COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Air Force fullback Steve Massie scored on a four-yard touchdown run on the Falcon’s first overtime possession as the Air Force Academy held off the University of New Mexico 38-31 on Saturday afternoon at Falcon Stadium. New Mexico, which was gunning for its fourth-straight win over Air Force, advanced to the AFA 11-yard line on its ensuing OT possession, but three-straight incomplete passes by quarterback Casey Kelly ended the Lobos’ scoring chance.
After Air Force jumped out to a 24-10 lead midway through the second quarter before New Mexico (1-2; 0-1 MWC) surged back with a furious rally over the final minutes of the half. Similar to its last game versus Weber State, the UNM defense and special teams sparked the Lobos rally. After the defense forced the Falcons to go three-and-out, senior cornerback Brandon Gregory blocked the AFA punt, which was recovered by fellow corner Curtis Flakes at the Falcon four-yard-line. Three plays later, Kelly lunged into the endzone on a misdirection play to cut the lead to 24-17. New Mexico regained possession with less than 30 seconds remaining in the half, which proved to be just enough time for a big play by senior running back Quincy Wright. On first-and-10 from the Air Force 48-yard line, Kelly hit Wright with a short screen pass on the right sideline. Following solid blocking by the Lobo offensive linemen, Wright burst through several arm tackles, then cut back across the grain and sprinted by a group of Air Force defenders down the left sideline for the touchdown to knot the game at 24 going into the half.
Air Force controlled the tempo early in the second half, running 22 of the first 25 plays of the third quarter. Quarterback Chance Harridge capped a 14-play, 80-yard drive on the Falcon’s second possession of the half with a one-yard touchdown sneak to put the Air Force ahead 31-24 at the 2:04 mark of the quarter.
The New Mexico offense responded however, as Kelly completed 5-6 passes on the Lobos’ next possession to lead the team to the tying score. UNM converted all three third down plays on the drive, including an impressive 20-yard strike from Kelly to receiver Terrance Thomas on a third-and-12 play from the Lobo 39-yard line. Three plays later, Wright pulled in a screen pass and scampered 17 yards down to the Air Force 13-yard line. UNM came right back with another screen to receiver Joe Manning, who followed a convoy of blockers for the score to tie the game at 31 apiece with 11:03 remaining in the game.
Both offenses sputtered down the stretch. New Mexico advanced to its own 38-yard line with a minute left in regulation before being forced to punt, while Air Force’s final drive of the second half ended when Harridge was intercepted by UNM linebacker Nick Speegle just inside Lobo territory.
Wright took another step towards establishing himself as one of the Mountain West’s top offensive threats, amassing over 200 yards of all-purpose yardage for the second-straight game. The Los Angeles, Calif. native lead all rushers with 145 yards on 25 carries and pulled in a pair of passes for 68 yards with a touchdown. Manning, who had eight catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns versus Air Force last year, had another solid game against the Falcons, finishing with seven receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown. Air Force halfback Leotis Palmer led the Falcons on the ground and in the air, rushing for 125 yards and a touchdown, while completing both halfback pass attempts for 70 yards and a touchdown. UNM linebacker Charles Moss led the defensive effort with a career-high 19 tackles, the most by a Lobo since Brian Urlacher notched 22 at Utah on Nov. 13, 1999.
Saturday’s contest was the first overtime game between two MWC teams since the league began in 1999. UNM dropped its third-straight overtime game and is 1-3 all-time in extra time since defeating Utah State 39-36 in three OT periods on Sept. 12, 1998. New Mexico also fell short in its unprecedented attempt to win back-to-back games in Colorado Springs and lost to the Falcons for the first time in Mountain West Conference play.
UNM returns home next Saturday, Sept. 14, when it hosts Baylor, which handed the Lobos’ their last overtime loss, 16-13 last year in Waco, Texas. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at University Stadium.
PASSING LEADERS
|UNM:|Casey Kelly|19-31, 213 yds.|2 TD,1 INT||AFA:|Leotis Palmer|2-2, 70 yds.|1 TD|||Chance Harridge|3-10, 29 yds.|1 TD,1 INT|
RUSHING LEADERS
|UNM:|Quincy Wright|25-145|0 TD||AFA:|Leotis Palmer|15-125|1 TD|
RECEIVING LEADERS
|UNM:|Joe Manning|7-64|1 TD||AFA:|Ricky Amezaga|1-55|1 TD|