We continue our series of an early look ahead to the teams on Liberty’s 2025 schedule. We will give a quick preview of all 12 teams that stand in the Flames’ way of another bowl trip and potentially a second CUSA championship as third-year head coach Jamey Chadwell prepares his team for the upcoming season.
Today, we look at the Flames’ only midweek home game this season, as Liberty takes on New Mexico State.
NEW MEXICO STATE
• When: Tuesday, Oct. 14 at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg (7 p.m., CBS Sports Network)
• Last year’s record: 3-9, 2-6 CUSA (t-8th)
• Coach: Tony Sanchez, second year at NMSU
• 2025 SP+ ranking: 122
• Series History: Liberty leads, 6-2
Last Meeting: Sep. 14, 2024: Liberty 30, NMSU 24
Liberty trailed the Aggies, 17-9, in the fourth quarter when Quinton Reese sacked NMSU QB Parker Awad. It forced him to lose the ball and CJ Bazile picked it up and returned it 22 yards for a score to cut the deficit to two. Over the final six minutes, Quinton Cooley broke free for two touchdowns, helping pace the Flames to 117 yards rushing in the final quarter. Cooley’s 12th and final handoff of the game went 44 yards for a touchdown, giving the Flames its first lead of the night with just over a minute remaining. Cooley finished the game with 111 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 91 of his yards coming in the final quarter.
Program History:
National Championships: 0
Conference Championships: 4
Bowl Record: 4-1-1
Last Bowl Appearance: 2023: L, 37-10 vs Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl
The Aggies saw tremendous success late in 2022 and into 2023 behind head coach Jerry Kill and QB Diego Pavia. They went 7-2 to close out the 2022 season, including a 49-14 dominating win over Liberty in Lynchburg in Hugh Freeze’s final game leading the Flames. The Aggies then went 10-3 in 2023, reaching double digit wins for the first time since 1960, while advancing to the CUSA Championship game against Liberty in Lynchburg in the program’s first year in the conference.
Kill and Pavia both moved on to Vanderbilt following the 2023 season, and Aggies assistant coach Tony Sanchez took over as head coach. Sanchez had previous head coaching experience as he led UNLV from 2015-2019. In his first year guiding New Mexico State, the Aggies struggled to a 3-9 season. Sanchez is now 23-49 as a head coach over six seasons and has never had a winning season. NMSU’s biggest struggle in 2024 was the passing game. They were never able to settle on one guy behind center and they all combined to complete just 44% of their passes for the year, making the offense very one dimensional.
Sanchez and the Aggies hope they have found the answer at quarterback in transfer Logan Fife. He began his career at Fresno State where he completed 143 of 224 passes for 1,585 yards, six touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Last year, Fife was at Montana where he started eight games for the Grizzlies and battled with Ah Yat to split reps at the position all season. On the year, Fife completed 167 of 263 passes for 1,890 yards for 14 touchdowns and two interceptions.
If Fife can be a consistent presence for the Aggies at quarterback, they could compete for a bowl game and be competitive in Conference USA this fall.
What’s at Stake?
Liberty and New Mexico State met in the CUSA Championship Game in 2023. Both teams fell off from that mark last year with the Aggies falling to the bottom of the league under first year head coach Tony Sanchez. This year, both teams will be looking to get back in the conference championship race. For the Flames, they will have a tough time overcoming a home conference loss and still getting to play in that championship game in early December.
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