LAS CRUCES, N.M. – Tyler Tettleton threw two touchdown passes and rushed for two others as the Ohio football team stormed out to a huge lead and topped New Mexico State, 44-24, in its season opener Saturday night at Aggie Memorial Stadium.

The Bobcats held their biggest lead at 44-10 on a 65-yard punt return by Travis Carrie, but allowed the Aggies a pair of late touchdowns.

Making his first career start, Tettleton was 16 of 28 for 153 yards with one interception and added 42 yards on seven carries. He completed passes to 11 different players.

"He's a relatively inexperienced quarterback and he's not had that many snaps, so he's learning in progress kind of quarterback right now, but he's so composed,” Ohio coach Frank Solich said. “He’s so much of a team player (with) great leadership ability. He's working his way through things the way we hoped he would. I thought overall he managed the game really well.”

Ohio dominated the ground game, racking up 241 rushing yards, compared to only six by New Mexico State. Donte Harden led the way with 81 yards on 15 attempts.

With the game tied at 7 after one quarter, Ohio began to take control. It took the lead when the Aggies snapped the ball through the end zone for a safety.

Tettleton hooked up with LaVon Brazill for a 44-yard gain to set up a 1-yard touchdown run for a 16-7 advantage.

A Xavier Hughes interception gave the Bobcats good field position on their next possession, and they cashed in with a 7-yard scoring strike from Tettleton to Riley Dunlop.

“Well, the first eight series of the game we had a touchdown and the other seven series were not very good,” New Mexico State coach DeWayne Walker said. “I thought defensively we played well enough, because it could have been ugly in the first half between the turnovers and not being able to move the ball on offense.”

The game turned into a rout after halftime. Tettleton threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Donte Foster and scored on a 1-yard run before Carrie’s big return.

Taveon Rogers returned the favor to the Bobcats with a 97-yard kick return for touchdown, and New Mexico State got its passing game in gear late, but managed only one more touchdown – a 54-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Manley to Todd Lee with 14:42 remaining in the game.

Manley and Lee both had huge games for the Aggies, with Manley going 22 of 41 for 362 yards with an interception. Lee caught five passes for 140 yards.

“We played well defensively through most of the first half,” Solich said. “The second half we tailed off a little bit there. We weren't getting to the quarterback. (Manley) started to make some really good throws. He's got a good group of receivers to throw to, so you got to give those guys a lot of credit, but we gave them too many big plays in the throwing game.”

New Mexico State threatened to score twice more in the fourth quarter but was stopped twice after moving inside the Ohio 25-yard line.

Tyler Stamper had a had a 30-yard field goal on the Aggies’ opening possession of the second half that made it 30-10, but he also missed a try from 27 yards late in the first half.

The Bobcats took the lead in the first quarter on a 1-yard Beau Blankenship run. It was an eight-play, 69-yard drive with all of the yards gained on the ground.

New Mexico State responded with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Manley to Rodgers to tie the game late in the first quarter.

The Aggies had only 109 yards of offense in the first half, despite having three plays that totaled 112 yards. They finished with 368 in the game.

“In the second half, there were definitely some bright spots,” Walker said. “At the start of the second half, our defense just could not hold up. Then when we started getting it going (on offense), it was too late.”

Ohio’s new no-huddle offense was effective, producing 452 yards on 77 offensive plays.

Defensively, Nic Barber had a big game with three sacks. Tremayne Scott and Eric Benjamin each had two tackles for loss, and Jelani Woseley finished with nine tackles.

Phil Bates completed a 58-yard pass to Marion Dovell and had four carries for 35 yards. Brazill finished with a team-best 64 receiving yards on three catches.

“I think New Mexico State's team played hard the entire football game,” Solich said. “I give them a lot of credit for the way they battled back the second half. And so we were just able to get up on them fairly early on in the game and increase that lead, and that kind of put the game under wraps.”

Kenny Turner made seven catches for 93 yards, and Rogers finished with 92 yards on five receptions for New Mexico State. Defensively, Donyae Coleman had 14 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery.

The Bobcats host Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. next Saturday at Peden Stadium.