# 2016 New Mexico State Aggies football team

The 2016 New Mexico State Aggies football team represented New Mexico State University as a member of the Sun Belt Conference during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Doug Martin, the Aggies compiled an overall record of 3–9 with a mark of 2–6 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for eighth in the Sun Belt. New Mexico State played home games at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Tyler Rogers was the team's starting quarterback.

## Preseason

New Mexico State had a coaching shake up prior to the season, when Martin hired defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani, whom Martin served as offensive coordinator for at Boston College in 2012. Spaziani replaced Zane Vance who served as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2015. Vance was retained and promoted to Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Ends coach and Special Teams Coordinator.

## Recruiting
### Position key

| Back | B | Center | C | Cornerback | CB | Defensive back | DB |
| Defensive end | DE | Defensive lineman | DL | Defensive tackle | DT | End | E |
| Fullback | FB | Guard | G | Halfback | HB | Kicker | K |
| Kickoff returner | KR | Offensive tackle | OT | Offensive lineman | OL | Linebacker | LB |
| Long snapper | LS | Punter | P | Punt returner | PR | Quarterback | QB |
| Running back | RB | Safety | S | Tight end | TE | Wide receiver | WR |

### Recruits

New Mexico State's recruiting class consisted of 23 recruits. New Mexico State's recruiting class was ranked 114th by Scout, 129th by 247Sports.com, not rated by Rivals and not rated by ESPN.
US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | 40$^‡$ | Commit date |
| Josh Aganon WR | Scottsdale, Arizona | Mesa Community College | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | -- | Dec 16, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A |||||||
| Darius Anderson DT | Fresno, Texas | Hightower H.S. | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 301 lb (137 kg) | -- | Feb 3, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A |||||||
| Drew Dan WR | Muskogee, Oklahoma | Checotah H.S. | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | -- | Feb 3, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A |||||||
| Jefferson Hagen OL | Moorpark, California | Moorpark College | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 290 lb (130 kg) | -- | Apr 6, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A |||||||
| Bobby Hill DT | Long Beach, California | Orange Coast College | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 285 lb (129 kg) | -- | Feb 3, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A |||||||
| Jason Huntley RB | Arlington, Texas | Martin H.S. | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | -- | Feb 3, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A |||||||
| Cameron Matthews QB | Fort Worth, Texas | Trinity Valley School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | -- | Feb 3, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 114 Rivals: NR 247Sports: 129 ESPN: NR |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 2, 2016. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 2, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule

New Mexico State Aggies announced its 2016 football schedule on March 3, 2016. The 2016 schedule consists of 5 home and 7 away games in the regular season. The Aggies will host Sun Belt foes Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Louisiana–Lafayette, and Texas State, and will travel to Arkansas State, Idaho, South Alabama, and Troy. New Mexico State will skip out on two Sun Belt teams this season, Georgia State and Louisiana–Monroe.
The team will play four non–conference games, one home game against New Mexico from the Mountain West Conference, and will travel to three road games against UTEP from Conference USA (C–USA), and Kentucky and Texas A&M both from the Southeastern Conference (SEC).
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 6:00 pm | at UTEP* | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX (Battle of I-10) | beIN | L 22–38 | 30,119 |
| September 10 | 6:00 pm | New Mexico* | Aggie Memorial StadiumLas Cruces, NM (Rio Grande Rivalry) | AV, ESPN3 | W 32–31 | 17,852 |
| September 17 | 2:00 pm | at Kentucky* | Commonwealth StadiumLexington, KY | SECN | L 42–62 | 49,669 |
| September 24 | 4:00 pm | at Troy | Veterans Memorial StadiumTroy, AL | ESPN3 | L 6–52 | 21,146 |
| October 1 | 6:00 pm | Louisiana–Lafayette | Aggie Memorial StadiumLas Cruces, NM | ESPN3 | W 37–31 $^{2OT}$ | 8,142 |
| October 15 | 3:00 pm | at Idaho | Kibbie DomeMoscow, ID | ALT2, ESPN3 | L 23–55 | 10,278 |
| October 22 | 6:00 pm | Georgia Southern | Aggie Memorial StadiumLas Cruces, NM | AV, ESPN3 | L 19–22 | 10,085 |
| October 29 | 5:30 pm | at No. 9 Texas A&M* | Kyle FieldCollege Station, TX | ESPNU | L 10–52 | 99,960 |
| November 12 | 1:00 pm | at Arkansas State | Centennial Bank StadiumJonesboro, AR | ESPN3 | L 22–41 | 20,178 |
| November 19 | 2:00 pm | Texas State | Aggie Memorial StadiumLas Cruces, NM | AV, ESPN3 | W 50–10 | 6,280 |
| November 26 | 2:00 pm | Appalachian State | Aggie Memorial StadiumLas Cruces, NM | AV, ESPN3 | L 7–37 | 5,366 |
| December 3 | 11:00 am | at South Alabama | Ladd–Peebles StadiumMobile, AL | ESPN3 | L 28–35 | 14,812 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time |||||||

## Game summaries
### At UTEP

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 3 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 22 |
| Miners | 7 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 38 |

### New Mexico

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lobos | 14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| Aggies | 3 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 32 |

### At Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 21 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 42 |
| Wildcats | 14 | 21 | 14 | 13 | 62 |

### At Troy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Trojans | 7 | 24 | 14 | 7 | 52 |

### Louisiana–Lafayette

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | Total |
| Ragin' Cajuns | 7 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 31 |
| Aggies | 7 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 37 |

### At Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 13 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 23 |
| Vandals | 7 | 20 | 21 | 7 | 55 |

### Georgia Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 22 |
| Aggies | 0 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 19 |

### At Texas A&M

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| NMSU Aggies | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| #9 TXAM Aggies | 14 | 10 | 21 | 7 | 52 |

### At Arkansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 3 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 22 |
| Red Wolves | 13 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 41 |

### Texas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bobcats | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Aggies | 28 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 50 |

### Appalachian State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mountaineers | 17 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 37 |
| Aggies | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### At South Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| Jaguars | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 | 35 |