2017 New Mexico State Aggies football team

The 2017 New Mexico State Aggies football team represented New Mexico State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Aggies played their home games at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and competed in the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by fifth–year head coach Doug Martin. The Aggies finished the season 6–6 and 4–4 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. The Aggies received a bowl bid for the first time in 57 years where they beat Utah State in the Arizona Bowl.

2017 New Mexico State Aggies football
Arizona Bowl champions
Arizona Bowl, W 26–20 ^OT vs. Utah State
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
2017 record	7–6 (4–4 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Doug Martin (5th season)
Associate head coach	Oliver Soukup (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Doug Martin (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Frank Spaziani (2nd season)
Home stadium	Aggie Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 30,343)

2017 Sun Belt Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Troy +		7	–	1					11	–	2
Appalachian State +		7	–	1					9	–	4
Arkansas State		6	–	2					7	–	5
Georgia State		5	–	3					7	–	5
New Mexico State		4	–	4					7	–	6
Louisiana		4	–	4					5	–	7
Louisiana–Monroe		4	–	4					4	–	8
Idaho		3	–	5					4	–	8
South Alabama		3	–	5					4	–	8
Coastal Carolina *		2	–	6					3	–	9
Georgia Southern		2	–	6					2	–	10
Texas State		1	–	7					2	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions * – Ineligible for postseason play due to FCS-to-FBS transition rules Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Aggies finished the 2016 season 3–9 and 2–6 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three-way tie for eighth place.

Schedule

New Mexico State announced its 2017 football schedule on March 1, 2017. The 2017 schedule consisted of five home and seven away games in the regular season. The Aggies hosted Sun Belt foes Arkansas State, Idaho, South Alabama, and Troy, and traveled to Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Louisiana–Lafayette, and Texas State.

The Aggies hosted one of the four non-conference opponents, UTEP from Conference USA, and traveled to Arizona State from the Pac-12 Conference, Arkansas from the Southeastern Conference and New Mexico from the Mountain West Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	8:30 p.m.	at Arizona State*	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ	P12N	L 31–37	46,596
September 9	6:00 p.m.	at New Mexico*	Dreamstyle Stadium Albuquerque, NM (rivalry)	Stadium	W 30–28	32,427
September 16	6:00 p.m.	Troy	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM	ESPN3	L 24–27	15,446
September 23	6:00 p.m.	UTEP*	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM (Battle of I-10)	ESPN3	W 41–14	17,546
September 30	10:00 a.m.	at Arkansas*	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	SECN	L 24–42	70,727
October 7	1:30 p.m.	at Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC	ESPN3	L 31–45	22,787
October 14	4:00 p.m.	at Georgia Southern	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN3	W 35–27	16,278
October 28	2:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM	ALT	L 21–37	10,041
November 4	1:00 p.m.	at Texas State	Bobcat Stadium San Marcos, TX	ESPN3	W 45–35	12,012
November 18	3:00 p.m.	at Louisiana–Lafayette	Cajun Field Lafayette, LA	ESPN3	L 34–47	16,048
November 25	2:00 p.m.	Idaho	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM	ESPN3	W 17–10	21,894
December 2	2:00 p.m.	South Alabama	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM	ESPN3	W 22–17	26,268
December 29	3:30 p.m.	vs. Utah State*	Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ (Arizona Bowl)	CBSSN	W 26–20 ^OT	39,132
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Mountain time

Schedule Source:[1]

Game summaries

at Arizona State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	0	13	0	18	31
Sun Devils	14	0	16	7	37

See also: 2017 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–21–1	1999	NMSU, 35–7

at New Mexico

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	13	10	7	0	30
Lobos	2	3	0	23	28

See also: 2017 New Mexico Lobos football team and Rio Grande Rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
32–70–5	2016	NMSU, 32–31

Troy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Trojans	13	0	14	0	27
Aggies	3	0	13	8	24

See also: 2017 Troy Trojans football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–3	2016	TROY, 52–6

UTEP

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miners	7	0	0	7	14
Aggies	7	14	13	7	41

See also: 2017 UTEP Miners football team and Battle of I-10

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
35–57–2	2016	UTEP, 38–22

at Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	0	10	7	7	24
Razorbacks	14	14	7	7	42

See also: 2017 Arkansas Razorbacks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–5	2004	ARK, 63–13

at Appalachian State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	7	7	3	14	31
Mountaineers	3	14	0	28	45

See also: 2017 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	2016	APST, 37–7

at Georgia Southern

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	14	7	0	14	35
Eagles	14	10	3	0	27

See also: 2017 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–3	2016	GASO, 22–19

Arkansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Wolves	7	0	10	20	37
Aggies	0	14	0	7	21

See also: 2017 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–5	2016	ASU, 41–22

at Texas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	7	10	14	14	45
Bobcats	14	7	7	7	35

See also: 2017 Texas State Bobcats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–2	2016	NMSU, 50–10

at Louisiana–Lafayette

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	7	10	14	3	34
Ragin' Cajuns	14	17	3	13	47

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–6	2016	NMSU, 37–31

Idaho

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vandals	0	7	3	0	10
Aggies	14	0	0	3	17

See also: 2017 Idaho Vandals football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–16	2016	IDA, 55–23

South Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jaguars	0	7	0	10	17
Aggies	0	13	0	9	22

See also: 2017 South Alabama Jaguars football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–1	2016	USA, 35–28

vs. Utah State–Arizona Bowl

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
NMSU Aggies	10	3	0	7	6	26
USU Aggies	7	6	0	7	0	20

See also: 2017 Utah State Aggies football team and 2017 Arizona Bowl

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–30	2012	USU, 41–7

References

1. "2017 New Mexico State Aggies Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved March 5, 2017.