The Georgia Southern Eagles and the New Mexico State Aggies have scheduled a home-and-home football series for 2018 and 2019, both schools announced on Thursday.
In the first game of the series, Georgia Southern will travel to face New Mexico State at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces on Oct. 20, 2018. The Eagles will then host the Aggies at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro on Oct. 19, 2019.
Georgia Southern and New Mexico State, both current members of the Sun Belt Conference, have met three times on the gridiron. The Eagles beat the Aggies in all three contests, including 22-19 this past season in Las Cruces.
Georgia Southern was previously scheduled to play Kent State in a home-and-home series in 2018 and 2019, but that series has been canceled.
“Kent State approached us in regards to making a change to the status of our scheduled series,” said Georgia Southern Director of Athletics Tom Kleinlein. “We respect their request and have terminated the contract with them. New Mexico State is a familiar opponent who was also looking for games, and we are excited to work out this deal with the Aggies. The El Paso and Las Cruces areas are parts of the country our fans have enjoyed traveling to and I have no doubt they will enjoy it again in 2018.”
New Mexico State will be playing their final season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2017. The Aggies will then compete in 2018 and beyond as an FBS Independent.
“We are happy to announce a series with Georgia Southern University, who not only has a rich football tradition but also one that we are very familiar with,” NMSU Director of Athletics Mario Moccia said. “Our goal in building an independent schedule was to secure as many games with Group of 5 opponents as possible and this is a big step in completing our 2018 schedule, which we have been diligently working on.”
The Aggies now have six games scheduled for their first season as an FBS Independent in 2018, which includes their annual rivalry games vs. New Mexico and UTEP.
New Mexico State is scheduled to open the 2018 season vs. Wyoming (Aug. 25) and visit Minnesota (Aug. 30) and UL Lafayette (Sept. 8 or Oct. 6) before hosting Georgia Southern on Oct. 20. Dates for games against New Mexico and UTEP are to be determined.
Football Schedules