LAWRENCE, KAN. - The NM State football team dropped its third game of the season 42-16 at Kansas' Memorial Stadium Saturday night. After the loss, the Aggies fall to 0-3 on the season while Kansas evens its record at 2-2. The Aggies totaled 275 yards of total offense in the game. Junior quarterback Matt Christian threw for 147 yards on 12-of-20 passing, while senior Seth Smith led the rushing attack with 52 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Senior Marcus Allen led the Aggie receivers with 89 yards and a touchdown on four receptions. Defensively, junior Donyae Coleman led the team with 16 tackles.
Junior kickoff return specialist Taveon Rogers broke the single-game record with 219 yards on six returns in the game, also tying a school record for attempts. Rogers posted three returns of 40 yards or more in the game.
The Jayhawks were led by quarterback Jordan Webb who threw for 249 yards and a touchdown, completing 17-of-27 pass attempts. James Sims rushed for a game-high 115 yards on 16 carries, while Daymond Patterson made six grabs for 40 yards. The Jayhawks had three defenders with eight tackles apiece in the game.
The Jayhawks opened the second half with a quick score on a five-play, 62-yard drive, capped off by a 1-yard plunge by Sims. As a result, Kansas pushed the advantage to 28-7 with 13:09 left in the third quarter.
KU ran down much of the clock in the third quarter with a 17-play, 99-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Webb to tight end Tim Biere to increase the score to 35-7 with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.
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| Aggie Head Coach DeWayne Walker |
NM State struck back with a score to open the fourth quarter to cut into the KU lead. The Aggies marched down the field in six plays, covering 74 yards, capped off by a 25-yard touchdown pass from Christian to Allen. The scoring drive lasted 3:31; the point after attempt failed, making the score 35-13 Jayhawks.
Later in the fourth quarter KU scored another rushing touchdown by Sims on an 11-yard scamper to the left pylon. The Jayhawks' drive went 71 yards in 11 plays to make the score 42-13 with 10:01 remaining in the game.
Later in the fourth, NM State added three more points to its total after a 30-yard field goal by Tyler Stampler to yield the final score with 8:33 to go in the game.
The Aggies' kickoff return specialist Rogers returned the opening kickoff 54 yards to set up the NM State offense in Kansas territory. However, the Jayhawk defense held the Aggie offense to a three-and-out series, forcing a punt.
On the next drive, the Kansas offense invaded the NM State redzone and lined up for a field goal attempt from the Aggie 14-yard line with 8:13 remaining in the opening quarter. However, the Jayhawks attempted a fake field goal and quarterback Webb's pass sailed long out of the back of the endzone.
After entering Jayhawk territory on its second drive, NM State's offense stalled but a Tanner Rust punt pinned the Jayhawks inside their 20 at the 12-yard line. But the Jayhawks used two big offensive plays to post a quick store covering 88 yards in 49 seconds. KU capped off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run by D.J. Beshears to give the home team a 7-0 lead with just under a minute in the first quarter.
NM State started its next drive at the KU 44-yard line after another 50-plus kickoff return by Rogers. The junior receiver topped totaled 105 yards in kickoff returns after a 51-yard gain. A 13-yard rush by Allen and a short gain by Smith set up the Aggies at the Jayhawk 31-yard line as time ran out in the first quarter.
Two plays later, Smith punched it into the endzone from one yard out to score his third career touchdown. The Aggie scoring drive covered 44 yards in five plays and took 1:55 off of the clock to knot the score at 7-7.
On the ensuing kickoff, Beshears outran the coverage for the eighth-longest kickoff return in KU history with a 96-yard kickoff return for a quick score. After the touchdown, KU led 14-7 with 13:42 remaining in the half.
KU extended its lead after Beshears scored his third touchdown of the game on a 7-yard scamper up the middle. The Jayhawk scoring drive spanned 53 yards in eight plays and shaved 2:42 off the clock. With 9:29 left in the half Kansas led 21-7.
The Aggies racked up 120 yards of total offense in the first half. Christian threw for just 19 yards on 5-of-9 passing. Smith led the rushing attack with 49 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown while wide receiver Allen tallied 45 yards on four attempts. Kyle Nelson led the Aggie receivers with three catches for 10 yards. Defensively, George Callender led with six tackles.
The Jayhawks were led by quarterback Webb who threw for 118 yards. Beshears rushed for 33 yards on six carries but scored two touchdowns on the ground and one on a 96-yard kickoff return. Johnathan Wilson totaled 49 yards on two receptions while Daymond Patterson led with four catches to total 23 yards. Justin Springer led the KU defense with seven tackles at the half.
The Aggies return home to host No. 3 Boise State on Sat. Oct. 2 with kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. (MT) inside Aggie Memorial Stadium.
NMSU Football Falls To Kansas 42-16
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