The New Mexico–New Mexico State football rivalry, known as the Battle of I-25 and the Rio Grande Rivalry in all sports, is an annual football game between the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University. It is called the Battle of I-25 because the two universities are located along Interstate 25 connecting Albuquerque and Las Cruces. In the entire history of the rivalry, the game has never been contested anywhere beside those two cities.

Series history The rivalry between New Mexico's only two NCAA Division I institutions dates back to January 1, 1894 – eighteen years before New Mexico achieved statehood – when the schools met in a football contest in Albuquerque. While it is clear that New Mexico won that first game, school records seem to disagree on the score. According to New Mexico media guides the final score was 25–5 but according to New Mexico State media guides the score was 18–6. By the time New Mexico entered the union in 1912 UNM and New Mexico A&M (as NMSU was known prior to 1959) had already met on the gridiron six times. Until 1937, the series was competitive with the Aggies holding a 15–12–4 lead over the Lobos. Starting in 1938 the Lobos began to dominate the series, starting with a streak of 18 straight wins over the Aggies from 1938 to 1958 (including a three year stretch during World War II when the game was not played). From 1959 to 1968, however, the Aggies won seven of ten meetings, mostly during the tenure of College Football Hall of Fame head coach Warren B. Woodson. Although the Aggies defeated the Lobos in their first meeting after Woodson's departure in 1968, the Lobos resumed their dominance in the series the following year, winning 16 of the next 18 meetings (including a tie in 1971). Beginning in 1993, the two universities played for the Maloof Trophy, but it was short-lived; the trophy was retired in 2000.

The Lobos all-time advantage is 74–35–5, however the rivalry remains spirited, with the series even at seven wins each over the past 14 games dating back to the 100th meeting between the schools in 2009. Most recently the Lobos defeated the Aggies 50–40 on September 28, 2024.

In August 2020, New Mexico State postponed football and fall sports due to COVID-19 with consideration for a spring football season. The Mountain West Conference initially postponed fall sports for New Mexico and other member schools as well, but New Mexico and other member schools began a conference-only schedule beginning in late October. The 2020 season was the first since 1945 without the rivalry game.

During a press conference on the Tuesday before the 2025 edition, UNM head coach Jason Eck good-naturedly bemoaned the lack of a traveling trophy, telling reporters "We need a trophy for this game, too . . . Truly a missed opportunity we don’t have a trophy for this game. It’s a shame. Traveling trophies are one of the best things. So, I’ll be very disappointed if we don’t have one for next year. Let’s get that fixed." Students at the two schools stepped in to create "The Roaster", a tabletop chile roaster trophy with wooden stands on each side, including branding of the two programs. The new trophy was ready in time for the 2025 game.

Game results

Non-conference games (98: 1894–1930 and 1951–present) Not played in 17 seasons (1895–1904, 1907, 1910, 1918, 1943–1945 and 2020)

Coaching records

Since first game on January 1, 1894

New Mexico Head CoachTeamGamesSeasonsWinsLossesTiesPct.No coachNew Mexico11892–1893100W. A. ZimmerNew Mexico01894000No team (1895–1898)No coachNew Mexico01899000No team (1900)Joe NapierNew Mexico01901000No team (1902)Walter McEwanNew Mexico01903–1904000Martin F. AngellNew Mexico21905–1907020Hermon H. ConwellNew Mexico11908100Sam P. McBirneyNew Mexico11909100Carl HamiltonNew Mexico01910000Ralph HutchinsonNew Mexico61911–1916231Frank E. WoodNew Mexico11917010No team (1918)John F. McGoughNew Mexico11919100Roy W. JohnsonNew Mexico111920–1930452Chuck RileyNew Mexico31931–1933111Gwinn HenryNew Mexico31934–1936120Ted ShipkeyNew Mexico51937–1941410Willis BarnesNew Mexico21942–1946200Berl HuffmanNew Mexico31947–1949300Dudley DeGrootNew Mexico31950–1952300Bob TitchenalNew Mexico31953–1955300Dick ClausenNew Mexico21956–1957200Marv LevyNew Mexico21958–1959110Bill WeeksNew Mexico81960–1967350Rudy FeldmanNew Mexico61968–1973411Bill MondtNew Mexico61974–1979510Joe MorrisonNew Mexico31980–1982300Joe Lee DunnNew Mexico41983–1986400Mike SheppardNew Mexico51987–1991410Dennis FranchioneNew Mexico61992–1997510Rocky LongNew Mexico111998–200883 Mike LocksleyNew Mexico22009–201102 George BarlowNew Mexico1201101 Bob DavieNew Mexico82012–201962 Danny GonzalesNew Mexico32020–202312 Bronco MendenhallNew Mexico1202410 Jason EckNew Mexico22025–present20 

New Mexico State Head CoachTeamGamesSeasonsWinsLossesTiesPct.W. M. ClutteNew Mexico A&M11893010Alfred HoltNew Mexico A&M01894000No coachNew Mexico A&M01895–1896000Charles M. BarberNew Mexico A&M01897–1898000John O. Miller ()New Mexico A&M01899000William A. SutherlandNew Mexico A&M01900000John O. Miller ()New Mexico A&M21901–1907200William G. HummellNew Mexico A&M11908010J. H. SquiresNew Mexico A&M11909010Art BadenochNew Mexico A&M31910–1913300Clarence W. RussellNew Mexico A&M31914–1916021John G. GriffithNew Mexico A&M11917100No team (1918)Anthony SavageNew Mexico A&M11919010Dutch BergmanNew Mexico A&M31920–1922210R. R. BrownNew Mexico A&M31923–1925210Arthur BurkholderNew Mexico A&M11926001Ted CoffmanNew Mexico A&M21927–1928020Jerry HinesNew Mexico A&M111929–1939542Julius H. JohnstonNew Mexico A&M31940–1942030Maurice MoulderNew Mexico A&M01943000No team (1944–1945)Raymond A. CurfmanNew Mexico A&M21946–1947020Vaughn CorleyNew Mexico A&M31948–1950030Joseph T. ColemanNew Mexico A&M21951–1952020James PattonNew Mexico A&M21953–1954020Tony CavalloNew Mexico A&M31955–1957030Warren B. WoodsonNew Mexico A&M / State101958–1967640Jim WoodNew Mexico State51968–1972131Jim BradleyNew Mexico State51973–1977140Gil KruegerNew Mexico State51978–1982050Fred ZechmanNew Mexico State31983–1985030Mike KnollNew Mexico State41986–1989130Jim HessNew Mexico State81990–1996170Tony SamuelNew Mexico State81997–200435 Hal MummeNew Mexico State42005–200804 DeWayne WalkerNew Mexico State42009–201231 Doug MartinNew Mexico State82013–202126 Jerry KillNew Mexico State22022–202320 Tony SanchezNew Mexico State32024–present03  John O. Miller's overall record in series was 2–0–0 ()

See also List of NCAA college football rivalry games List of most-played college football series in NCAA Division I

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References