BOX SCORE | 2016 SEASON STATISTICS
(11/26/2016) Football vs. Wyoming
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In the end, the numbers were truly staggering, but it’s three small numbers that probably mean most to those associated with the Lobo football program, and certainly with the fan base.
Eleven.
Fifteen.
Nineteen.
Eleven is the number of conference wins in the last two seasons, a school record. Fifteen is the number of overall wins in the last two seasons, the third-most in school history. And 19. That’s the number of years since the Lobos could lay a claim to a title, which they rightfully earned with a historic 56-35 win over Wyoming, giving the Lobos a share of the Mountain West’s Mountain Division title.
Perhaps another key number was 29. That was the number of seniors that UNM had, and they went out in style. The game was never in doubt, and the numbers racked up by UNM’s offense were truly staggering. The offense put up the second-most rushing yards in school history with 568, and tied for the second-most yards in total offense in school history with 690. The Lobos run up, down, over, around and straight through Wyoming’s defense, gashing the Cowboys for 10 runs of 20 or more yards. Even UNM’s passing game with Lamar Jordan helming the triple was nearly unstoppable as he went 4-for-5 for 122 yards and a touchdown.
That touchdown pass was UNM’s only one of the game, a 49-yarder off a flea-flicker to Q’ Drennan. But this day was about the running attack. The Lobos posted three 100-yard rushers with Teriyon Gipson scoring twice among his 13 carries for 217 yards. Lamar Jordan also rushed 12 times for a career-high 176, and Richard McQuarley had a career-best 121 on 15 carries.
The Lobos jumped out to a 21-0 lead with a pair of McQuarley opening quarter touchdowns and a Gipson run. Down 14-0, Wyoming actually drove all the way to the Lobo 9-yard line, but on second-and-6, an offensive pass interference penalty negated a touchdown. Then Nik D’Avanzo and Donnie White had back-to-back sacks, both for 13 yards in losses, and what was once second-and-6 became fourth-and-47. After a punt, UNM made it 21-0 just three rushes later and that effectively ended the game drama.
The Lobos defense was solid, allowing just 150 yards in the first half. Overall the Lobo defense had three pass breakups and three sacks for 32 yards.
UNM’s special teams chipped in as Corey Bojorquez had another outstanding day with a 50.0 net. His second punt was over return man Austin Conway’s head, which he fumbled. Alex Hart recovered at the 1-yard line, leading to UNM’s final touchdown of the day, that being McQuarley’s third.
Wyoming, despite the loss had the tiebreaker in the three-way tie with UNM and Boise State by virtue of a better division record at 4-1 to UNM and BSU’s 3-2, so they will head to the championship game against San Diego State. How close was UNM to being in that championship game? As close as Air Force’s two three-point losses, one to Colorado State and one to Hawai’i. If either result was flipped, including the Hawai’i loss in overtime, UNM would have won the tiebreaker.
Postgame Notes: New Mexico 56, (RV/RV) Wyoming 35
This was the 69th meeting between the two teams.
Wyoming now leads 35-34
New Mexico now leads 19-17 in Albuquerque
Wyoming now leads 18-15 in Laramie
New Mexico has won three in a row overall.
Starting lineup changes for UNM from published two-deep
Offense: RB-Richard McQuarley for Tyrone Owens.
Defense: NICK-Lee Crosby for Jake Rothschiller; DE-Cody Baker for Johnny Williams at NT, with Garrett Hughes moving to nose
*New Mexico’s captains were Lamar Jordan, Dakota Cox, Daniel Henry and Austin Apodaca
* Steven Romero was the New Mexico flag for this game, but the flag was carried by James McNeely
*UNM won the toss for the fourth time this season and the fourth time in a row and took the opening kickoff for the eighth time this year.
TEAM NOTES:
*New Mexico broke the 5,000-yard mark in total offense for the eighth time in school history. The Lobos actually moved all the way into second place and now have 5,643 yards, just 21 yards away from the record.
*New Mexico’s 428 yards rushing in the first half marked the third time under Bob Davie that the Lobos rushed for 400 in a half, doing so in 2013 against UNLV (400) and in 2014 against Boise State (417). UNM lost both of those previous outings.
*The Lobos rushed for 568, the second-most in school history. The only time UNM rushed for more was 585 against New Mexico State on October 23, 1982.
*New Mexico’s 690 yards of total offense tied for the second-most in school history, equaling the 690 UNM got against San Diego State on September 27, 1986 and one yard short of the 691 against Utah on November 11, 1989. UNM actually lost both of those previous games, making tonight the most total yards in a win.
*New Mexico had three 100-yard rushers for the first time since 2013 against UNLV. In that game it was Kasey Carrier (192), Carlos Wiggins (119) and Cole Gautsche (108). Tonight it was Teriyon Gipson (217), Lamar Jordan (176) and Richard McQuarley (121).
*New Mexico has now had 55 100-yard rushers in 62 games under Bob Davie.
*The Lobos have now won 11 conference games in the last two seasons, and that’s the most in consecutive seasons in school history dating back to conference play in 1931.
*UNM’s 12.3 yards per rush (568 on 46 carries) easily bested the previous record of 10.3 (505 yards on 49 carries) that UNM set on November 8, 2014 against Boise State. That also was in a loss.
*The Lobos averaged a season-best 30.5 yards per completion.
*Of UNM’s 51 plays in the game, 13 went for at least 20 yards (10 rushes, three passes).
*New Mexico has now scored 454 points this season, which is a school record, and the team is averaging 37.8 points per game. Even if it were to be shutout in a bowl game, UNM will break the single-season per game average record.
*New Mexico’s 568 yards rushing were the most in the FBS this year. The previous best was Auburn, which had 543.
*UNM’s 4,331 yards rushing this season breaks the previous UNM record of 4,229 established in 1971.
*UNM’s 11 conference wins in back-to-back seasons is the most in school history. They previous best was 10, done five times. UNM started playing conference games in 1931.
*UNM’s 15 wins in back-to-back seasons is tied for the third-most all-time at UNM, behind the 16 in 1938-39 and 1982-83.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
*Teriyon Gipson hit the 1,000-yard mark in the first quarter, giving New Mexico two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season for the first time in school history. He finished the game with a career-high 217 yards, his second-career 200-yard game. He moved from 20th in school history on the single-season rushing charts to sixth with 1,209 yards. Gipson had his sixth 100-yard game of the season and his eighth of his career.
*Richard McQuarley had a career-long run of 53 yards for a touchdown. His 121 yards rushing were a career-high
*McQuarley also moved into second place on the all-time single season UNM rushing touchdown list with 16, one ahead of Kasey Carrier. He also moved into a tie for ninth place on the UNM career rushing touchdowns list with 23, moving ahead of Rocky Long and tying Fred Henry.
*Gipson had two rushing touchdowns, giving him 12 for the season on the ground, tying him for 11th place all-time in single-season history.
*Jason Sanders broke the UNM school record for consecutive extra points when he hit his fourth of the game. Overall he has now hit 82 in a row and UNM has made 113 in a row.
*Dakota Cox moved into seventh place on the career tackles chart and now needs seven for 400 in his career. Cox has a 21 tackle lead on Daniel Henry and Nik D’Avanzo with one game left, meaning he will become the first Lobo in school history to lead the team in tackles in all four seasons.
*Steven Romero played in his 49th career game and will tie the UNM record for games played with UNM’s bowl game.
Postgame Quotes: New Mexico 56, (RV/RV) Wyoming 35
COACH BOB DAVIE
Opening Statement:
First off, I look at these fifth-year seniors … and the program was 3-37 in the four years leading up to me trying to get these guys to come here. Five years later we can share the Mountain Division championship. That’s a pretty good ride there. It’s an unbelievable accomplishment.
To be able to bounce back from last week’s loss to Colorado State and that whole thing is a heck of a deal. We bounced back from the Boise State loss. I’m really proud of these guys and these coaches.
Before we delve into the game, you have to take a look back at the bigger picture of it all and its unbelievable really. We’ve won eight games and have a chance to win a ninth game. We shared a piece of this division title. It’s pretty good and I appreciate these kids and these coaches. I’m not sure people realize what they’ve done.
Offensively, wow. Wow. Wow. Close to 700 yards of offense and well over 500 yards rushing. They played us a little bit different then they played us in the past. It’s different then they played Air Force. … We may run the ball, but we are pretty entertaining to watch. … It was just a lot of big explosive plays offensively.
Defensively we hung in there against a really strong Wyoming offense. This team was averaging more than 50 points per game over their last three games. You could see the kind of receivers they have with the catches they made. That quarterback is a big weapon. The tailback is a big, strong guy.
On Lamar Jordan’s game:
He played really well. He made some throws. … Tonight it was clicking without a doubt. Lamar played really well tonight. No. 28 (Andrew Wingard) for them is a really good player and Jordan just outran him on one play – which doesn’t happen very often. Lamar is a competitor, no doubt.
DAKOTA COX, LINEBACKER:
Guys just stepped up throughout the week. The guys had a determination to be better. They worked hard at practice and we just had a different drive out here – especially for the seniors with this being the last home game for the regular season.
The important thing for us is we came out and got these eight wins on the season. I’m so proud of these guys and the hard work they’ve put in, especially for the seniors that have been through so much. I’m very excited for this team and where we are going.
I remember sitting in our freshmen dorms on campus about how good it would feel to win. How much it would mean to this campus and this community. We were just talking about that – how big it is we have helped build this culture of winning here. I’m very proud of these guys that have stuck through it all.
LAMAR JORDAN, QUARTERBACK:
It’s sad that our time is coming to an end, but I wanted to take these seniors out on a good note. … The whole time they were getting called out – I was watching. Like Dakota (Cox) said, when we first got here it was kind of rough. All of us would pile up in an apartment and argue about how we have to change this whole program. To look at what we’ve done four years later is a blessing. It’s truly amazing.
About the flea flicker TD pass:
We put that play in before the Hawai’i game, so it was a matter of time before we ran it. Q’ (Drennan) sold it and Rick (Richard McQuarley) had an amazing block. That gets unnoticed, but if that doesn’t happen I probably get de-cleated.
Head Coach, Craig Bohl:
“New Mexico played really well tonight, and they beat us soundly in every which way and we got 24-hours to commiserate about it but we have a whole lot to play for. To say that we’re looking past this team, that would be a disservice to New Mexico.”
“It was a rough night; I think we really need to give credit to New Mexico they finished off on a high note. In particular, their offense was more troublesome than what we anticipated. They’re numbers were true tonight. The speed of the game could never get caught up to that. Obviously it was something we need to prepare better for and we will.”
“Offensively I felt there were times we did somethings okay but we were disjointed there and we didn’t play well in the kicking game. We got beat by a good football team and we’re going to need to play well for a chance to win. We didn’t get it done and we need to get ready to play San Diego State in a short amount of time.”
“It was hard to replicate the speed at which they operate. All of the plays that we did, we tried to have our scout team do them, and when those plays hit what that style of offense does is make you spread the field horizontally, it was ton of big plays. It was an abysmal defensive performance; I’m not going to sugar coat it. What we have to do is get ready for an offense that is 180 degrees different and lick our wounds, we’ll learn from this and move forward.”
“We’re playing for a championship and that’s why we have to bounce back.”
#45, Lucas Wacha:
“As a leader I need to be able to step up and execute those things and it goes along with everybody. It starts down with me being the leader of the defense but that’s what it is and that games done. This is where I earn my stripes as defensive captain, I was talking to the guys on the sidelines before the game was over telling them that we have two more games left, and we still can achieve the things we want to achieve.”