LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Tyler Rogers connected with Conner Cramer for a 11-yard touchdown pass with 32 seconds remaining Saturday, lifting New Mexico State to a 22-17 Sun Belt Conference football victory over the University of South Alabama at Aggie Memorial Stadium.

The score capped a 15-play, 83-yard march and helped the Aggies (6-6, 4-4 Sun Belt) become eligible to compete in a postseason bowl for the first time since 1960.  Rogers was 40-of-61 passing with two touchdowns, recording 451 of NMSU's 491 total offense yards through the air.  Jaleel Scott and Larry Rose III both caught nine passes for 134 and 95 yards, respectively, with the latter adding another 52 on 12 carries.

Cole Garvin completed 22-of-37 attempts for 268 yards for the Jaguars (4-8, 3-5) SBC, sparking a fourth-quarter rally with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jordan McCray with less than 12 minutes remaining in regulation.  Gavin Patterson capped South's following possession — which covered 73 yards in just over three minutes — with a 27-yard field goal that gave the Jags a 17-16 lead.

Bull Barge and Nigel Lawrence had 12 tackles apiece for to lead USA, while Leon McQuaker paced the Aggies with 11 stops including three behind the line.

New Mexico State 22, South Alabama 17
South Alabama/New Mexico State photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-After a scoreless opening period, the Jaguars got on the board first when Dallas Davis ran it in from 11 yards out on the second snap of the second quarter.
-The Aggies responded by scoring on each of their next three drives, taking a 13-7 lead at the break on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Rogers to Anthony Muse.
-Dylan Brown converted his third field goal of the game to extend the NMSU advantage to nine point on the first play of the final quarter.
-The Jaguars closed the deficit to two points, 16-14, on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Cole Garvin to Jordan McCray on their ensuing possession.
-The two teams combined for 844 yards of total offense with all but 62 of those coming via the pass.
-NMSU won the turnover battle 3-1 and held the ball for over 33 minutes, including nearly 18 in the second half.

NOTES
-This was the Jaguars' final game under the direction of head coach Joey Jones, who submitted his resignation on Nov. 20; he finishes with an overall record of 52-50 in nine seasons as the leader of the program since its inception in 2009.
-It's the second straight year the two teams ended the regular season against each other, with the winner getting eligible to play in a postseason bowl game.
-Rogers set opponent game records for completions and yards passing against the USA defense.
-South's 7-0 lead was its first on the road since defeating Troy on Oct 11.
-Barge was credited with a double-figure tackle total for the second time in the last three outings and it was Lawrence's second game this year with 10 or more stops as well.
-In the second quarter Jeremy Reaves became just the second defensive back in program history to record 100 stops in a season.
-He ended the game with seven tackles, making him the second individual to collect 300 or more in a career.
-Darian Mills tied a school game record for the Jags by breaking up four passes, and with 13 on the year he broke the former season record of 11 set by Tyrell Pearson in 2012.
-The touchdown catch in the fourth quarter was the first of McCray's career; he also tied a career high with four receptions and set one with 74 yards.
-Tra Minter finished the game with three receptions for 42 yards, becoming the first Jag running back to ever catch more than 20 passes in a season.
-Kawaan Baker ran back four kickoffs for 110 yards — a career-high total — to become the first Jag to post 100 or more yards on kick returns since Xavier Johnson had 129 in a Sept. 24 victory over Nicholls last fall.
-Corliss Waitman had three punts downed inside the NMSU-20, ending the year a school-record average of 45.24 yards per kick; he also ranks second on the USA season record list with 26 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Joey Jones
On the tough game: "All I wanted for us to do coming into this game was to fight and I thought we did that.  We came up a little short.  [New Mexico State's] quarterback is a great player and made some plays on their last drive.  With about five minutes left, they had a third-and-10 and he hit it.  On their touchdown play, he was able to scramble around and made a great throw.  It really wasn't anything that our guys did wrong, but rather what [NMSU] did right.  I was proud of our guys fighting tonight."
On offensive adjustments in the second half: "We just executed better.  In the first half, we dropped some passes.  We also got down to the one and got a penalty, which brought the ball back and hurt us trying to score.  Other than that, we played pretty well.  I told the guys a halftime, that if we just keep running our offense, we'll be ok."
On the job the defense did on NMSU running back Larry Rose III, which forced the Aggies to try to beat the team through the air: "Our coaches did a great job calling plays defensively.  Rose is a heck of a running back.  We wanted to make NMSU throw the ball, but unfortunately Tyler Rogers is a very good quarterback.  Our hats are off to New Mexico State."

Cole Garvin
On the way the offense played in the second half: "We made it a game [in the second half] and we really tried to get the win, but we couldn't get it done on the last offensive drive."
On what the offense did differently going into the fourth quarter: "We just kept calling the same plays that were working and minimized mistakes.  Coach [Richard] Owens called a really good game against the defense [NMSU] were in and we just kept hitting the holes."
On the job the running backs and wide receivers did: "Those guys finding the holes is what made my job easy, along with what the offensive line did.  It was a team effort."

Jeremy Reaves
On the game: "We fought and that's all coach [Joey Jones] asked for.  We fought for 60 minutes and the score didn't reflect it, but I'm happy with the way our guys fought considering this was my last game here."
On what the defense did to take New Mexico State's running game away: "We knew that Rose was an electric player and that he was going to make plays.  We also knew it was going to come down to us being physical.  The defense was just able to stop them at the line of scrimmage and the point of attack."
On the play of NMSU quarterback Tyler Rogers: "He's a great player.  We were talking throughout the game and he told me he was trying to throw away from me because I hit too hard.  He's a ball player though; he's good with his legs and he's good with his arm.  He made plays when they needed him too.  New Mexico State made the plays when they needed too and they showed up on third down.  Credit to those guys and I congratulate them."

Up next: This was the Jaguars' final game of the 2017 season

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