Nuñez disputes Kill's claim that he tried to prevent use of UNM facilities

Dec. 17—In a once passionate and proud rivalry that seems of late to have become one that escalates from zero to heated the instant any perceived slight occurs, the NMSU Aggies and UNM Lobos found themselves taking another embarrassing spin in a national news cycle over the weekend after an otherwise successful New Mexico Bowl that featured an announced crowd of nearly 31,000.

Sunday, all players in the most recent drama seemed to generally agree that emphatic comments made by NMSU coach Jerry Kill in the press conference following his team's 37-10 loss to Fresno State in Saturday's New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque were likely born from miscommunication or misunderstanding about his team's use of UNM's indoor practice facility in the days leading up to the game.

Kill accused UNM Athletic Director Eddie Nuñez of trying to prevent NMSU from using the facility ahead of the bowl game. Nuñez responded Sunday that he did not deny use of the facility and the New Mexico Bowl stated Saturday that NMSU and Fresno State had equal access to facilities.

NMSU used the indoor practice facility on Thursday and Friday before the bowl game.

The urination video

This summer, Albuquerque native and NMSU starting quarterback Diego Pavia urinated on the UNM Lobo logo on the field turf surface in that indoor practice facility, an incident caught on video. Pavia, who has led the Aggies to back-to-back bowl seasons, makes no secret of his contempt for UNM for not offering him a scholarship out of Volcano Vista High School in 2020 or after he won a junior college national championship at New Mexico Military Institute in 2021.

Albuquerque's KOB-TV published the urination video days after the Aggies beat the Lobos in University Stadium.

Kill, who said he was unaware of the peeing incident until after the Sept. 16 rivalry game, says he punished Pavia in part by not allowing him to do media interviews most of the season and also by cleaning toilets with a toothbrush.

Pavia, though he hasn't publicly apologized for the incident, did show remorse for his actions when he talked to El Paso TV station KVIA in late November, saying in part, "I shouldn't have done it."

In his post-game comments Saturday, Kill was emphatic that Nuñez tried to stop NMSU from using the facility and that bowl game officials stepped in to resolve the matter.

"When he didn't want to let us practice in the indoor facility, and he don't want us to do this, do that, that's chickenshit. ... He better be disciplined. He better be disciplined by the state," Kill said. Kill later told ESPN that he was upset that UNM had multiple uniformed law enforcement officers monitor them during their practice inside the facility.

Officials respond

On Sunday, Nuñez, NMSU Athletic Director Mario Moccia and the New Mexico Bowl all agreed on many, though not all, of the facts surrounding the issues, including that NMSU and Fresno State got full use of all the same UNM facilities in preparation for the bowl game and that the Aggies' use of all those facilities was not in question when they arrived in Albuquerque last week.

"At no time, did I or anyone at (UNM) deny the use of our facilities to either team before bowl game or during," Nuñez told the Journal on Sunday. "I expressed my concerns in advance with the (New Mexico Bowl Director) Jeff Siembieda about New Mexico State using our indoor because of the previous incident, but the ultimate decision was at the direction of the bowl executives and the responsibility would be solely on the New Mexico Bowl."

ESPN, which owns the New Mexico Bowl, and bowl officials on Saturday night issued a statement that backed that up, stating: "The Isleta New Mexico Bowl works with both participating institutions to ensure equal access to training and practice facilities. The University of New Mexico has been gracious hosts of this game for the past 18 years and this year's game was no exception.

"Understanding the nature of both in-state and in-conference rivalries, there is always a sense of ensuring that all parties respect each other's property, which in this case was upheld by both institutions."

Sunday, the New Mexico Bowl confirmed to the Journal, "The Bowl had deputies and bowl staff at practice to ensure a respectful use of the facility."

It's not clear whether deputies were also present at Fresno State practices.

Miscommunication

Though Kill didn't detail how he thought Nuñez tried to prevent NMSU from using the facility during the press conference, he later told ESPN: "They were going to make us practice on a high school field and let Fresno practice in the indoor, and that particular day, it snowed. But Jeff busted his butt and had to argue with their people to get us on the thing."

Moccia confirmed Sunday that NMSU was made aware prior to the team's arrival in Albuquerque that the program could use the indoor facility ahead of the bowl game. It's unclear whether Kill knew the team was able to use it.

Moccia told the Journal that on Dec. 5, two days after the official bowl announcement, a few NMSU athletics department employees drove to Albuquerque to tour the facilities the Aggies would be using in their bowl preparation. NMSU was told then it would be practicing at nearby Milne Stadium, an outdoor high school facility less than a mile from University Stadium.

Later that same day, after Kill was informed of the high school facility situation, Moccia called a UNM athletics department official (Nuñez was in the middle of a coaching search and not available) and Moccia said that person relayed to NMSU that he would "check with Eddie (Nuñez)" about what could be done about it.

Nuñez said he is aware of that conversation, but reiterated the decision on facilities was not his to make.