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Rally Falls Just Short as CSU Nips UNM 27-24

Tyrone OwensTyrone Owens

Box Score | 2017 Season Statistics

(10/20/2017) Football vs Colorado State

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico’s comeback bid fell just short, losing 27-24 to Colorado State in its “Lobos Love Pink” game on Friday night despite Tyrone Owens rushing for 159 yards and a touchdown.
 
Overall the team outgained Colorado State 450-411 and UNM rushed for 354 yards a week after getting just 109, despite massive changes along the offensive line.
 
Down 27-17 after a Wyatt Bryan 52-yard field goal with 5:05 to go, UNM mounted one last comeback attempt and nearly pulled off a miracle.  It took 14 plays and 75 yards, but UNM eventually answered with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Tuioti to Aaron Molina, Molina’s first as a Lobo, to bring New Mexico within three at 27-24 with 0:22 left on the clock.  The drive took a while as there was a sequence of five penalties on six plays. 
 

Down 27-24, Jason Sander’s attempted an onside kick, and it bounced off of CSU’s Dalton Fackrell and UNM pounced on it, giving them one last shot with 22 seconds left and no timeouts.  Tuioti scrambled to the Ram 47, but his next two passes were incomplete, the second after the original ruling of a catch was overturned on the field and then held up upon review. 
 
With three seconds left, UNM passed on a 64-yard field goal attempt into the wind and went for the desperation Hail Mary, but Evan Colorito sacked Tuioti before he could get the pass off, ending the game.
 
The loss is the Lobos’ eighth consecutive against the Rams; the last time they beat Colorado State was a 29-27 win on Nov. 21, 2009.
 
Despite being an underdog in the contest, New Mexico kept the game close, holding Colorado State to only 63 yards of offense in the first quarter. The Lobos received the opening kickoff but turned the ball over on downs after a Daryl Chestnut run was spotted short of a first down on the Colorado State 32-yard line. After the Rams took over, New Mexico similarly stopped the Colorado State fourth-down run short of a first down to regain possession.
 
New Mexico got on the board first with a three-yard run by McQuarley with 35 seconds left in the first quarter to make the score 7-0. The touchdown was set up by a 21-yard run by Chestnut and a 19-yard carry by Owens.
 
The Lobos forced Colorado State to punt on its following drive before marching back down the field to the Rams’ 23-yard line. Facing 4th-and-3, UNM elected to kick a field goal, but Sanders missed the 40-yard attempt to keep the score at 7-0.
 
Colorado State answered with a series of carries by Izzy Matthews and finished the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Nick Stevens to Dalton Fackrell to tie the score at 7-7 with 7:48 left in the half.
Tevaka Tuioti came in at quarterback on the Lobos’ next drive, but they went 3-and-out with two short carries and one incompletion.
 
The Rams quickly moved the ball down the field to score on a 14-yard pass from Stevens to Olabisi Johnson, taking a 14-7 lead with 2:19 remaining in the half.
 
Owens quickly advanced the Lobos to the 50-yard line with a 24-yard run, and a Colorado State personal foul gave the Lobos the ball on the Rams’ 35. After a short run and two dropped passes, Sanders kicked a 51-yard field goal to cut the lead to 14-10.
 
After the Lobos kicked off to Colorado State with 1:16 left in the half, the Rams scored on a one-yard rush by Matthews to take a 21-10 lead going into the break.
 
Colorado State received the kickoff to start the second half, but New Mexico forced the Rams to punt. The Lobos again turned the ball over on downs with Lamar Jordan under center after failing to convert on 4th-and-4, then forced another CSU punt.
 

Tuioti took back over at quarterback on the Lobos’ next drive, completing a 47-yard pass to Q’ Drennan to set up a 25-yard touchdown run by Owens to cut the lead to 24-17.
 
After starting its next drive in CSU territory, New Mexico fumbled with 10:19 left in the fourth quarter, and the Rams’ following drive resulted in a 52-yard field goal to make the score 27-17.

Jordan and Tuioti split time at quarterback; Tuioti finished the night passing 5-16 for 84 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 62 yards, while Jordan was 2-3 for 48 passing yards. 
 
New Mexico was 2-for-12 on third-down conversions and 2-for-5 on fourth-down attempts. The Lobos were also whistled for 12 penalties for 105 yards compared to the Rams’ eight penalties for 88 yards.
The Lobos return to action next Saturday as they travel to Laramie, Wyoming, for a 5:30 p.m. MT matchup against Wyoming on ESPNU.
 
Postgame Notes: Colorado State 27, New Mexico 24
 
This was the 65th meeting between the two teams.
Colorado State now leads 40-25
Colorado State now leads 20-14 in Albuquerque
Colorado State leads 18-11 in Ft. Collins
Colorado State leads 2-0 at neutral sites
Colorado State has won eight straight in the series
Colorado State has four straight in Albuquerque
 
Starting lineup changes for UNM from published two-deep
Offense: 88 TE Marcus Williams started for 10 Zahneer Shuler and 3 RB Richard McQuarley was the non-starter
Defense: 9 SS Stanley Barnwell, Jr. started for 16 Jacob Girgle
                                                                                                            
*New Mexico’s captains were Lamar Jordan, Blaise Fountain, Alex Hart and Jake Rothschiller
*Jacob Smith of Albuquerque, New Mexico carried the New Mexico flag onto the field
*New Mexico won the toss for the sixth time this season, and is now 6-1 on coin tosses.  UNM received the opening kickoff for the sixth time this season.
 
TEAM NOTES:
*The Lobos wore their alternate anthracite uniforms with anthracite helmets and red pants for the first time this season.
*After just 109 yards rushing against Fresno State, UNM went over that mark in the second quarter.  It finished the game with 318 yards rushing, UNM’s third 300-yard rushing game in the last four.
*UNM’s opponents have now made seven straight field goals and are 7-for-8 on the season, including two 50-yarders.
*UNM limited CSU to a season-low 231 passing yards, and held CSU under 200 rushing yards for just the second time in CSU’s last six games.
*UNM didn’t allow a kickoff return tonight, keeping UNM and Florida as the only teams in the nation to not allow a return of at least 20 yards.
*CSU scored 21 points in the second quarter, and UNM has now allowed 73 points this season in the second quarter, and just 71 in the entire second half.
*UNM’s onside kick recovery was their first since the 2015 Gildan New Mexico Bowl against Arizona.
 
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
*Jason Sanders broke the UNM career record with his 101st extra point.  Colby Cason had 100 from 1995-97.  Sanders now has 102.
*Richard McQuarley’s first quarter touchdown run was his sixth of the season and the 31st of his career, tying him for fifth place on the UNM career rushing touchdowns list with Stoney Case.
*Garrett Hughes sacked Nick Stevens to end a second quarter drive, just the third sack allowed by Colorado State this season.
*Tyrone Owens rushed for 159 yards, his first 100-yard game of the season and the sixth of his career.  His previous career-high was 171 yards against ULM last season.
*Owens also moved up from 26th place on the all-time rushing list to 24th with 1,650 career yards.  He is now just 13 out of 23rd and 17 out of 22nd.
*Jason Sanders, who missed a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter, hit a 51-yard field goal in the second quarter.  It was his fourth 50+ yard field goal of his career, and his second of his career against Colorado State.
*True freshman tight end Marcus Williams caught his first career pass, a 27-yard completion from Lamar Jordan.  He also made his first start of the season.
*Corey Bojorquez unleashed a 78-yard punt, from his own 11-yard line to the Colorado State 11-yard line.  Last year he hit an 80-yard punt at Colorado State, and it marked the third time in his career he hit a punt at least 77 yards.
*Overall Bojorquez set a school record with his 57.7-yard average for the game, topping the previous best of 54.2, set by Ron Keller in 1983 against Colorado State.  Bojorquez’ net for the game was also a school record of 64.7 as the only punt return went for -21 yards.  He had two pins (one at the 11, one at the 1) and he is now averaging 47.8 yards per punt and 43.3 net.
 
Postgame Notes: Colorado State 27, New Mexico 24
 
UNM Head coach Bob Davie:
“Competitive game. I thought we competed against a really good team. We made some mistakes and you can’t help to think about 24/7.   When you have the ball at the 34-yardline going in and you fumble the ball, (but) running backs, as we said all week, gave us a chance to win it.  We put our running backs in a position to win it.”
 
“We controlled the ball in the first quarter, they got extremely hot in the second quarter which they’re going to do. They are a talented team and the quarterback got hot, and they are a handful to try to defend.”
 
“I’m proud of the way we competed. We put ourselves in a position to win it at the end. The fumble hurt, but we didn’t cave in and then we got the onside kick.”
 
“I was proud of our spirit, our fight. We had some injuries. We played really hard but I’m encouraged, we’re encouraged.”
 
CSU Head Coach Mike Bobo:
 
“[Nick Stevens] did not turn the ball over. He did a really good job of getting us in the right runs, and it was a total team effort. I was really proud of the guys.”
 
“Tonight was a little hard. It was max pressure. It was a lot of one-on-one. They won more battles than we did, but we made enough plays to put enough points on the board.”