2014–2026 performance history

New Mexico State over time

Season-by-season offense and defense game grades, with head-coaching changes placed on the timeline.

Conference USAHead coach: Tony SanchezView New Mexico State games →
Offense · 2026 estimate25.7/100

53.0 average through 2 games

20.2 prior · 8 equivalent games
Defense · 2026 estimate38.6/100

28.4 average through 2 games

41.4 prior · 8 equivalent games

The trajectory

Game and Season Unit Ratings

Each small dot is one offensive or defensive game rating, arranged in the order played. For completed seasons, the short bar is that season’s average game rating. Both dot and bar values are labeled on a percentile scale. For 2026, the bar is the Bayesian estimate, while the outlined circle is the empirical games-only mean. Labeled background bands show each head coach’s era.

New Mexico State individual offense and defense game grades by seasonEach small point is one game. Horizontal bars show completed-season means and the Bayesian estimate for 2026. The outlined 2026 circle is the empirical games-only mean. Alternating labeled bands identify head-coaching eras.Martin · ’14–’21Doug Martin, 2014–2021Kill · ’22–’23Jerry Kill, 2022–2023Sanchez · ’24–’26Tony Sanchez, 2024–2026offenseGame-grade percentile · higher is better9975502512014 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Cal Poly · W 28–10; offense 18.5 percentile2014 Week 3: New Mexico State at UTEP · L 24–42; offense 54.6 percentile2014 Week 4: New Mexico State vs. New Mexico · L 35–38; offense 35.7 percentile2014 Week 5: New Mexico State at LSU · L 7–63; offense 16.7 percentile2014 Week 6: New Mexico State vs. Georgia Southern · L 28–36; offense 51.7 percentile2014 Week 7: New Mexico State at Troy · L 24–41; offense 20.5 percentile2014 Week 8: New Mexico State at Idaho · L 17–29; offense 8.1 percentile2014 Week 10: New Mexico State vs. Texas State · L 29–37; offense 43.5 percentile2014 Week 11: New Mexico State vs. Louisiana · L 16–44; offense 11.2 percentile2014 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. UL Monroe · L 17–30; offense 10.9 percentile2014 Week 14: New Mexico State at Arkansas State · L 35–68; offense 48.2 percentile2015 Week 1: New Mexico State at Florida · L 13–61; offense 38.0 percentile2015 Week 2: New Mexico State vs. Georgia State · L 32–34; offense 62.6 percentile2015 Week 3: New Mexico State vs. UTEP · L 47–50; offense 79.4 percentile2015 Week 5: New Mexico State at New Mexico · L 29–38; offense 48.1 percentile2015 Week 6: New Mexico State at Ole Miss · L 3–52; offense 11.6 percentile2015 Week 7: New Mexico State at Georgia Southern · L 26–56; offense 65.4 percentile2015 Week 8: New Mexico State vs. Troy · L 7–52; offense 8.6 percentile2015 Week 9: New Mexico State vs. Idaho · W 55–48; offense 84.6 percentile2015 Week 10: New Mexico State at Texas State · W 31–21; offense 28.0 percentile2015 Week 12: New Mexico State at Louisiana · W 37–34; offense 46.0 percentile2015 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. Arkansas State · L 28–52; offense 74.5 percentile2015 Week 14: New Mexico State at UL Monroe · L 35–42; offense 7.9 percentile2016 Week 1: New Mexico State at UTEP · L 22–38; offense 10.0 percentile2016 Week 2: New Mexico State vs. New Mexico · W 32–31; offense 47.8 percentile2016 Week 3: New Mexico State at Kentucky · L 42–62; offense 79.9 percentile2016 Week 4: New Mexico State at Troy · L 6–52; offense 30.2 percentile2016 Week 8: New Mexico State vs. Georgia Southern · L 19–22; offense 35.9 percentile2016 Week 9: New Mexico State at Texas A&M · L 10–52; offense 16.6 percentile2016 Week 11: New Mexico State at Arkansas State · L 22–41; offense 53.7 percentile2016 Week 12: New Mexico State vs. Texas State · W 50–10; offense 48.0 percentile2016 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. App State · L 7–37; offense 31.1 percentile2016 Week 14: New Mexico State at South Alabama · L 28–35; offense 53.4 percentile2017 Week 1: New Mexico State at Arizona State · L 31–37; offense 70.1 percentile2017 Week 2: New Mexico State at New Mexico · W 30–28; offense 43.0 percentile2017 Week 3: New Mexico State vs. Troy · L 24–27; offense 53.9 percentile2017 Week 4: New Mexico State vs. UTEP · W 41–14; offense 48.6 percentile2017 Week 5: New Mexico State at Arkansas · L 24–42; offense 53.4 percentile2017 Week 6: New Mexico State at App State · L 31–45; offense 82.4 percentile2017 Week 7: New Mexico State at Georgia Southern · W 35–27; offense 69.6 percentile2017 Week 9: New Mexico State vs. Arkansas State · L 21–37; offense 9.2 percentile2017 Week 10: New Mexico State at Texas State · W 45–35; offense 74.4 percentile2017 Week 12: New Mexico State at Louisiana · L 34–47; offense 79.4 percentile2017 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. Idaho · W 17–10; offense 18.0 percentile2017 Week 14: New Mexico State vs. South Alabama · W 22–17; offense 29.4 percentile2017 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Utah State · W 26–20; offense 27.8 percentile2018 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Wyoming · L 7–29; offense 11.5 percentile2018 Week 1: New Mexico State at Minnesota · L 10–48; offense 3.1 percentile2018 Week 2: New Mexico State at Utah State · L 13–60; offense 31.1 percentile2018 Week 3: New Mexico State vs. New Mexico · L 25–42; offense 26.6 percentile2018 Week 4: New Mexico State at UTEP · W 27–20; offense 26.0 percentile2018 Week 6: New Mexico State vs. Liberty · W 49–41; offense 73.8 percentile2018 Week 7: New Mexico State at Louisiana · L 38–66; offense 79.6 percentile2018 Week 8: New Mexico State vs. Georgia Southern · L 31–48; offense 78.9 percentile2018 Week 9: New Mexico State at Texas State · L 20–27; offense 19.4 percentile2018 Week 10: New Mexico State vs. Alcorn State · W 52–42; offense 32.3 percentile2018 Week 12: New Mexico State at BYU · L 10–45; offense 8.8 percentile2018 Week 13: New Mexico State at Liberty · L 21–28; offense 6.0 percentile2019 Week 1: New Mexico State at Washington State · L 7–58; offense 9.4 percentile2019 Week 2: New Mexico State at Alabama · L 10–62; offense 18.1 percentile2019 Week 3: New Mexico State vs. San Diego State · L 10–31; offense 44.5 percentile2019 Week 4: New Mexico State at New Mexico · L 52–55; offense 83.2 percentile2019 Week 5: New Mexico State vs. Fresno State · L 17–30; offense 32.5 percentile2019 Week 6: New Mexico State vs. Liberty · L 13–20; offense 32.1 percentile2019 Week 7: New Mexico State at Central Michigan · L 28–42; offense 61.6 percentile2019 Week 9: New Mexico State at Georgia Southern · L 7–41; offense 1.9 percentile2019 Week 11: New Mexico State at Ole Miss · L 3–41; offense 15.4 percentile2019 Week 12: New Mexico State vs. Incarnate Word · W 41–28; offense 28.7 percentile2019 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. UTEP · W 44–35; offense 48.2 percentile2019 Week 14: New Mexico State at Liberty · L 28–49; offense 19.1 percentile2020 Week 5: New Mexico State vs. Utah Tech · W 36–29; offense 44.5 percentile2021 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. UTEP · L 3–30; offense 15.0 percentile2021 Week 2: New Mexico State at New Mexico · L 25–34; offense 9.6 percentile2021 Week 5: New Mexico State at San José State · L 31–37; offense 73.5 percentile2021 Week 6: New Mexico State at Nevada · L 28–55; offense 12.3 percentile2021 Week 8: New Mexico State at Hawai'i · L 34–48; offense 82.5 percentile2021 Week 10: New Mexico State vs. Utah State · L 13–35; offense 36.4 percentile2021 Week 11: New Mexico State at Alabama · L 3–59; offense 2.7 percentile2021 Week 12: New Mexico State at Kentucky · L 16–56; offense 28.9 percentile2021 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. Massachusetts · W 44–27; offense 93.3 percentile2022 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Nevada · L 12–23; offense 6.0 percentile2022 Week 1: New Mexico State at Minnesota · L 0–38; offense 5.5 percentile2022 Week 2: New Mexico State at UTEP · L 13–20; offense 21.1 percentile2022 Week 3: New Mexico State at Wisconsin · L 7–66; offense 10.1 percentile2022 Week 5: New Mexico State vs. Florida International · L 7–21; offense 0.8 percentile2022 Week 7: New Mexico State vs. New Mexico · W 21–9; offense 13.6 percentile2022 Week 9: New Mexico State at Massachusetts · W 23–13; offense 16.8 percentile2022 Week 12: New Mexico State at Missouri · L 14–45; offense 37.7 percentile2022 Week 13: New Mexico State at Liberty · W 49–14; offense 90.0 percentile2022 Week 14: New Mexico State vs. Valparaiso · W 65–3; offense 61.6 percentile2022 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Bowling Green · W 24–19; offense 66.3 percentile2023 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Massachusetts · L 30–41; offense 36.2 percentile2023 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Western Illinois · W 58–21; offense 94.9 percentile2023 Week 2: New Mexico State at Liberty · L 17–33; offense 88.3 percentile2023 Week 3: New Mexico State at New Mexico · W 27–17; offense 87.6 percentile2023 Week 4: New Mexico State at Hawai'i · L 17–20; offense 67.0 percentile2023 Week 6: New Mexico State vs. Florida International · W 34–17; offense 57.2 percentile2023 Week 7: New Mexico State vs. Sam Houston · W 27–13; offense 48.4 percentile2023 Week 8: New Mexico State at UTEP · W 28–7; offense 78.7 percentile2023 Week 9: New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech · W 27–24; offense 42.2 percentile2023 Week 10: New Mexico State vs. Middle Tennessee · W 13–7; offense 27.6 percentile2023 Week 11: New Mexico State at Western Kentucky · W 38–29; offense 95.0 percentile2023 Week 12: New Mexico State at Auburn · W 31–10; offense 90.7 percentile2023 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. Jacksonville State · W 20–17; offense 76.4 percentile2023 Week 14: New Mexico State at Liberty · L 35–49; offense 98.9 percentile2023 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Fresno State · L 10–37; offense 18.3 percentile2024 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Southeast Missouri State · W 23–16; offense 10.2 percentile2024 Week 2: New Mexico State vs. Liberty · L 24–30; offense 30.9 percentile2024 Week 3: New Mexico State at Fresno State · L 0–48; offense 0.6 percentile2024 Week 5: New Mexico State vs. New Mexico · L 40–50; offense 45.6 percentile2024 Week 7: New Mexico State at Jacksonville State · L 13–54; offense 33.3 percentile2024 Week 8: New Mexico State vs. Louisiana Tech · W 33–30; offense 82.2 percentile2024 Week 10: New Mexico State vs. Florida International · L 13–34; offense 30.2 percentile2024 Week 11: New Mexico State vs. Western Kentucky · L 28–41; offense 42.9 percentile2024 Week 12: New Mexico State at Texas A&M · L 3–38; offense 8.4 percentile2024 Week 13: New Mexico State at Middle Tennessee · W 36–21; offense 58.0 percentile2024 Week 14: New Mexico State vs. UTEP · L 35–42; offense 61.0 percentile2025 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Bryant · W 19–3; offense 0.5 percentile2025 Week 2: New Mexico State vs. Tulsa · W 21–14; offense 10.3 percentile2025 Week 3: New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech · L 14–49; offense 26.3 percentile2025 Week 5: New Mexico State at New Mexico · L 20–38; offense 12.1 percentile2025 Week 6: New Mexico State vs. Sam Houston · W 37–10; offense 42.1 percentile2025 Week 8: New Mexico State at Liberty · L 27–30; offense 68.1 percentile2025 Week 9: New Mexico State vs. Missouri State · L 17–24; offense 18.4 percentile2025 Week 10: New Mexico State at Western Kentucky · L 16–35; offense 12.7 percentile2025 Week 11: New Mexico State vs. Kennesaw State · L 21–24; offense 20.8 percentile2025 Week 12: New Mexico State at Tennessee · L 9–42; offense 3.3 percentile2025 Week 13: New Mexico State at UTEP · W 34–31; offense 71.3 percentile2025 Week 14: New Mexico State vs. Middle Tennessee · L 24–31; offense 31.6 percentile2026 Week 1: New Mexico State at Florida State · L 17–34; offense 50.5 percentile2026 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Mercyhurst · W 51–14; offense 55.5 percentile2014 offense season mean: 26.4 percentile2015 offense season mean: 44.1 percentile2016 offense season mean: 39.3 percentile2017 offense season mean: 50.1 percentile2018 offense season mean: 28.5 percentile2019 offense season mean: 29.1 percentile2020 offense season mean: 44.5 percentile2021 offense season mean: 35.8 percentile2022 offense season mean: 23.3 percentile2023 offense season mean: 73.2 percentile2024 offense season mean: 30.9 percentile2025 offense season mean: 20.2 percentile2026 offense Bayesian estimate: 25.7 percentile2026 offense empirical mean: 53.0 percentiledefenseGame-grade percentile · higher is better9975502512014 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Cal Poly · W 28–10; defense 22.9 percentile2014 Week 3: New Mexico State at UTEP · L 24–42; defense 2.8 percentile2014 Week 4: New Mexico State vs. New Mexico · L 35–38; defense 1.4 percentile2014 Week 5: New Mexico State at LSU · L 7–63; defense 2.8 percentile2014 Week 6: New Mexico State vs. Georgia Southern · L 28–36; defense 64.4 percentile2014 Week 7: New Mexico State at Troy · L 24–41; defense 7.0 percentile2014 Week 8: New Mexico State at Idaho · L 17–29; defense 23.5 percentile2014 Week 10: New Mexico State vs. Texas State · L 29–37; defense 26.3 percentile2014 Week 11: New Mexico State vs. Louisiana · L 16–44; defense 25.4 percentile2014 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. UL Monroe · L 17–30; defense 47.9 percentile2014 Week 14: New Mexico State at Arkansas State · L 35–68; defense 0.7 percentile2015 Week 1: New Mexico State at Florida · L 13–61; defense 1.1 percentile2015 Week 2: New Mexico State vs. Georgia State · L 32–34; defense 14.8 percentile2015 Week 3: New Mexico State vs. UTEP · L 47–50; defense 7.9 percentile2015 Week 5: New Mexico State at New Mexico · L 29–38; defense 52.8 percentile2015 Week 6: New Mexico State at Ole Miss · L 3–52; defense 1.1 percentile2015 Week 7: New Mexico State at Georgia Southern · L 26–56; defense 1.2 percentile2015 Week 8: New Mexico State vs. Troy · L 7–52; defense 15.4 percentile2015 Week 9: New Mexico State vs. Idaho · W 55–48; defense 4.8 percentile2015 Week 10: New Mexico State at Texas State · W 31–21; defense 50.3 percentile2015 Week 12: New Mexico State at Louisiana · W 37–34; defense 41.5 percentile2015 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. Arkansas State · L 28–52; defense 22.2 percentile2015 Week 14: New Mexico State at UL Monroe · L 35–42; defense 57.6 percentile2016 Week 1: New Mexico State at UTEP · L 22–38; defense 21.9 percentile2016 Week 2: New Mexico State vs. New Mexico · W 32–31; defense 59.9 percentile2016 Week 3: New Mexico State at Kentucky · L 42–62; defense 2.1 percentile2016 Week 4: New Mexico State at Troy · L 6–52; defense 9.2 percentile2016 Week 8: New Mexico State vs. Georgia Southern · L 19–22; defense 46.9 percentile2016 Week 9: New Mexico State at Texas A&M · L 10–52; defense 10.6 percentile2016 Week 11: New Mexico State at Arkansas State · L 22–41; defense 25.3 percentile2016 Week 12: New Mexico State vs. Texas State · W 50–10; defense 59.2 percentile2016 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. App State · L 7–37; defense 25.6 percentile2016 Week 14: New Mexico State at South Alabama · L 28–35; defense 10.9 percentile2017 Week 1: New Mexico State at Arizona State · L 31–37; defense 68.2 percentile2017 Week 2: New Mexico State at New Mexico · W 30–28; defense 48.6 percentile2017 Week 3: New Mexico State vs. Troy · L 24–27; defense 20.7 percentile2017 Week 4: New Mexico State vs. UTEP · W 41–14; defense 64.7 percentile2017 Week 5: New Mexico State at Arkansas · L 24–42; defense 6.8 percentile2017 Week 6: New Mexico State at App State · L 31–45; defense 38.8 percentile2017 Week 7: New Mexico State at Georgia Southern · W 35–27; defense 68.5 percentile2017 Week 9: New Mexico State vs. Arkansas State · L 21–37; defense 70.7 percentile2017 Week 10: New Mexico State at Texas State · W 45–35; defense 16.2 percentile2017 Week 12: New Mexico State at Louisiana · L 34–47; defense 25.0 percentile2017 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. Idaho · W 17–10; defense 85.2 percentile2017 Week 14: New Mexico State vs. South Alabama · W 22–17; defense 62.7 percentile2017 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Utah State · W 26–20; defense 89.6 percentile2018 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Wyoming · L 7–29; defense 39.4 percentile2018 Week 1: New Mexico State at Minnesota · L 10–48; defense 31.7 percentile2018 Week 2: New Mexico State at Utah State · L 13–60; defense 54.4 percentile2018 Week 3: New Mexico State vs. New Mexico · L 25–42; defense 43.7 percentile2018 Week 4: New Mexico State at UTEP · W 27–20; defense 24.7 percentile2018 Week 6: New Mexico State vs. Liberty · W 49–41; defense 13.1 percentile2018 Week 7: New Mexico State at Louisiana · L 38–66; defense 1.6 percentile2018 Week 8: New Mexico State vs. Georgia Southern · L 31–48; defense 2.1 percentile2018 Week 9: New Mexico State at Texas State · L 20–27; defense 29.8 percentile2018 Week 10: New Mexico State vs. Alcorn State · W 52–42; defense 0.9 percentile2018 Week 12: New Mexico State at BYU · L 10–45; defense 20.9 percentile2018 Week 13: New Mexico State at Liberty · L 21–28; defense 76.5 percentile2019 Week 1: New Mexico State at Washington State · L 7–58; defense 25.1 percentile2019 Week 2: New Mexico State at Alabama · L 10–62; defense 8.8 percentile2019 Week 3: New Mexico State vs. San Diego State · L 10–31; defense 9.7 percentile2019 Week 4: New Mexico State at New Mexico · L 52–55; defense 2.2 percentile2019 Week 5: New Mexico State vs. Fresno State · L 17–30; defense 46.1 percentile2019 Week 6: New Mexico State vs. Liberty · L 13–20; defense 62.1 percentile2019 Week 7: New Mexico State at Central Michigan · L 28–42; defense 53.4 percentile2019 Week 9: New Mexico State at Georgia Southern · L 7–41; defense 12.2 percentile2019 Week 11: New Mexico State at Ole Miss · L 3–41; defense 2.4 percentile2019 Week 12: New Mexico State vs. Incarnate Word · W 41–28; defense 27.6 percentile2019 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. UTEP · W 44–35; defense 7.3 percentile2019 Week 14: New Mexico State at Liberty · L 28–49; defense 12.9 percentile2020 Week 5: New Mexico State vs. Utah Tech · W 36–29; defense 11.2 percentile2021 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. UTEP · L 3–30; defense 11.5 percentile2021 Week 2: New Mexico State at New Mexico · L 25–34; defense 13.9 percentile2021 Week 5: New Mexico State at San José State · L 31–37; defense 5.3 percentile2021 Week 6: New Mexico State at Nevada · L 28–55; defense 23.3 percentile2021 Week 8: New Mexico State at Hawai'i · L 34–48; defense 3.0 percentile2021 Week 10: New Mexico State vs. Utah State · L 13–35; defense 16.9 percentile2021 Week 11: New Mexico State at Alabama · L 3–59; defense 7.5 percentile2021 Week 12: New Mexico State at Kentucky · L 16–56; defense 5.6 percentile2021 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. Massachusetts · W 44–27; defense 2.4 percentile2022 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Nevada · L 12–23; defense 50.6 percentile2022 Week 1: New Mexico State at Minnesota · L 0–38; defense 3.5 percentile2022 Week 2: New Mexico State at UTEP · L 13–20; defense 86.0 percentile2022 Week 3: New Mexico State at Wisconsin · L 7–66; defense 6.7 percentile2022 Week 5: New Mexico State vs. Florida International · L 7–21; defense 27.5 percentile2022 Week 7: New Mexico State vs. New Mexico · W 21–9; defense 52.9 percentile2022 Week 9: New Mexico State at Massachusetts · W 23–13; defense 60.6 percentile2022 Week 12: New Mexico State at Missouri · L 14–45; defense 3.6 percentile2022 Week 13: New Mexico State at Liberty · W 49–14; defense 88.6 percentile2022 Week 14: New Mexico State vs. Valparaiso · W 65–3; defense 88.9 percentile2022 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Bowling Green · W 24–19; defense 66.7 percentile2023 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Massachusetts · L 30–41; defense 21.4 percentile2023 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Western Illinois · W 58–21; defense 38.0 percentile2023 Week 2: New Mexico State at Liberty · L 17–33; defense 47.6 percentile2023 Week 3: New Mexico State at New Mexico · W 27–17; defense 58.6 percentile2023 Week 4: New Mexico State at Hawai'i · L 17–20; defense 78.0 percentile2023 Week 6: New Mexico State vs. Florida International · W 34–17; defense 14.4 percentile2023 Week 7: New Mexico State vs. Sam Houston · W 27–13; defense 65.0 percentile2023 Week 8: New Mexico State at UTEP · W 28–7; defense 72.3 percentile2023 Week 9: New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech · W 27–24; defense 39.6 percentile2023 Week 10: New Mexico State vs. Middle Tennessee · W 13–7; defense 60.7 percentile2023 Week 11: New Mexico State at Western Kentucky · W 38–29; defense 20.2 percentile2023 Week 12: New Mexico State at Auburn · W 31–10; defense 62.3 percentile2023 Week 13: New Mexico State vs. Jacksonville State · W 20–17; defense 68.6 percentile2023 Week 14: New Mexico State at Liberty · L 35–49; defense 6.2 percentile2023 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Fresno State · L 10–37; defense 30.5 percentile2024 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Southeast Missouri State · W 23–16; defense 38.0 percentile2024 Week 2: New Mexico State vs. Liberty · L 24–30; defense 43.9 percentile2024 Week 3: New Mexico State at Fresno State · L 0–48; defense 13.0 percentile2024 Week 5: New Mexico State vs. New Mexico · L 40–50; defense 5.5 percentile2024 Week 7: New Mexico State at Jacksonville State · L 13–54; defense 22.5 percentile2024 Week 8: New Mexico State vs. Louisiana Tech · W 33–30; defense 47.2 percentile2024 Week 10: New Mexico State vs. Florida International · L 13–34; defense 27.9 percentile2024 Week 11: New Mexico State vs. Western Kentucky · L 28–41; defense 17.1 percentile2024 Week 12: New Mexico State at Texas A&M · L 3–38; defense 7.1 percentile2024 Week 13: New Mexico State at Middle Tennessee · W 36–21; defense 11.8 percentile2024 Week 14: New Mexico State vs. UTEP · L 35–42; defense 29.7 percentile2025 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Bryant · W 19–3; defense 62.8 percentile2025 Week 2: New Mexico State vs. Tulsa · W 21–14; defense 85.0 percentile2025 Week 3: New Mexico State at Louisiana Tech · L 14–49; defense 14.3 percentile2025 Week 5: New Mexico State at New Mexico · L 20–38; defense 27.1 percentile2025 Week 6: New Mexico State vs. Sam Houston · W 37–10; defense 51.0 percentile2025 Week 8: New Mexico State at Liberty · L 27–30; defense 52.8 percentile2025 Week 9: New Mexico State vs. Missouri State · L 17–24; defense 53.5 percentile2025 Week 10: New Mexico State at Western Kentucky · L 16–35; defense 24.8 percentile2025 Week 11: New Mexico State vs. Kennesaw State · L 21–24; defense 40.3 percentile2025 Week 12: New Mexico State at Tennessee · L 9–42; defense 50.9 percentile2025 Week 13: New Mexico State at UTEP · W 34–31; defense 16.4 percentile2025 Week 14: New Mexico State vs. Middle Tennessee · L 24–31; defense 27.2 percentile2026 Week 1: New Mexico State at Florida State · L 17–34; defense 34.1 percentile2026 Week 1: New Mexico State vs. Mercyhurst · W 51–14; defense 23.2 percentile2014 defense season mean: 13.0 percentile2015 defense season mean: 14.5 percentile2016 defense season mean: 22.6 percentile2017 defense season mean: 50.6 percentile2018 defense season mean: 20.8 percentile2019 defense season mean: 17.2 percentile2020 defense season mean: 11.2 percentile2021 defense season mean: 8.3 percentile2022 defense season mean: 44.9 percentile2023 defense season mean: 43.8 percentile2024 defense season mean: 21.3 percentile2025 defense season mean: 41.4 percentile2026 defense Bayesian estimate: 38.6 percentile2026 defense empirical mean: 28.4 percentile2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026
Individual gameSeason bar · 2026 is the estimate2026 empirical meanCoaching-era band
2022Jerry Kill
2024Tony Sanchez

How to read 2026

The current-season estimate intelligently blends last season with new data.

The 2026 estimate is a Bayesian weighted average of normal-score Z-values. The 2025 season mean counts like 8 games of prior evidence; each completed 2026 game counts once. The result is then translated back to the 0–100 percentile scale.

2026 Z = (8 × 2025 mean Z + games played × 2026 mean Z) ÷ (8 + games played)

Season record

Every annual grade and coach

Retrospective rows average the available single-game grades in normal-score space. The result is shown as a percentile. Roughly speaking, a 95th-percentile season corresponds to about the eighth-best team in a 160-team field.

SeasonHead coachGamesOffenseDefense
2026Live estimateTony Sanchez2
25.7 estimate53.0 games-only average
38.6 estimate28.4 games-only average
2025Tony Sanchez1220.241.4
2024Tony SanchezCoaching change1130.921.3
2023Jerry Kill1573.243.8
2022Jerry KillCoaching change1123.344.9
2021Doug Martin935.88.3
2020Doug Martin144.511.2
2019Doug Martin1229.117.2
2018Doug Martin1228.520.8
2017Doug Martin1350.150.6
2016Doug Martin1039.322.6
2015Doug Martin1244.114.5
2014Doug Martin1126.413.0