Tag: New Mexico State Aggies

Duke football lands running back Star Thomas from the transfer portal

The Blue Devils beat out Cal and Vanderbilt for transfer portal RB Star Thomas, who committed on Wednesday just a day after visiting the program.

One day after reports circulated that Star Thomas was on a visit with Duke, the former New Mexico State running back made his commitment official on Wednesday.

Thomas shared a graphic on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, about the decision.

“(You know) where to catch me at,” Thomas captioned the post.

The California Golden Bears, set to join Duke in the ACC in 2024, and Vanderbilt Commodores reportedly were the Blue Devils’ biggest competition for the 6-foot back, but he’ll be in Durham next season.

Thomas spent the last two seasons as a notable back for the Aggies, surpassing 100 carries in both 2022 and 2023. He rushed for 1,178 yards and nine touchdowns over the last two years, and he averaged 5.8 yards per carry as a junior last season.

After the departure of Jordan Waters, Duke’s leading rusher in 2023, to NC State, the Blue Devils needed another bell cow. Jaquez Moore took the lion’s share of work between the tackles during the spring game, and despite a cacophony of younger backs waiting in the wings to spell the starters, he and Thomas now give head coach Manny Diaz two reliable options to churn out 10-15 carries per game.

Diaz already got good running back news on Monday when three-star 2025 prospect Javin Gordon announced his commitment to the program.

Duke expected to add New Mexico State transfer running back Star Thomas, per Matt Zenitz

Duke looks to add final piece to the 2024 running back room after Tuesday reports of a potential transfer commitment.

Duke’s running backs are about to get another infusion of talent.

On Tuesday afternoon, Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported that New Mexico State transfer running back Star Thomas was expected to transfer to Duke.

The transfer, who visited Duke’s campus on Tuesday according to Zenitz, will apparently pick the Blue Devils after a hard push by the Vanderbilt Commodores.

He entered the portal in April, and things have gone in several directions since then. Toward the end of the month, it was believed that new ACC member Cal was going to earn his commitment, but the Blue Devils found a new gear, got him on campus, surged ahead of Cal, and fought off advances from Vanderbilt, too.

Thomas accounted for 1,499 yards from scrimmage and 14 touchdowns over two years at New Mexico State

Landing Thomas is huge for Duke. He’s a senior with tons of experience, giving Duke another veteran to pair with lead running back and fellow senior Jaquez Moore. Moore is the only significant returning running back after Jordan Waters opted for the transfer portal and transferred to NC State.

 

The Devils have young names like Marquise Collins, Travis Bates, and Peyton Jones on the depth chart, too, but if they aren’t progressing in the manner they need to, Duke can ride Moore and Thomas as they build their offense around Texas transfer QB Maalik Murphy.

Duke one of the finalists to land New Mexico State RB Star Thomas

Duke continues to attack the transfer portal hard in search of more pieces for the 2024 season as they are a finalist for transfer RB Star Thomas.

Duke football is far from being done constructing its roster for the 2024 season. It seems they still have a ways to go.

Recently, Bruno Fina, an offensive tackle who played last season at UCLA, hit the transfer portal and came out on the other side as a Duke Blue Devil.

Duke is now looking to boost its running back room, it appears. On3’s Pete Nakos reported on Wednesday that Manny Diaz’s team is one of four finalists for New Mexico State transfer tailback Star Thomas.

Thomas was a second-team All-Conference USA selection this past season. He rushed for 633 yards in 2023 and added four rushing touchdowns. He also caught 22 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns.

Throughout his career, he’s tallied 1,171 yards and 9 TDs on the ground along with 351 receiving yards and five scores as a passing weapon.

Duke’s competition includes newly minted ACC foe California, a sleeper team to win the SEC in Ole Miss, and the Toledo Rockets.

Thomas would be a welcome addition to Duke’s running back room. Since Jordan Waters’ departure to the NC State Wolfpack, the Blue Devils have been searching for a more proven option alongside Jaquez Moore, and Thomas certainly fills that role.

 

Lane Kiffin and the Rebels feel like the team to beat, but with Duke making the list as a finalist, we’ll see how things shake out when the dust settles.

New Mexico State’s Emma Bunch has won five straight tournament this spring

She has lost to only 26 players in 10 starts this season.

Emma Bunch has played against 463 golfers this spring. She hasn’t lost to a single one.

Bunch, a sophomore at New Mexico State, has been dominant since the calendar turned to 2024. She has played in five tournaments and won all five, including her latest win Wednesday in the Conference USA Championship, winning by a shot over Sam Houston’s Jennifer Herbst at High Meadow Ranch Golf Club in Magnolia, Texas. 

No other Division I women’s college golfer has more than four victories this year. Bunch is in a world of her own.

She started the spring with a win at the GCU Invitational, shooting 14 under. The next week, it was her second straight victory at the Momentum Transportation UNF Collegiate. No. 3 came at the Ping/ASU Invitational. Then the fourth straight was at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic before her conference crown marked the fifth straight win.

Bunch’s spring wasn’t anything to blink at, either. She finished runner-up in each of her first two starts. Her worst finish was 15th at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic. She added another pair of top 10s before the winter break.

To sum it up, Bunch’s record this year is five wins, two runner-up finishes, eight top 5s and nine top 10s. She has lost to only 26 players in 10 starts.

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Notre Dame defensive analyst is heading to New Mexico State as tight end coach

Notre Dame loses another staffer

As sign of a good program is when other teams are looking to take staffers and coaches from them, and this is exactly what is happening to Notre Dame.

Gerad Parker, the former Irish offensive coordinator, is taking Caleb Davis with him to be his new Director of Player Personnel. Notre Dame is also set to lose defensive analyst [autotag]Ronnie Regula[/autotag], as New Mexico State is expect to name him their new tight ends coach.

It hurts to lose staffers, but more importantly, it’s a reflection on how Marcus Freeman has developed his coaching staff. This should be viewed as a positive, as more perspective coaches will join him in South Bend to be coached up to make moves upward in the coaching world.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Mike on X: @MikeFChen

New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill stepping down

Kill, who spent five seasons as Minnesota’s head coach a decade ago, had been the Aggies’ head coach for the past two seasons.

New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill will step away from the program, according to a Saturday report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Kill became the Aggies’ head coach ahead of the 2022 season, leading New Mexico State to a 17-11 record over the past two seasons.

He helmed a statement year in 2023. After New Mexico State got off to a 2-3 start, the Aggies won eight consecutive games including a 31-10 road upset of Auburn. They finished the regular season with a 7-1 record in conference play, earning a berth to the Conference USA Championship game where they lost to Liberty. It was New Mexico State’s first 10-win season since 1960 and the second in the history of the program.

After a 37-10 New Mexico Bowl loss to Fresno State, Kill ranted about rival New Mexico’s athletic director. The game was played on New Mexico’s campus, but Kill said UNM athletic director Eddie Nuñez wouldn’t let the Aggies use the school’s indoor practice facility.

“That’s chickenshit,” Kill said. “I don’t care, that’s my opinion. I get in trouble, I don’t give a shit, either. I can go down to Mexico tomorrow, drink margaritas, and let y’all enjoy your life.”

Before he took the New Mexico State job, Kill was a head coach for five different colleges from 1994-2015, culminating in a five-year tenure as the leader of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He was TCU’s interim head coach after Gary Patterson was fired in 2021.

Tony Sanchez, who was UNLV’s head coach from 2015-2019, is

New Mexico State coach Jerry Kill blasts New Mexico AD after bowl loss

New Mexico State’s Jerry Kill was fuming at New Mexico AD Eddie Nunez

To keep it safe and not salty, New Mexico State coach Jerry Kill was, er, ticked off after his Aggies lost to Fresno State on Saturday in the New Mexico Bowl.

It had nothing to do with the 37-10 defeat. It had everything to do with the treatment his team received from AD Eddie Nunez of rival New Mexico and its facilities.

(Some NSFW language was used by Kill)

What set Kill off was the Lobos’ initial refusal to allow NMSU to use their indoor facilities while preparing for the bowl game despite it snowing in Albuquerque.

Per ESPN.com:

Kill told ESPN on Saturday night that New Mexico State would have had to practice at a local high school field if New Mexico Bowl executive director Jeff Siembieda had not intervened and pushed for the use of New Mexico’s facility. When NMSU showed up Thursday, as snow fell in the Albuquerque area, four police officers were at the New Mexico facility to monitor the Aggies’ practice.

“The police officers kind of laughed. They said, ‘There’s a lot of stuff going on in Albuquerque, I don’t know why we’re here watching the logo,'” Kill said. “It’s a great bowl game, but here’s the deal: They were going to make us practice on a high school field and let Fresno practice in the indoor, and that particular day, it snowed. But Jeff busted his butt and had to argue with their people to get us on the thing.”

Kill also mentioned a September incident involving his star Diego Pavia. The QB appeared in a video urinating on the New Mexico logo on the school’s indoor practice field.

“I hope the AD here gets the same damn discipline with the people around this state that Diego got, because he deserves it,” Kill said. “It don’t bother me a damn bit. When he don’t let us … practice in the indoor facility, when he don’t want us to do this and do that, that’s chickens—. I don’t care, that’s my opinion, if I get in trouble, I don’t give a s—, either. Because I can go down to Mexico tomorrow, drink margaritas and let you all enjoy your life, because I’ll be enjoying mine. But I’ve got class. I’ve had class my whole life.”

New Mexico State gets touchdown from 275-pound New Zealander Ron Tiavaasue

A touchdown reception for a 275-pounder from New Zealand

One of the best stories in college football continued on Friday in the Conference USA Championship Game as coach Jerry Kill led New Mexico State against undefeated Liberty.

The Aggies added another page to their wonder run as Ron Tiavaasue caught a TD pass in the second quarter.

The reason Tiavaasue’s story is special is the 6-foot-4, 275-pound tight end comes from Auckland, New Zealand.

The score gave the Aggies a 14-7 lead.

It was the first New Mexico State TD for the New Zealander, who had previously played at Missouri State and Utah State.

New Mexico State blasts Auburn as 26-point underdog

New Mexico State has its first win over an SEC program, throttling Auburn

You can call it the mother of all trap games. Auburn brought in New Mexico State on Saturday the week before it plays Alabama.

And the Tigers stepped into the bear trap and were devoured by the Aggies, 31-10.

Jerry Kill for Coach of the Year.

The Aggies are 9-3 in a stunning turnaround for a program that had never downed an SEC school before walloping Auburn.

Prior to going 7-6 in 2022, New Mexico State had won a total of 8 games from 2018-2021.

Kill switched the culture and the team’s most dynamic performance came on the road at Auburn.

The game was tied at 7 midway through the second quarter and the Aggies outscored the Tigers 24-3 the rest of the way.

Diego Pavia completed 19-of-28 passes for 201 yards and 2 TDs.

New Mexico State had 414 yards of total offense and limited Auburn to 213.

It controlled the ball for 38:50.

As we said, Jerry Kill for Coach of the Year.

Former Penn State LB Jamari Buddin announces transfer decision

Former Penn State linebacker has announced his transfer portal destination

After exploring all of his options in the transfer portal, former Penn State linebacker [autotag]Jamari Buddin[/autotag] has decided where he will be continuing his college football career. In a message posted on his social media account on Wednesday, Buddin announced he will be transferring to New Mexico State University.

“Thank you to all the coaches who have reached out and gave me another opportunity to pursue my dream,” Buddin said in a message posted to his Twitter account on Wednesday. “[It] has been a long and stressful process and I have spent a lot of time thinking about what’s best for my future, but after much prayer, I have decided to further my academic and athletic career at New Mexico State University.”

Buddin has three seasons of eligibility left to put to use at New Mexico State, an FBS independent school. The former four-star linebacker recruit in Penn State’s Class of 2021 should have a good opportunity to find a bigger role in the defense with New Mexico State, and he has plenty of potential to be a breakout player with his new teammates.

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