LAS CRUCES, N.M. ? Saturday night was another rerun of Idaho football 2007. This episode, though, had a slightly different twist in that the Vandals went toe-to-toe with New Mexico State early before allowing the Aggies to dominate for a stretch en route to a 45-31 Western Athletic Conference victory.

“There were good things and there were poor things we did throughout the night,” coach Robb Akey said. “That's why we're in the situation we're in.”

The Vandals held tough early. But a rugged stretch in the middle quarters allowed NMSU to forge enough of a lead that despite late game thrills and heroics, Idaho wasn't able to pull through.

“This is a hurting unit right now,” Akey said.

Senior linebacker David Vobora said the inconsistencies throughout the course of the game were troubling.

“At times,” he said, “we hurt ourselves. We gave them so many key third-down conversions.”

For the record, Vobora and fellow senior linebacker Brandon Ogletree had 13 stops each. Offensively, it's a youth movement. Redshirt freshman Deonte` Jackson went over 100 yards for the fifth time with 143 yards on 26 carries. True freshman quarterback Quin Ashley split time with senior Brian Nooy. Ashley wound up eight-of-15 for 92 yards and Nooy was 11-of-20 for 120 yards. Each one on TD toss; Nooy threw two interceptions.

The Aggies struck first with a 23-yard field goal by Paul Young but the Vandals responded with their first first-quarter touchdown since their Sept. 29 game against Hawai`i. True freshman Dewey Hale set up the score when he returned the kickoff 63 yards to the New Mexico State 28.

It looked as if the drive was stalling on the NMSU 19 but Deonte` Jackson popped a crucial four-yard fourth-down run to put the ball on the Aggie 15. Eddie Williams scored on the next play when he took the handoff from Brian Nooy, who had faked a run right to Jackson. Tino Amancio's PAT kick was for a 7-3 lead with 7:08 to go in the first.

The lead was short lived, however, as the Aggies struck with a 75-yard pass from Chase Holbrook to Derek Dubois on the second play of their next drive. The PAT kick was good and NMSU led 10-7 with 6:11 left in the first.

The Vandals were marching on their next possession but Quin Ashley fumbled and Skyler Sargent recovered to give the ball back to NMSU at the 50. Idaho survived the threat when, on fourth-down-and-goal from the Idaho 29, Isaac Butts knocked down a pass in the end zone and Idaho took over on downs.

Idaho made the most of the opportunity by driving the length of the field for a two-yard Jackson scoring run. Tino Amancio's PAT made it 14-10 with 15 seconds remaining in the first.

The Aggies didn't waste any time in the second quarter ? first scoring on a 19-yard pass from Holbrook to Kenneth Buckley then Davon House returned a Brian Nooy interception 100 yards for a 24-14 lead at the 8:45 mark.

NMSU increased its lead to 31-14 with 2:35 left in the first when Tonny Glynn scored on a run up the middle from eight yards out.

The Vandals found their way back onto the scoreboard when Ashley and Nooy teamed up to direct a drive that featured runs by Jackson, a 19-yard Nooy to Flowers first-down pass, and ultimately a seven-yarder by Nooy to a leaping Eddie Williams in the back of the end zone. Amancio's kick closed the gap to 31-21 with just 1:05 left in the half.

However, the Aggies made the most of their final opportunity of the first half. Effectively running and passing to work they clock, they marched 69 yards in four plays while using 33 seconds. Glynn capped the drive with a 37-yard run for the 38-21 lead.

The Vandals opened the second half with a drive that resulted in a 41-yard field goal by Amancio to cut the Aggies' lead to 38-24 with 10:34 left in the third quarter.

The scorefest continued when the Aggies took over on their next possession. Buckley capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive when he pulled in a 14-yard pass from Holbrook. Young's kick made it 45-24 with 4:12 to play in the third.

Idaho's next drive stalled at the NMSU 27, which brought on Amancio for a 44-yard field goal attempt ? which was wide left.

The Vandals scored one more time - on a 19-yard pass from Ashley to Max Komar with 7:03 to play.