SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Riding a dominating rushing attack, the University of Utah defeated the University of New Mexico 37-16 in the Mountain West Conference-opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah (3-1, 1-1 MWC) scored 23 unanswered points in the second half after New Mexico (1-3, 0-1 MWC) had taken a 16-14 lead early in the third quarter. UNM lost its third straight game at Utah, falling to 3-16-1 all-time in Salt Lake City.
Down 14-7 at halftime, UNM struck quickly on its first play of the second half as sophomore quarterback Casey Kelly hit sophomore wide receiver Dwight Counter down the sideline for a 47-yard touchdown. Four minutes later, the Lobo defense gave New Mexico its first lead of the game when senior linebacker Gary Davis sacked quarterback Lance Rice in the endzone for the safety and a 16-14 lead at the 8:43 mark of the third quarter.
After forcing the Lobos to go three-and-out, Utah put together a 13-play, 70-yard drive to regain the lead, 17-16, on Ryan Kaneshiro’s 33-yard field goal. New Mexico’s offense stalled on its next three possessions and Utah took advantage of a weary Lobo defense with a pair of big running plays by senior running backs Adam Tate and Dameon Hunter. With eight seconds left in the third quarter, Tate took a pitch on second-and-three from the UNM 47-yard line, eluded several defenders and raced down the right sideline for a touchdown. Kaneshiro missed the extra point giving the Utes a seven-point lead entering the fourth quarter. Two series later, on another second down play from the UNM 25-yard line, Hunter broke several tackles in the Lobo secondary and burst up the middle for a 74-yard gain before being tripped up by sophomore linebacker Shannon Kincaid at the one-yard line. Hunter found the endzone on the next play as the Utes increased their lead to 30-16 with 9:08 remaining in the game. With the UNM offense unable to mount a scoring drive, Utah’s powerful running game battered the Lobo defense, including a late touchdown run by Tate to cap the scoring.
“They wore us out a little bit and we missed a lot of tackles,” said UNM head coach Rocky Long. “It’s disappointing because I didn’t think they would.”
New Mexico’s loss overshadowed another solid performance by senior running back Jarrod Baxter who rushed for 88 yards in the first half and finished with 97 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Meanwhile, Kelly, who entered the game with three career pass attempts, was respectable after subbing for an ineffective Rudy Caamano in the second quarter. Kelly finished seven of 24 passing for 124 yards and his first career touchdown while Caamano was three of 11 for 41 yards and an interception. Counter had his second straight solid receiving game for the Lobos, finishing with four receptions, 107 yards and his first touchdown of the season.
“We decided last week that we would put Casey in on the first full series of the second quarter,” said Long. “I was surprised with how much poise he had when he first got in there and I think he got better as the game went along. We just had too many drops and didn’t get enough first downs to keep our defense off the field.”
Hunter rushed for a career-high 177 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries while Tate added 76 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 12 carries for the Utes. Hunter’s 177 yards were the most allowed by New Mexico since Oregon State’s Ken Simonton rushed for 184 yards in 28-20 UNM loss on Sep. 9 last year in Albuquerque. The Lobos kept the Utah passing game at bay as Rice completed just 12 of 26 passes for 147 yards and an interception. Senior wide receiver Cliff Russell made just three catches for 86 yards, but burned New Mexico for a 46-yard touchdown late in the first half on a screen pass from sophomore quarterback Ryan Breska.
New Mexico gained 311 yards of total offense, its highest total in four games against the Utes, with 165 yards passing, 146 yards rushing and 12 first downs. Meanwhile, Utah amassed 465 yards of total offense, including 255 yards on the ground. Both totals were the most allowed by the Lobo defense this year.
UNM finishes its three-game road trip next Saturday, Oct. 6 when it visits the Wyoming Cowboys in Laramie, Wyo. Kick-off is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. (MDT).
SCORING BY QUARTERUNM: 0-7-9-0 — 16Utah: 7-7-9-14 — 37
PASSING LEADERSUNM – Casey Kelly: 7-24-0, 124 yds., 1TDUtah – Lance Rice: 12-26-1, 147 yds., 0 TD
RUSHING LEADERSUNM – Jarrod Baxter: 15-97, 1 TDUtah – Dameon Hunter: 25-177, 2 TD
RECEIVING LEADERSUNM – Dwight Counter: 4-107, 1 TDUtah – Cliff Russell: 3-86, 1 TD