Sept. 10, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes
With the win, New Mexico has opened the season 2-0 for the first time since 1998, which was Rocky Long’s first season as head coach at UNM…Long now stands alone as the most successful head coach in New Mexico history with 42 wins…Long is 42-45 in his eight years at his alma mater and is 30-22 since 2001.
UNM snapped a 15-game losing streak on the road against non-conference opponents outside the state of New Mexico…the previous win was 25-22 at Utah State on Sept. 20, 1997…the Lobos had not defeated a Big 12 team on the road since downing Texas Tech in Lubbock 30-10 in 1983 when the Red Raiders were members of the Southwest Conference…UNM had lost 12 straight on the road against Big 12 foes until tonight.
STATISTICAL TRENDS: New Mexico scored a touchdown on its opening possession for the third straight game…since 2002, the Lobos are 20-2 under Rocky Long when scoring first….UNM also won the turnover battle 3-0 (2 interceptions and 1 fumble return for a TD) and are 15-1 since 2003 when it commits fewer turnovers than its opponent…the Lobos won for the first time in 4 chances under Long when entering the 4th quarter with the score tied…UNM was 0-3 between 1998-2002.
Senior wide receiver Hank Baskett turned in one of the best receiving performances in New Mexico history, recording career-highs of 10 receptions for 209 yards and 3 TDs…Baskett became the third Lobo ever to tally 200 yards receiving in a game and the first since Terance Mathis (252) did it against Utah in 1989…Baskett’s 3 TDs tied a UNM single-game record held by five others, most recently Pascal Volz against TCU in 1997…it was the 6th 100-yard receiving game of Baskett’s career…he now has 12 TD catches in his career, which is tied with Eric Morgan (1989-90) and Mike Henderson (1987-90) for 7th on the UNM all-time list.
Baskett now ranks 9th all-time at UNM with 1,558 career receiving yards
Senior cornerback Gabriel Fulbright had the third multiple interception game of his career, recording his second and third picks of the year…the Bronko Nagurski Award candidate set up the Lobos’ game-clinching TD with his second INT with 4 minutes left in the game…on Monday, he secured New Mexico’s 24-22 win over UNLV with a INT at the UNM 35 with a minute remaining…his 12 career INTs are tied for 4th all-time at UNM and are the most since Sharay Fields had 14 between 1978-80.
In his second game back after tearing the ACL in his left knee in December of 2004, senior tailback DonTrell Moore had 94 yards rushing on 20 carries…Moore more than doubled his yardage total of a week ago vs. UNLV (39 on 16 carries)…he is now 54 yards shy of the UNM career rushing record…Moore also threw the second TD pass of his career, a floater to Hank Baskett for a 41-yard TD…he had a 21-yard TD pass against UNLV in 2003.
Junior quarterback Kole McKamey threw 3 more TD passes, bringing his 2-game season total to 5 TDs with no interceptions on 54 attempts…McKamey is 34-54 on the season for 476 yards…McKamey threw 6 TD passes and 9 INTs in 11 games as a first year starter in 2004…he also scored his 7th career rushing touchdown.
New Mexico is now 8-1 over the past two years (8 straight wins) when both QB Kole McKamey and TB DonTrell Moore are healthy an entire game, the only loss coming in the 2004 season-opener against Washington State…the Lobos are 1-4 when one or both are out of the lineup with the only win coming at New Mexico State last year when Moore injured his knee early in the second half.
Playing with two broken bones in his right hand, senior nose tackle Marcus Parker had a sack and forced fumble that teammate Evroy Thompson returned 28 yards for a 3rd quarter TD…Parker was also unofficially credited with 2 QB hurries on the night.
Senior defensive end Evroy Thompson’s 28-yard scoop and score was the Lobos’ third fumble return for a touchdown in the last 12 games…last year, Josh Bazinet returned Oregon State QB Derek Anderson’s fumble for a 70-yard TD and Gabriel Fulbright returned Utah QB Alex Smith’s dropped ball for a 68-yard score.
26 of the 29 UNM defensive players on the travel roster played in the first quarter as the Lobos rotated players in and out to keep pace with the no-huddle Mizzou offense…junior linebacker Justin Clayton made 3 tackles and had a QB hurry in the first half, all of which were the first of his career.
Junior tight end John Mulchrone scored his first career TD, an 6-yard pass from Kole McKamey on the game’s opening possession…sophomore Marcus Smith carried the ball a career-high 8 times for 57 yards…junior kicker Kenny Byrd 40-yard field goal was a career-long.
Missouri ran 105 plays, the most against a Lobo team…Texas Tech ran 102 in 2002