Tony Sanchez, NMSU eyeing big opportunity in rivalry game against UNM

Practices. Workouts. Position meetings. Film sessions. They all add up for every college football player, every coach over the course of the season.

And to Tony Sanchez, days like this coming Saturday are what makes it all worth it.

“That’s why you work as hard as you do,” New Mexico State’s head coach said Monday, “so you get an opportunity to play in games like this.”

NMSU is set to take on in-state rival New Mexico in the 115th edition of the Rio Grande Rivalry on Saturday in Albuquerque, one of the biggest games of the season for two programs looking to improve on strong starts.

With both teams sporting 2-1 records, this year’s game is the first since 1992 in which NMSU and UNM have winning records. The Lobos won last year’s meeting 50-40 at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces; NMSU won the last game in Albuquerque 27-17 in 2023.

After a bye last week, NMSU’s most recent game was a 49-14 loss at Louisiana Tech on Sept. 13. The Aggies turned it over three times and were shut out by the Bulldogs in the second half, leading to a loss Sanchez said was marred by “little things” that could be cleaned up.

“When you turn on the film and you see you just got your butt kicked, it’s hard to watch,” the second-year NMSU coach said. “But when you turn on the film and you see just critical errors, you see mistakes — I mean, that game could’ve turned so fast the opposite way … You watch it and you go like, ‘we’re OK, we’re fine.’ We just gotta find ourselves.”

In UNM, Sanchez said he sees a well-prepared and “scrappy” team under Jason Eck. The Lobos’ first-year head coach most recently led UNM to a stunning 35-10 upset at UCLA on Sept. 12, the program’s first win over a Power Four opponent since 2008.

The two have known each other since Sanchez was the head coach at California High School in San Ramon, California and Eck was the offensive line coach at Idaho in the mid-2000s.

“He recruited our guys (at Cal High),” Sanchez added. “So I’ve known him for years and he’s a great guy, does a really good job. He’s an old (offensive line) coach, so he wants to run the ball and you see that.”

Sanchez said NMSU used its bye week to prepare for UNM, adding that he’s emphasizing physicality and consistency heading into a heated rivalry game.

“We don’t want to be a high team, we don’t want to be a low team,” Sanchez said. “We got to show up, be blue collar about our approach and be consistent in our film watching, our weight lifting, our practice, our communication, everything we do. If we do that, we’ll have a great opportunity to win those football game and many more after that.”

As for emphasizing the rivalry itself? Montana transfer quarterback Logan Fife said NMSU senior linebacker Tyler Martinez has led the way educating new players about the importance of the game and what it means to the state.

An Albuquerque native and Volcano Vista High School graduate, Martinez said he’s expecting around 50 friends and family to be in attendance Saturday.

“It’s definitely a personal game for me,” he said. “Out of high school, I felt like I did everything I could to get an offer and they just never looked at me. So it’s a personal game for me, and I come with that attitude every time we play them.”

Personal or not, a win would go a long way: NMSU has not started 3-1 since 1999 while UNM hasn’t done so since 2007.

“Both teams are sitting there at 2-1, both got one real big win under the belt,” Sanchez said. “We obviously have a disappointing loss under our belt, but it’s a long 12-game season … So we’re excited about this one and we’re ready to go throw down.

“And I’m sure they are, too.”

UNM football will hold its news conference on Tuesday.