New Mexico State leans on James Jones, defense to outlast Sam Houston, 30-24
· Yahoo Sports
Sam Houston had a chance to defend its home turf in a standalone Wednesday night Weekday CUSA matchup. Instead, New Mexico State left Huntsville with a long-awaited breakthrough.
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Behind a career-best performance from running back James Jones and a suffocating defensive effort, the Aggies defeated the Bearkats 30-24 at Bowers Stadium, securing their first road victory of the 2026 season.
“We did a good job coming out and getting the first victory of the season,” New Mexico State head coach Tony Sanchez said. “I thought our guys played a good game, played a good four-quarter game, and it was really good to see at the end, with four minutes left, them kicking the ball deep and us being able to just run the clock out. Proud of our guys and happy for them.”
The star of the night was Jones, who continued to lead the CUSA in rushing. The New Mexico State running back recorded his fourth 100-yard game of 2026 and shattered his career-high with 178 yards. He also opened the Aggies’ scoring in the second quarter with his lone touchdown of the night.
“It’s a blessing,” Jones said of his performance. “I thank the Lord for every opportunity that He gave me. I appreciate what He’s given me. And my o-line, I can’t do it without them. Them up front fighting, our defense getting stops, we’re all playing together. It isn’t even on me, it’s up front.”
Jones saved his best work for the final minutes. Clinging to a 6-point lead, New Mexico State leaned on its star running back to drain the final 4:00 of clock and deny the Bearkats an opportunity at a comeback victory. Jones gained 39 yards on four carries during the final drive, converting a 4th-and-2 with 29 seconds remaining to seal the Aggies’ first one-score victory since November 2025.
“The final four minutes, I told my coach — Coach (David) Yost does a great job calling plays — but I was telling him, ‘I need the ball in my hands. I’m gonna ice it,’” Jones said. “Then the o-line was doing their thing up front, and then I popped one. That’s what got us in that situation — the o-line up front.”
Despite the victory, New Mexico State’s offense had to overcome a pair of costly mistakes early in the game. Roughly two minutes into the contest, the Aggies fell behind 7-0 when Sam Houston wide receiver Terrence Guillory II blocked a punt and Railyn Adams recovered the loose ball in the end zone. Then in the second quarter, New Mexico State’s incomplete lateral pass in its own territory was ruled a fumble, and the Bearkats cashed in with a field goal.
New Mexico State’s defense ensured those miscues did not prove costly. The Aggies allowed just 13 yards in the first half, surrendering 20 in the opening quarter before holding Sam Houston to -7 yards in the second. The Bearkats finished with just nine first downs and 11 rushing yards, repeatedly struggling to win at the line of scrimmage.
“I thought our defense played lights out,” Sanchez said. “Other than that very first snap of the second half, the guys did a fantastic job of creating pressure on the quarterback all night. We got some important turnovers and they did a really good job.”
Sanchez also credited his offense for its response, and New Mexico State captured its first lead in the final seconds of the first half on a 2-play, 43-yard touchdown drive that consumed just 18 seconds.
“Offensively, it was really good to see us put that touchdown on the board before halftime and come out early in the second half and get another touchdown,” Sanchez said.
The Aggies’ defense came up with two crucial turnovers, each setting up a short field that led to a touchdown. In the second quarter, Josiah Charles intercepted Sam Houston quarterback Landyn Locke and returned the ball to the 1-yard line, setting up Jones’ touchdown. Late in the third quarter, Kaian Roberts-Day blew up a flea-flicker in the backfield and recovered the fumble, setting up TJ Washington Jr. for a rushing touchdown.
“We’ve lost the turnover battle three weeks in a row,” said Sanchez, whose team was a minus-5 in turnover margin prior to Wednesday. “It’s really gotten in the way. You go all the way back to the Hawaii game, obviously the UNM game, the FIU game, and we weren’t winning the turnover battle. We had one really bad turnover at the end, but to win the turnover battle tonight made a big difference in the game.”
Sam Houston’s offense finally found the explosive play it desperately needed to open the second half. After leaving the game in the second quarter with a leg injury, Locke returned to action and connected with Tim Burns Jr. for an 81-yard touchdown on the first snap after halftime, handing the Bearkats a 17-14 lead. Locke’s longest pass since Week 2 ended the team’s 12-quarter drought without an offensive touchdown, dating back to Sept. 26.
Locke was briefly replaced by true freshman backup Brett Holloway before finishing the game with 235 passing yards. Sam Houston head coach Phil Longo explained the injury situation postgame.
“They thought it was a fibula fracture, and they X-ray’d him, and you’re looking at losing your starting quarterback for the year,” Longo said. “Then 20 minutes goes by and no fracture, and they tape him up, we’re gonna treat him, and he comes back out and he couldn’t really move laterally, so we held him out for a little bit. We ran him around the sideline to see if he could move enough to do the things he needs to do. When he proved to me that he could do that and the trainers gave me the okay, we put him back on the field. For playing hurt, he actually played fairly decent in the second half.”
The Bearkats’ momentum after Locke’s touchdown pass was brief. New Mexico State responded three minutes later with a touchdown strike from Adam Damante to AJ Williams III. The touchdown sparked a 16-0 run that put the Aggies back in control. It wasn’t Williams’ only highlight Wednesday night. The 6’4” wide receiver had an additional contested catch in the end zone, finishing the night with two touchdowns — both which handed New Mexico State the lead.
“AJ has been waiting on this,” Jones said. “I’m very happy for him that everybody got to see what he can do, because he’s been doing it in practice all year.”
Sam Houston eventually responded cutting the deficit to 30-24 with an MJ Dowdy rushing touchdown with four minutes remaining. But the Bearkats could not regain possession, as Jones and the Aggies’ offensive line dominated the final series.
“I thought we challenged them from a heart and emotional and a grind standpoint in the second half, and they responded,” Longo said. “But too little, too late, obviously, so that’s kinda how the game went. We responded, played more physical, played with some more emotion and some passion offensively in the second half but came up short because it wasn’t enough.”
Longo also commented on Sam Houston’s recurring offensive struggles in a night they were outgained by the visitor 203-11 on the ground.
“I didn’t see yardage, that’s for sure,” Longo said on the offensive performance. “We addressed a lot of the issues we’d had the past two weeks. I think a lot of people understand we’re struggling up front because of some injuries. You gotta plug in the next guy and you gotta go. We even tried to redirect our plan this week, just to try and play maybe to the strengths of some of the guys we have in. But we just lack continuity up front right now, and it’s affecting us offensively.”
Sam Houston (1-6, 0-3 CUSA) remains winless against FBS competition this season and has fallen to 3-16 in the Longo era. The Bearkats are on the brink of missing bowl eligibility for the second consecutive season, and to preserve those hopes, they must respond on the road Tuesday at Missouri State.
“There’s a sense of urgency from the get-go,” Longo said. “I want for us to manage some of the issues we’re having on offense and fix them. I think if we can do that, we’re playing really competitive football, and that gives us the opportunity to win some of these games. There are some games ahead of us that we are talented enough to win, so we’re gonna lock in on Missouri State next, and that will be our focus for the next week.”
New Mexico State (3-4, 2-1 CUSA) returns to Las Cruces with a road win on its résumé and a 1-0 record in one-score games, after faring 2-4 in such contests a year ago. The Aggies begin a two-game homestand Wednesday night against Jacksonville State, looking to continue the two-way momentum created in Huntsville.
“It’s what we didn’t do a year ago,” Sanchez said on winning a close game. “We had a bunch of opportunities. We had four one-score games that didn’t go in our direction. You love to see the changing of the tide right there, the changing of the culture where guys understand that it’s a one-score game and we gotta lock in. We gotta hold on this thing. We had to come from behind in the game. I think there were a lot of good character lessons in that game.”