WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) _ New Mexico State came into Saturday's game against Army suffering from three straight losses and poor ball handling.

Army made them suffer more.

In Army's 35-18 win, the Cadets (3-4) gained an early game-long lead by capitalizing on three New Mexico State (3-4) turnovers.

The third, Derick McNally's interception at the Cadets 5-yard line, set up a drive that Michael Wallace finished with a 6-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0 early in the second quarter.

"Our defense did really well," Army head coach Bob Sutton said. "Early in the game they did a great job taking it away from New Mexico State."

Beforehand in the first quarter, the Cadets defense stripped the ball from two New Mexico State running backs and Army's offense converted those opportunities into touchdowns.

After New Mexico State's last turnover, they dropped the ball just twice more in the second half but didn't lose it.

"They were protecting the ball better, they weren't running as hard, but they were protecting the ball," said New Mexico State head coach Tony Samuel.

An Army fumble set up K.C Enzminger's 8-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Shaw 5:07 into the second quarter, giving New Mexico State its first points.

Twenty-three seconds later, however, Omari Thompson ran 72 yards for Army's fourth touchdown, putting the Cadets ahead 28-6.

Thompson finished the game with 5 carries and 108 yards, while Shaw caught five passes for 107 yards.

Along with turnovers, New Mexico State's offense was also plagued by dropped passes. Enzminger completed 18-of-34 passes for 257 yards, but more than half of the incomplete passes were in his receivers' hands.

"Well, you drop balls. It's all part of the game and if we had won, we wouldn't be talking about the turnovers as much," Samuel said.

Unlike most of The Cadets' opponents, New Mexico State's defense came into the game familiar with the option. Yet starting Army quarterback Chad Jenkins was able to guide his team to 425 yards in 73 plays.

"They did a lot of different things on defense and I think Chad responded real well," Sutton said.

Army's top-rated running game (309 yards a game) finished with 388 yards in 66 carries. New Mexico State came into the game averaging 241.8 rushing yards a game (11th in the nation), but Army's defense held the Aggies to 115 yards in 43 rushes.