Nov 15, 2003
Final Stats?|?Quotes?|?Notes?|?Photo Gallery
By PETE HERRERA
AP Sports Writer
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – DonTrell Moore, the nation’s leading scorer, ranfor two touchdowns and 188 yards, setting the single- season school rushingrecord in New Mexico’s 24-12 win over Air Force on Saturday.
New Mexico (7-4, 4-2) moved a step closer to its third bowl bid in 42 yearsand into second place in the Mountain West Conference.
Air Force (7-4, 3-3) came into the game with the nation’s third best rushingattack at just under 302 yards a game, but the Falcons’ option offense foundfew holes in the Lobos’ everyone-to-the-ball defense.
Air Force finished with season lows in yards rushing (158), points and totaloffense (273). At the half the Falcons had just 61 yards rushing and got mostof the rest after the game had been decided.
Darnell Stephens scored Air Force’s only touchdown on a 1-yard run with 1:14left in the game. Joey Ashcroft kicked field goals of 25 and 26 yards in thesecond quarter.
Moore, spinning and squirting through the Falcons’ defense, had his eighthgame this season of over 100 yards and his seventh multi-TD game of the season.His 9-yard run with 10:58 left in the game broke the single season record of1,240 yards by Mike Williams in 1976. Moore now has 1,285 yards.
Moore, who had a career-high 36 carries, has scored 20 touchdowns thisseason, 19 of them rushing. He went into the game as the Division I scoringleader, one TD ahead of Pittsburgh wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
New Mexico scored on its first two possessions with drives of 59 an 76yards, with Moore finishing off both of them from a yard out. Moore ate up mostof the yardage on the first drive, getting the ball on the final seven plays.
Quarterback Casey Kelly provided the key plays in the Lobos’ second scoringdrive, running for 28 yards on two carries and throwing a 28-yard pass toMichael Augustyniak to the Air Force 1. Two plays later, Moore walked into theend zone off an option play.
New Mexico opened the second half with a 75-yard drive that ate up sixminutes and ended with a 23-yard field goal by Wes Zunker, his 14th straightconnection this season.
The Lobos put the game away early in the fourth quarter with a 10-yardscoring pass from Kelly to Adrian Boyd. Moore got his rushing record in thatdrive and 53 of the 67 yards in the drive.
New Mexico had 274 rushing yards and its ground game was so effective thatKelly threw only 10 times, completing five for 90 yards.