It's been over 20 years since the NM State football program won four consecutive games. That drought is now officially over as the Aggies clawed their way to a come-from-behind 27-24 victory over Louisiana Tech. on Tuesday night at Joe Aillet Stadium.

After trailing 16-3 in the second quarter, the Aggies scored 21 straight points to regain the lead and eventually put themselves in a position to earn a monumental road win.

Offensively, the Crimson and White were led by its rushing attack which ended the game with 232 total yards, including a game-high 88 yards from Louisiana native Star Thomas. Quarterback Diego Pavia also contributed in a big way – rushing for 67 yards and accounting for two of the Aggies' three touchdowns.

Myles "Ghost" Rowser finished the game as NM State's leading tackler with nine tackles while also coming up with a pass breakup on the Bulldogs' final possession of the game. Linebackers Keyshaun Elliott, Buddha Peleti and Sone Aupiu lifted the Aggies defense with a combined 3.5 sacks, including Aupiu's sack fumble in the fourth quarter.

With the win, the Aggies are technically bowl eligible, however, they would need some help from programs around the nation as NM State's 13-game schedule requires them to reach seven wins before being guaranteed a spot in one of the 43 bowl games to be played this year.

FIRST QUARTER
After forcing a punt on the first drive, the Aggie defense found itself in the shadow of its own end zone after just one play on the second Bulldog drive. From there, a costly 15-yard penalty and a combo sack from Keyshaun Elliott and Sterling Webb forced the Bulldogs to kick a field goal to start the scoring for the game.

Meanwhile, NM State was forced to punt after just three plays on its only two drives of the first quarter. In total, the Aggies accumulated just 17 total yards in the first quarter.

Scoring plays: Jacob Barnes field goal (42 yards)… LT 3-0

End Q1: LA Tech – 3, NM State – 0

SECOND QUARTER
After moving the ball 71 yards during their final drive of the quarter, LA Tech began the second period just a half yard away from end zone. The Bulldogs would use the first snap of the quarter to allow Bachmeier to sneak into the endzone – putting LA Tech ahead 9-0. The Bulldogs' score would remain at nine as Gabe Peterson busted through the line to tally his second blocked kick of the year.

Finally, the Aggies' explosive offense got some forward movement as Diego Pavia found Jonathan Brady for a 26-yard completion on the first play of NM State's third possession. Later, a LA Tech facemask penalty helped the Aggies work into field goal range for Ethan Albertson who split the uprights from 47 yards out.

The ensuing LA Tech drive would result in points for the Bulldogs as Bachmeier captained a hurry-up offense which drove the ball down to the Aggie two-yard line. After a pair of goal line stops, Bachmeier use another quarterback sneak to score his and the Bulldogs' second touchdown of the night.

After tallying just eight rush yards to average just 1.1 yards per carry on its first three drives, Jamoni Jones broke away for a 24-yard rush on the first play of the Aggies' fourth possession to set NM State up at midfield. Later in the drive, Head Coach Jerry Kill elected to go for it on fourth down with just one yard needed for a first. On the fourth down, the Aggies used some creativity as Eli Stowers took the snap from under center and pushed his way across the line to gain.

Moments later, the Aggies utilized play action to create space for Pavia who planted his foot in the ground to elude a defender in the backfield before rushing 19 yards into the end zone.

Scoring Plays: Hank Bachmeier rush TD (1 yard)… LT 9-0; Ethan Albertson field goal (47 yards)… LT 9-3; Hank Bachmeier rush TD (1 yard)… LT 16-3; Diego Pavia rush TD (19 yards)… LT 16-10

End Q2: LA Tech – 16, NM State – 10

THIRD QUARTER
NM State's first drive of the second half was a tedious one as the Aggies used 15 plays to travel 75 yards and eat up eight minutes and 35 seconds of clock time. Ultimately, the drive was capped off with a touchown pass from Diego Pavia to Trent Hudson who went over the Bulldog defender to haul in the score.

The Aggies' momentum then transferred over to the defensive side of the ball as the next LA Tech possession ended with a fumble forced on the sack from Buddha Peleti which was then recovered by Gabe Peterson at the Bulldog seven-yard line. With a one-point lead in hand, the Aggies then used the exceptional starting field possession to extend their lead eight points as Jamoni Jones refused to be denied and pushed his way into the end zone on the second play of the drive.

In need of a response, the Bulldogs marched down the field to score a touchdown and pull within two points as Bachmeier found John Locke in the end zone. Bachmeier then found Smoke Harris in the corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 24 points apiece.

Scoring Plays: Trent Hudson receiving TD (8 yards)… NMSU 17-16; Jamoni Jones rush TD (1 yard)… NMSU 24-16; John Locke receiving TD (3 yards)… TIE 24-24

End Q3: LA Tech – 24, NM State – 24

FOURTH QUARTER
With the game in the balance, the two teams traded scoreless possessions before NM State put together its second possession of double-digit plays of the second half. A 10-play, 81-yard drive fueled by a pair of Louisiana-born running backs in Star Thomas and Ahmonte Watkins resulted in three points for the Aggies as Albertson knocked in his second field goal of the night to put NM State ahead with just 5:16 remaining on the clock.

From there, NM State needed stops and that's exactly what it got as Nate Dreiling's unit turned away the Bulldogs on their final two possessions of the game. On LA Tech's penultimate drive of the game, the Bulldogs worked their way down to the Aggie 25-yard line and appeared to be in a good position to at least send the game into overtime. However, redshirt freshman Sone Aupiu had other plans as he came up with a timely sack fumble in which he also recovered the loose ball to put the Aggie offense back on the field with just 2:29 remaining in the contest.

LA Tech's conservative usage of its timeouts in the second half provided it the opportunity to stop the clock three times and allowed NM State to run just 20 seconds off the clock before punting the ball back.

On its final possession of the game, LA Tech faced a pair of fourth-and-1's. The home team converted the first one, however, Myles "Ghost" Rowser broke up a pass on the ensuing fourth down attempt to put NM State in position to go into "victory" formation and leave Ruston, La., with a win for the first time in program history.