BEAUMONT, Texas — Lamar University has signed a contract to play New Mexico State in 2022 announced LU Director of Athletics Marco Born Monday afternoon. The game will be the third non-conference match up for the Red and White that season as LU has already scheduled SMU (Sept. 10) and Northern Colorado (Sept. 17). The Cardinals originally scheduled a non-conference game against Tarleton State for 2022 but that game has been moved to a conference tilt after LU’s announced transition to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
The game against New Mexico State is slated to be played Saturday, Nov. 12th, from Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, N.M.
The matchup against NMSU will be the first meeting between the two since the 1976 season. That year, the Cardinals walked away with a four-point victory. The two teams have squared off against each other 10 times, with the Aggies holding a slight 6-4 (.600) advantage. The series dates back to the 1964 season. Big Red is 2-4 (.333) all-time in games played in Las Cruces, N.M.
The Cardinals will kick off their first season in the WAC in 2021 competing in the ASUN-WAC Challenge – a partnership between the WAC and Atlantic Sun conferences – which will allow the seven schools to be eligible for an automatic qualification into the 2021 NCAA FCS Playoffs.
The ASUN-WAC alliance will consist of LU, Abilene Christian, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin from the WAC, and Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State from the ASUN. WAC members Dixie State and Tarleton State will also participate in the joint schedule but are not eligible for the group’s automatic qualifier due to their transition to NCAA Division I status.
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