat on offense. The sophomore quarterback has thrown for 2,431 yards, rushed for 241, and has 40 total touchdowns on the season.

Liberty’s defense has also performed well this season. The Flames lead the nation in passes intercepted with 20. The Flames picked off Diego Pavia twice during Liberty’s Sept. 9 victory over New Mexico State.

New Mexico State and Liberty face off on Friday, Dec. 1 for all the marbles in the Conference USA championship game. NMSU will aim to win its fourth ever conference championship and its first since 1978 when it won the Missouri Valley Conference.

Kickoff at Williams Stadium is set for 5:00 p.m. MT and the game will air on CBS Sports Network.

KTSM 9 Sports Director Colin Deaver will be in Lynchburg, VA and will have coverage all day Friday on KTSM so make sure to tune in.

UPDATE: Story on Punt Fake Ron will now air tomorrow night (Thursday) at 10 pm as the kickoff of our CUSA Championship coverage of New Mexico State on location from Lynchburg. The Kiwi is absolutely beloved by everyone associated with the Aggies.

— Colin Deaver November 30, 2023