Oct. 22, 2005
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery
TEAM NOTES
New Mexico won back-to-back games for the first time since a 3-0 start to the season, improving to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the Mountain West Conference…the Lobos handed San Diego State just its 2nd loss in the last 5 games and have won 5 straight over SDSU overall…UNM has also won five in a row in San Diego…New Mexico is now 12-5 in MWC road games over the past 5 years (2-1 in 2005).
The Lobos’ strong late-season play continued as the team won its 10th straight regular season game, dating back to 2003, on Oct. 15 or later…since the 2001 season, UNM is 20-4 in late October and the month of November.
New Mexico’s 47 points tonight were the most since also putting up 47 in a road win (47-35) at No. 24 Utah on Oct. 25, 2003…the Lobos’ 30 first half points were a season-high and the most the team has scored all game in the past 4 weeks.
UNM scored on its opening drive of the game for the 6th time this year…it was the 4th time the opening drive had resulted in a TD…the Lobos’ 16 first quarter points were the team’s most in the opening period since scoring 17 against UNLV in the season-opener.
The Lobos’ 534 yards of total offense were the most since racking up 578 in a 37-35 loss to UNLV in 2003…it’s the most for UNM on the road since gaining 633 in the win at Utah in ’03…New Mexico’s 33 first downs were the most since 1995 when it picked up 34 in a 38-29 loss at San Diego State.
New Mexico’s defense held the Aztecs to just 291 yards, including 94 rushing…it was the second-lowest total allowed by UNM this year (248 at UTEP)…SDSU had just 55 yards rushing and 211 total, before its final scoring drive of the night.
UNM has intercepted 10 Aztec passes in the teams’ past 3 meetings, including 8 in its last 2 trips to San Diego.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Doak Walker Award candidate DonTrell Moore finished with 162 yards on 36 attempts and a 4-yard TD run…he also caught 6 balls for 61 yards…it was Moore’s 24th career 100-yard game, but his first against SDSU…he moved into 26th place on the NCAA career rushing list with 4,643 yards…he now has 968 yards this season (121/game) and needs 32 yards to become just the sixth player in D-I history to rush for 1,000 yards or more 4 times in a career…Moore had 95 yards on 20 carries in the first half alone after rushing for no more than 87 in his previous 3 games against the Aztecs.
Moore tied a career-high for second week in a row with 36 carries and had a career-high 42 total touches…Moore’s 223 all-purpose yards tonight was the third-highest in his career…he moved into 19th place on the NCAA career scoring list (non-kickers) with 330 points.
Biletnikoff Award candidate Hank Baskett III went over 100 yards receiving for the 4th time this season and 8th time in his career…Baskett finished with 141 yards on 7 catches and 2 TDs, all of which came in the first 3 quarters before UNM ran the ball almost exclusively in the 4th quarter to secure the victory…4 of his receptions went for 20 yards or more and 2 were good for 1st downs on 3rd-and-long plays…Baskett has gone over the century mark in 6 of his last 11 games…he notched his second multiple TD game of the season (3 at Missouri) and has a career-best 7 scores this year after recording 3 each of the past 2 seasons…Baskett is now 4th all-time at UNM with 15 career receiving TDs…he also passed former teammate Dwight Counter for 6th on the career receptions list (125) and is just behind Counter at No. 5 on the career yardage list (2,054).
Junior QB Kole McKamey tied a career-high with 3 TD passes, which he also had in a Lobo victory at Missouri earlier in the year…McKamey completed 66% of his passes (21-32) for 248 yards and also notched his 4th rushing TD of the year.
Making his first career start, senior cornerback Mike Powdrell recorded a pair of interceptions, the second and third of his career…his first pick set up a first quarter UNM FG…Powdrell, a former walk-on wide receiver from Albuquerque Highland HS, recorded his first INT to set up the Lobos’ eventual game-winning FG last week at Wyoming.
Junior “lobo” safety Aleem Harris also notched the second INT of his career…Harris, who had his first last week at Wyoming, grabbed an errant pass in the 3rd quarter to set up a UNM field goal.
Senior LB Joe Selander, a former walk-on from Rio Rancho (N.M.) HS, notched the first sack of his career, dropping Aztec QB Kevin O’Connell to end the first half.