Box Score | 2016 Season Statistics
FT. COLLINS, Colo. — For the second straight year, New Mexico entered its 11th game of the season with a Mountain West title game shot firmly in play and Colorado State in the way. For the second straight year, Colorado State dashed UNM’s dream. The Lobos, who could still tie for the Division title, allowed over 500 yards of offense for just the second time this season and the Rams ended their run in Hughes Stadium with a 49-24 win over the Lobos.
New Mexico, which dropped to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the Mountain West, can still win a share of the Mountain Division title with a Boise State loss to Air Force on Friday night and then a win over Wyoming in the regular season finale. That game will kickoff at 8:15 p.m. in Albuquerque, and it has been selected for broadcast on ESPN2.
The Lobos for the second straight game found themselves down 14-0 after two possessions as Nick Stevens threw a 19-yard touchdown pass and then ran for a 14-yard score.
The Lobos answered with a solid drive of 51 yards on nine plays, including a key fourth down conversion. UNM got on the board when Austin Apodaca hit Dameon Gamblin in the back of the end zone to make it 14-7. UNM’s defense then pitched a three and out, but UNM couldn’t capitalize and CSU went down and scored again as Stevens scooted in from a yard out to make it 21-7. After UNM stalled again, Corey Bojorquez flipped the field, unleashing an 80-yard punt that was downed at the 2-yard line. However, after an incompletion (the only one of the game for CSU), a long run set up the Rams near midfield, and they eventually cashed in on a 14-yard Izzy Matthews run. UNM cut the lead to 28-10 at the break when Jason Sanders connected for a career-long 51 yard field goal.
UNM couldn’t get the opening second half stop they needed, but the offense was sparked by Lamar Jordan, who came in for the field goal drive and then led UNM on a pair of long scoring drives, the first capped by a Richard McQuarley touchdown and the second on a perfect pass to Gamblin for his second score.
Down 49-24, UNM inched closer when Tyrone Owens bolted around the left end for a 79-yard touchdown. The Lobos tried a pooch kick that CSU fell on, and they ran out the final 5:10 from there.
Offensively, after a rough first 25 minutes, UNM found its groove, rushing for 285 yards on 48 attempts and had 366 overall, but Colorado State rushed for 412 on just 42 carries and had 576 overall. Owens however went over the 1,000-yard mark, the 19th player to do so in school history.
Postgame Notes: Colorado State 49, New Mexico 31
This was the 64th meeting between the two teams.
Colorado State now leads 98-25
Colorado State now leads 20-14 in Ft. Collins
Colorado State now leads 17-11 in Albuquerque
Colorado State now leads 2-0 on neutral fields
Colorado State has won seven in a row overall.
Starting lineup changes for UNM from published two-deep
Offense: No Changes.
Defense: No Changes.
*New Mexico’s captains were Lamar Jordan, Dakota Cox, Daniel Henry and Austin Apodaca
* Steven Romero carried the New Mexico flag for this game.
*UNM won the toss for the third time this season and the third time in a row and took the opening kickoff for the eighth time this year.
TEAM NOTES:
*The game time temperature at kickoff was 30 degrees. It marked the seventh-coldest opening kickoff since that stat has been on UNM boxscores, dating back to the late 1970s. It also was the second-coldest kickoff under Bob Davie, as on November 15, 2014, it was 28 degrees at kickoff against Utah State in Logan. It’s also the second coldest kickoff for UNM at Colorado State behind a 25-degree kickoff on October 30, 1993.
*UNM is now 1-6 when the opening kickoff is below freezing. The only win was November 22, 2003 when UNM defeated Wyoming 26-3. That was the coldest ever start at 9 degrees.
*New Mexico went down 14-0 after the opening two drives for the second straight game.
*The 412 yards rushing were the most allowed this season and the most since September 6, 2014 when the team gave up 423 to Arizona State.
*UNM’s five-game winning streak ended.
*UNM now has 3,844 rushing yards on the season, good for the third-most in school history and 73 yards away from second place at UNM and 385 away from first.
*UNM’s scoring average slipped slightly to 36.2 points per game, which would still be a school record (34.0 is the previous best)
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
*Corey Bojorquez launched an 80-yard punt in the second quarter, the second-longest punt in school history.
Longest Punts in UNM History
81 Bob Crandall vs. Colorado State 11/15/1958
80 Corey Bojorquez at Colorado State 11/19/2016
79 Jim Haynes vs. BYU 10/3/1975
79 A. L. Terpening vs. Wyoming 10/18/1952
78 Cort Moffitt vs. Texas Tech 8/26/2000
*Richard McQuarley scored his 13th rushing touchdown of the season, tying for fifth place on the single season list.
*Jason Sanders passed Justus Adams for the most PATs in school history with 51. He also has hit 73 in a row and is three away from tying Adams’ record of 76 in a row. Included in that run is a 45-yard extra point he hit against ULM.
*Dameon Gamblin’s two touchdown receptions were the first time he has done that in his career. He had three career touchdown catches prior to this game.
*Tyrone Owens became the 19th running back in school history to break the 1,000-yard mark. He finished with 157 yards and his fifth 100-yard rushing game. His 79-yard touchdown was his second-longest of the season.
*Teriyon Gipson rushed for 68 yards and now has 992 yards this season.