Who: NM State (3-4, 2-1 CUSA) vs. Jax State (5-2, 3-0 CUSA)

Where: Las Cruces, N.M. – Aggie Memorial Stadium (28,853)

When: Wednesday, October 28, 2026 – 6 p.m. MT



HOW TO FOLLOW

Watch: ESPN2

Play-by-Play: Clay Matvick

Analyst: Rocky Boiman

Looking forward to a good game.
Y'all join in on ESPN2

This game worries me. NMSU is strong enough to be dangerous, and Jax State has been spotty on the road this season.

I'd like to see a 90-0 blowout win for the Gamecocks to set my mind at ease.

But I think it might come down to another game winning field goal by the Grim Rippa.

(10-28-2026 11:24 AM)whupemall Wrote:  This game worries me. NMSU is strong enough to be dangerous, and Jax State has been spotty on the road this season.

I'd like to see a 90-0 blowout win for the Gamecocks to set my mind at ease.

But I think it might come down to another game winning field goal by the Grim Rippa.

I'm with Whup on this. The long trip has me worried.

Well we found out yesterday both our leading receiver and tight end are out for the season. Good thing is we usually spread the ball around pretty well so hopefully it doesn’t hurt as much. But losing two good players is definitely a bummer.

I hope to see a heavy dose of our running game to try and keep Jax St’s offense off the field. If we can take care of the ball, I think we have a shot at an upset.

Jax State takes the kick and runs a few plays and throws a deep interception.

NMSU drives down and misses a 31 yard field goal.

Jax State puts together a seven minute drive for a touchdown. Leads 7-0 early second quarter.

Jax State goes for it on fourth down deep in NMSU territory and doesn’t make it.

Close game but we’ve been so anemic on offense since that first drive.

Jax State up 7-0 at the half.

Ripa nails a 49 yard FG. Gamecocks lead 10-0.

Teams swap interceptions and then Creel breaks a long run to set up a short touchdown run. Gamecocks lead 17-0 late 3rd quarter.

NMSU misses another FG.

17-0 with under 12:00 left.

Jax State gets another TD and gets flagged afterwards for playing leapfrog in the end zone.

Final Score: JSU wins 24-0.

It was the Gamecocks' most complete game of the season, but we still had issues offensively. Scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity, and we only came away with 7 points in the first half. That's ... not ideal.

That said, Caden Creel ran like a man possessed, setting a JSU record for rushing yardage by a QB (211 yards), and we scored a little more effectively in the 2nd half.

The Gamecock defense was spectacular, holding Adam Damante to 25 yards (?!) passing. James Jones had an effective night for the Aggies, finishing with 112 yards, but no NMSU player managed to find the end zone, and two missed FGs preserved the Gamecock shutout.

Significantly for anyone who's watched the Gamecocks this season, we didn't completely unravel in the final 2 minutes of the first half. That's happened literally every other game this season, and cost us the W against Ohio.

The Gamecocks and Flames are now bowl bound and, barring a collapse by either team, appear headed for a showdown in the CUSA championship game. (But let's not get ahead of ourselves. CUSA's been wild this season.)

Jax State never even broke a sweat this game because apparently NMSU was incapable of passing the ball.

I like Caden Creel

Passed thru Fairhope a long time ago on way to Gulf Shores so ya never know

(10-29-2026 11:17 AM)Turtle Power 98 Wrote:  Jax State never even broke a sweat this game because apparently NMSU was incapable of passing the ball.

Not sure WRs were the problem unless these two are real slow. QB throws were short a lot and 11 seemed to have seen all he wanted of his shoe strings.