The Aggies rolled in a new era at Aggie Memorial Stadium on Wednesday night as they hosted their first Conference USA game in program history when they welcomed FIU to the City of Crosses.

After a back-and-forth battle for three quarters, the Aggies (3-3, 1-1 CUSA) pulled away in the fourth quarter to emerge with their first CUSA win in front of a solid home crowd.

"Our crowd did a heck of a job of coming out and supporting us," Head Coach Jerry Kill mentioned. "Getting used to a Wednesday game is hard, but I say 'what better thing to do: You can come to the game, drink some beer and have some fun."

Offensively, quarterback Diego Pavia served as the catalyst – throwing for 256 yards and two touchdowns while completing a career-high 20 passes. Pavia also rushed for 46 yards and one touchdown. Monte Watkins ended the night as the Aggies' leader in all-purpose yards as he finished with 93 total yards on just six touches.

Defensively, Keyshaun Elliott paced the Aggies in tackles once again as he stacked nine tackles, including one sack. Elliott also broke up two passes against the Panthers. Additionally, the Aggies intercepted the opposing quarterback for the first time this season as both Andre Seldon and Torren Union turned over the FIU passer.

"I think we're getting closer," Kill said. "Defense, offense helped each other out and then our special teams were solid tonight. It's not exactly where I want to be – but we're learning."

FIRST HALF
With the FIU offense taking the field first, the NM State defense came out with a purpose – forcing a three-and-out on the Panthers' opening drive to give NM State the chance to strike first.

Diego Pavia and the Aggies took full advantage of the opportunity – using 11 plays to drive 76 yards in six minutes and 34 seconds to put points on the board. The play culminated as Chris Bellamy caught a rocket from Pavia after briefly bobbling the pass.

After the statement start by the Aggies, FIU immediately responded by rattling off a 75-yard drive in under three minutes to even the score.

With 55 seconds left on the clock, NM State made one of the biggest stops of the game as they stuffed a FIU quarterback keeper on a play that looked an awful lot like the controversial Eagles' quarterback sneak at the NFL level.

In the second quarter, Pavia threw his second touchdown pass of the game as he connected with Jordin Parker who took the lid off the defense to haul in his third touchdown catch of the season and put the Aggies ahead 14-7.

With under five minutes remaining in the half, FIU began a drive inside its own 20 and managed to march 81 yards in just one minute and 26 seconds to even the score at 14-14 heading into the break.

SECOND HALF
As it did in the first half, the NM State offense put points on the board with their first drive. Pavia drove the Aggies to the five-yard line before the Panther defense stiffened to force kicker Ethan Albertson to enter the game and tack on three points.

The see-saw scoring continued as FIU marched down and kicked a field goal of its own on its next drive to draw even with the Aggies once again.

NM State's ensuing drive got moving quick as Ahmonte Watkins rushed for 28 yards on the first play of the possession to immediately set the Aggies up in plus-territory. Two plays later, Pavia faked the handoff to Watkins and sprinted through a gaping hole before finding the end zone 43 yards later.

For the first time in the game, the Panthers' offense did not have a response as they punted the ball back to the Aggies just six plays later. Two plays into the Aggie drive, Watkins rushed the ball to the three-yard line before he stumbled. The very next play, Star Thomas pushed his way through the defense to put NM State up two scores.

In an attempt to respond, FIU moved the ball down to the Aggies' five-yard line when a pass from Keyone Jenkins got batted straight into the air by Keyshaun Elliott to allow Andre Seldon to set up camp underneath the ball to tally the Aggies' first interception of the season and almost completely diminish the Panthers' chance at returning home with a win.

After the NM State defense went more than 23 quarters without an interception, they collected picks on back-to-back possessions as Torren Union undercut a pass from Jenkins and give the Aggies the ball back.

The Aggies' defense continued its dominant fourth quarter as they forced a turnover on downs the next time that FIU touched the ball. NM State then added three more points with just over one minute on the clock to bring the final score to 34-17.