IFTIT: Tennessee Vols vs. New Mexico State Aggies Football Preview 2025
It's Homecoming time in Tennessee
Recently
Following a week off after a disappointing 33-27 home loss against Oklahoma, Tennessee (#23 CFP, 6-3, 3-3 SEC) looks ahead to the final three games of the regular season with the goal of a championship off the table. On the table, however, are still some meaningful football games: a trip to the Swamp against a gamey but beatable Florida team, and a season finale date with an overachieving Vandy squad that needs some humbling.
But before those games is a Homecoming meeting with New Mexico State (NR, 3-6, 1-5 CUSA). The Aggies have struggled this year under second-year head coach and NMSU alum Tony Sanchez, losers of four straight games (Liberty, Missouri State—a first-year FBS program, Western Kentucky, and Kennesaw State—a second-year FBS program). Not much joy in Los Cruces.
Previously on Vols vs. Aggies
This will be the first-ever meeting between the schools. It is the second-straight year for UT to hosting a CUSA team in Neyland Stadium, and current CUSA leader Kennesaw State comes to Knoxville next year. Tennessee has won 11 consecutive homecoming games against non-conference opponents.
Five Factor Preview
New Mexico State is bad. They are likely the worst team Tennessee will play this year. While the JAR system doesn’t include FCS schools, Jeff Sagrin’s ratings do, and they have the Aggies rated below the other contenders for worst Vol opponent: ETSU and UAB. The most I can say for NMSU is they are ranked 4th nationally in causing turnovers, with 8 fumble recoveries and 12 interceptions.
You might think, “but isn’t this the New Mexico State team that beat Auburn on the plains a couple of years ago?” And the answer is yes, but not really. NMSU is 1-28 all-time against SEC teams, with that one win against Auburn in 2023. But that version of the Aggies had Diego Pavia at QB and Jerry Kill as head coach. Of course Pavia and Kill have moved on to Vanderbilt, and New Mexico St. has yet to recreate the magic of that 10-win season.
Personnel and Matchups
NMSU is tied for 4th nationally with 20 takeaways
DBs Bernock Iya and Naeten Mitchell have each had 2-INT games this season.
Mitchell is also the Aggies’ leading tackler with 70 stops. Not a great sign when the Free Safety is the leading tackler.
TE Gavin Harris is fifth nationally in receiving yards per game (47 YPG) among FBS tight ends.
QB Logan Fife had a season-high 28 completions last week against Kennesaw, the highest number of completions for a NMSU quarterback since 2021.
HC Tony Sanchez is a Aggie alum, and I’m supposing that’s the main qualification he has for the job. Sanchez coached UNLV from 2016-19, and never had a winning record there, and does not have a winning record in two seasons in Las Cruces. Sanchez’s coach effect is -4 for his career, not a great sign when considering how rarely his teams are the more talented team on the field.
Prediction
There’s not much to say about this one. Vols win in a rout. However, if you’re looking toward the Florida and Vandy games, you worry if UT comes out sluggish. A slow start could be a harbinger of a rough end to the season.
You want to see Tennessee play with some energy and focus, taking care of business early. And I assume that’s what you’ll see. Vols 64, Aggies 17.
Extraneous
Shoutout to New Mexico State continuing to use the gun-wielding Pistol Pete logo. Tennessee’s rifleman logo is an all-time great look, and while you can find throwback apparel with the rifleman on it, my understanding is the a logo that features a firearm is… contentious.
But NMSU’s mascot is Pistol Pete. He’s not Lasso Larry, which is what I assume they called the other version of the logo they used temporarily:
And then there’s the “Classic Aggie” logo, which has a strikingly similar look to Oklahoma State’s logo:
and for which NMSU pays OSU $10/year for the use of, while limiting NMSU’s use of the logo to just 3,000 items per year. My feeling is that the two schools should play yearly for the use of the logo.
Did I research the history of New Mexico State’s logo because it is more interesting than their football team? Yes. Thanks for reading.