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With just over nine minutes in the fourth quarter, TJ Pride drifted back. The punt was a bit longer than he thought.
Evidently, New Mexico State's sophomore wide receiver didn't go back far enough. He had to turn around to try and catch a Liberty punt, but muffed it before the Flames scooped it up at the 14-yard line.
It was the latest in a string of special teams errors for the Aggies, as they allowed a 96-yard kickoff return touchdown and had another muffed punt off wide receiver TK King's shin in the first half. But NM State overcame those errors, rallying from a 20-6 halftime deficit to hold a 27-20 lead.
There were no longer going to be moments like that, though. What could've been a small scare in a victory for the Aggies (3-3, 1-2 Conference USA) turned out to be cruel foreshadowing in an eventual 30-27 defeat to the Flames (3-4, 2-1) on Tuesday, Oct. 14, in Lynchburg, VA.
"This is a tough one," declared NM State coach Tony Sanchez. "I mean, my goodness, the amount of opportunities we gave Liberty tonight was egregious."
TAKEAWAYS FROM THE GAME: New Mexico State blows lead after 2nd-half comeback against Liberty
The loss wasn't Pride's fault alone. NM State just let that error snowball into many.
The Aggies' defense held the Flames to a field goal, and could've sealed the deal up 27-23 with a touchdown on their next drive. That's what quarterback Logan Fife wanted when he sailed a pass to King for what could've been a 39-yard touchdown, but he slightly underthrew him.
Sanchez pondered going for the ensuing fourth-and-five, but trusted his defense. It seemed like a good decision. After all, the Aggies had already forced three takeaways and had only given up 201 yards to Liberty. Max Dean's punt was fair caught at the Flames' eight-yard line, meaning quarterback Ethan Vasko had to overcome the passing defense NM State was keeping in check to go 92 yards in 1:55.
What happened next shocked the Aggies. Vasko completed seven passes for 66 yards before Flames running back Ethan Dickens rushed for the eventual game-winning eight-yard touchdown.
"I thought we played a little too soft," Sanchez said of NM State's passing defense on Liberty's final drive. "We needed to be a little bit more aggressive... Down there, they did a really good job of throwing the ball past the chains. I didn't think we were sticky enough with them. We gave them way too much room."
As if an infomercial salesman were selling heartbreak to Aggies fans, there was more. Liberty's unnecessary roughness penalty on its extra point put its kickoff at its own 20-yard line. That should've given NM State a shorter field, but King misplayed the ball and watched it go over his head before rolling into the end zone. The touchback left the Aggies with a normal 25-yard line start with 36 seconds left.
NM State then had to burn one of its precious two timeouts when the play clock neared zero seconds, and it dropped two passes after that. One was on a short pass over the middle to Donovan Faupel, and the other saw Liberty's Christian Bodnar rip the ball out of wide receiver Shawn Brown's hands.
MORE AGGIES SPORTS: What New Mexico State's teams had to say at the Conference USA Basketball Tipoff
But there was hope. Fife channeled his inner Dak Prescott by ripping a deep pass up the seam to a tight end, and Gavin Harris hauled in a 32-yard catch to the Flames' 30-yard line.
Ryan Hawk, who was 4-for-5 from field goals inside 40 and 49 yards heading into Tuesday, then trotted out for a game-tying 47-yard field goal. It was no good from the moment he kicked it. It went far to the left.
"Those things happened, but we did what we needed to do," Sanchez said. "We got ourselves a manageable field goal. We missed the field goal."
The Aggies have now let three road games get away. They lost by 35 to Louisiana Tech after facing a manageable 27-14 deficit in the fourth quarter. They lost by 18 to New Mexico after having multiple chances to extend a 17-3 lead in Lobos territory before halftime. Now, they've lost stunningly to the Flames and wiped away their brilliant comeback efforts to make the game close in the first place.
And it was because NM State couldn't stop getting out of its own way.
"At the end, we needed a first down or a stop," Sanchez frustratingly said. "After all the mistakes we made, all the egregious errors, the fumbled punts, the kick return, all those little things. At the end of the day, it came down to us getting a first down at the end of the game when we ended up punting it, and it came down to us getting a stop when they had the ball on the damn eight-yard line. That's what it really comes down to."
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: NMSU had momentum after rallying vs Liberty. How did it blow that?
Continue reading...
Evidently, New Mexico State's sophomore wide receiver didn't go back far enough. He had to turn around to try and catch a Liberty punt, but muffed it before the Flames scooped it up at the 14-yard line.
It was the latest in a string of special teams errors for the Aggies, as they allowed a 96-yard kickoff return touchdown and had another muffed punt off wide receiver TK King's shin in the first half. But NM State overcame those errors, rallying from a 20-6 halftime deficit to hold a 27-20 lead.
There were no longer going to be moments like that, though. What could've been a small scare in a victory for the Aggies (3-3, 1-2 Conference USA) turned out to be cruel foreshadowing in an eventual 30-27 defeat to the Flames (3-4, 2-1) on Tuesday, Oct. 14, in Lynchburg, VA.
"This is a tough one," declared NM State coach Tony Sanchez. "I mean, my goodness, the amount of opportunities we gave Liberty tonight was egregious."
TAKEAWAYS FROM THE GAME: New Mexico State blows lead after 2nd-half comeback against Liberty
The loss wasn't Pride's fault alone. NM State just let that error snowball into many.
The Aggies' defense held the Flames to a field goal, and could've sealed the deal up 27-23 with a touchdown on their next drive. That's what quarterback Logan Fife wanted when he sailed a pass to King for what could've been a 39-yard touchdown, but he slightly underthrew him.
Sanchez pondered going for the ensuing fourth-and-five, but trusted his defense. It seemed like a good decision. After all, the Aggies had already forced three takeaways and had only given up 201 yards to Liberty. Max Dean's punt was fair caught at the Flames' eight-yard line, meaning quarterback Ethan Vasko had to overcome the passing defense NM State was keeping in check to go 92 yards in 1:55.
What happened next shocked the Aggies. Vasko completed seven passes for 66 yards before Flames running back Ethan Dickens rushed for the eventual game-winning eight-yard touchdown.
"I thought we played a little too soft," Sanchez said of NM State's passing defense on Liberty's final drive. "We needed to be a little bit more aggressive... Down there, they did a really good job of throwing the ball past the chains. I didn't think we were sticky enough with them. We gave them way too much room."
.@EvanD1ckens takes it inLiberty regains the lead with seconds left in the final quarter
: @CBSSportsNet#NoLimitsOnUs | @LibertyFootballpic.twitter.com/Oj2eW5qJ3l
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) October 15, 2025
As if an infomercial salesman were selling heartbreak to Aggies fans, there was more. Liberty's unnecessary roughness penalty on its extra point put its kickoff at its own 20-yard line. That should've given NM State a shorter field, but King misplayed the ball and watched it go over his head before rolling into the end zone. The touchback left the Aggies with a normal 25-yard line start with 36 seconds left.
NM State then had to burn one of its precious two timeouts when the play clock neared zero seconds, and it dropped two passes after that. One was on a short pass over the middle to Donovan Faupel, and the other saw Liberty's Christian Bodnar rip the ball out of wide receiver Shawn Brown's hands.
MORE AGGIES SPORTS: What New Mexico State's teams had to say at the Conference USA Basketball Tipoff
But there was hope. Fife channeled his inner Dak Prescott by ripping a deep pass up the seam to a tight end, and Gavin Harris hauled in a 32-yard catch to the Flames' 30-yard line.
Ryan Hawk, who was 4-for-5 from field goals inside 40 and 49 yards heading into Tuesday, then trotted out for a game-tying 47-yard field goal. It was no good from the moment he kicked it. It went far to the left.
"Those things happened, but we did what we needed to do," Sanchez said. "We got ourselves a manageable field goal. We missed the field goal."
The Aggies have now let three road games get away. They lost by 35 to Louisiana Tech after facing a manageable 27-14 deficit in the fourth quarter. They lost by 18 to New Mexico after having multiple chances to extend a 17-3 lead in Lobos territory before halftime. Now, they've lost stunningly to the Flames and wiped away their brilliant comeback efforts to make the game close in the first place.
And it was because NM State couldn't stop getting out of its own way.
"At the end, we needed a first down or a stop," Sanchez frustratingly said. "After all the mistakes we made, all the egregious errors, the fumbled punts, the kick return, all those little things. At the end of the day, it came down to us getting a first down at the end of the game when we ended up punting it, and it came down to us getting a stop when they had the ball on the damn eight-yard line. That's what it really comes down to."
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: NMSU had momentum after rallying vs Liberty. How did it blow that?
Continue reading...
