Talk about a nail-biter! The Liberty Flames gave the college football fans a real scare on Tuesday night before pulling off a dramatic 30-27 comeback victory against the New Mexico State Aggies. With the game on the line, kicker Ryan Hawk stepped up for a 47-yard attempt to send the contest into overtime. But his kick sailed wide left as the final whistle blew, securing the much-needed dub for Liberty. Talk about dramatic moments.

This is how it went down – dying minutes of the game. Liberty running back Evan Dickens punched in the go-ahead touchdown with just 36 seconds left on the clock. He capped a dramatic 13-play, 92-yard drive that consumed just over three minutes. That put Liberty up 30-27 and had everyone thinking the game was over.

However, the Aggies had a real chance to put the ice on Liberty’s comeback. New Mexico State quickly moved into field-goal range after a clutch 32-yard catch by Gavin Harris with a mere four seconds remaining. Well, that’s when Ryan Hawk kicked the ball wide, to the dismay of the fans.

Liberty’s win came down to grit and big moments at the right time. Liberty showed some serious heart to pull off that 30-27 win. Evan Dickens was all over the place, punching in two touchdowns and running 13 times for 50 yards, while Ethan Vasko did his thing through the air, throwing for 179 yards – even if he had a couple of picks.

Also, we have to give props to the Aggies. The New Mexico State kept them on their toes, too, with Logan Fife tossing two TDs and Kadarius Calloway racking up 84 rushing yards and a score. But it was the special teams who stole the show for Liberty and put a dent in New Mexico State’s dub.

Julian Gray’s insane 96-yard kickoff return gave Liberty an early spark, and then another Aggies’ punt mistake set up Dickens’ short TD run. Even after New Mexico State returned with 21 straight points in the second half, Liberty stayed poised, waiting to strike at the perfect moment.

The Aggies can’t even blame Ryan Hawk for missing the field goal. Mind you, it was 47 yards out. It was 50-50 for the Aggies. The Flames walked away with a 30-27 win, leaving fans cheering a heart-stopping comeback they won’t forget anytime soon.

New Mexico State and Liberty Flames: A season recap

The New Mexico State Aggies football team has a mixed bag season in 2025. They’re sitting at a 3-3 overall record and are 1-2 in their Conference USA games. While they’ve shown some bite, like getting a big win against Sam Houston and pulling off a couple of victories at home early in the season, they’ve also hit some rough patches.

They lost to their rival, New Mexico, and Louisiana Tech handled them well. So, they’re not exactly tearing it up, but they’re not entirely out of the picture either. Even Liberty isn’t doing any better than New Mexico State. They’ve had a bumpy start, holding a 3-4 record overall and sitting at 2-1 in Conference USA after today’s win. The Liberty still misses Kaidon Salter, though.

The Flames started well with a win against Maine, but then dropped four straight games, including tough road losses at Jacksonville State and Old Dominion. The college football fans though, had a match to remember between Liberty and New Mexico State.

But with this dub, the Flames surely have found some confidence in themselves for the upcoming slate.