BOISE, Idaho. — It was a heck of a night for the 505. On the night that Albuquerque’s Holly Holm scored a monumental upset in the UFC, Albuquerque’s football team might have topped it. Listed as a 30-point underdog, UNM used four takeaways, timely big plays, and a game-saving tackle on a ridiculous lateral play that almost worked at the gun for a thrilling 31-24 upset of Boise State to not only officially get bowl eligible but put UNM two wins away from the Mountain Division title.
The win was the first for the Lobos in seven meetings against the Broncos, and Boise State entered the game an unreal 96-4 in its last 100 home games. Yet, for all that history on the blue turf, New Mexico came through every time it needed a big stop of a big play.
The Lobos improved to 6-4 and 4-2 in conference play. The four wins nearly equals the amount of conference wins from 2009-13, which was five. UNM is now 6-5 in its last 11 conference games after going 5-41 in the previous 46.
The Lobos won it with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter after Boise State tied the game on the second play of the fourth quarter at 17-all on a screen pass. New Mexico regained the lead at 24-17 at the 13:44 mark of the fourth quarter when Apodaca hit Delane Hart-Johnson for an 81-yard pass to the Bronco 1-yard line, and then Richard McQuarley scored on the next play.
The Lobos pushed that lead to 31-17 when Cranston Jones picked Brett Rypien, his third interception of the game, and Apodaca hit Daryl Chestnut on a wheel route to the 5-yard line. Two plays later, Teriyon Gipson scored on an option pitch from 4-yards out with 12:09 to go.
The Lobos then had to hold on in the final minutes despite several stops. Jake Roh scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Brett Rypien with 2:16 to go to cut the Lobo lead to 31-24. The Broncos then attempted an onside kick that was recovered by David Anaya. UNM however couldn’t get a first down to run the clock out and punted it to the Bronco 10.
Somehow, BSU got to its own 40 with one second left and tried a desperation lateral play. After a lateral, Austin Cottrell somehow got loose and raced towards the end zone, but Markel Byrd made the tackle at the four-yard line, giving UNM the win.
New Mexico carried a 14-3 lead into the half on the back of a long touchdown run by Jhurell Pressley to open the scoring. Pressley broke a tackle, danced along the sideline and scored his longest run of the year. That play held up after a review.
Boise State cut it to 7-3 early in the second, but the Lobos got another long run from Pressley, this 40 yards, and then Lamar Jordan went in from 19-yards out for a 14-3 lead.
New Mexico had to defend 114 plays by Boise State, and UNM constantly made big stops. UNM allowed just two red zone scores and just one red zone touchdown. UNM entered the game 10th nationally in red zone defense. The Lobos also recorded four takeaways, three interceptions (Markel Byrd, Cranston Jones and Ryan Langford) and one fumble recovery (Ryan Langford). UNM held Boise State to just 2-for-5 on fourth down as well.
All that neutralized the Lobos going 0-for-10 on third down and suffering 16 penalties for 135 yards.
The Lobos now are officially in the driver’s seat for the Mountain West championship game berth. UNM would clinch the Mountain Division title with wins over Colorado State next week and then Air Force to end the season. Both games will be played at Branch Field.
Postgame Notes: New Mexico 31, Boise State 24
This was the seventh meeting between the two teams.
Boise State now leads the series 6-1
Boise State now leads 3-1 in Boise
Boise State leads 3-0 in Albuquerque
New Mexico has won one straight in the series
New Mexico has won one straight in Boise
Starting lineup changes for UNM from published two-deep
Offense: QB-None
Defense: DE-Cody Baker for Garrett Hughes; SS-Kenny Maxwell for Ryan Santos
*New Mexico’s captains were Lamar Jordan, Dakota Cox and Reece White
*New Mexico won the toss and elected to receive.
*New Mexico had kicked off the last four to start after receiving in the first five.
*Zack Rogers carried the New Mexico flag onto the field.
TEAM NOTES:
*New Mexico held on its opening two drives, both of which reached the red zone. UNM picked off a pass at the 3-yard line, and then BSU missed a 22-yard field goal.
*New Mexico rushed for just 132 yards against Utah State. The Lobos bested that number 2:32 into the second quarter. Overall UNM rushed for 195 yards.
*New Mexico’s 218 yards passing were the most for the Lobos since 249 against Colorado State on 11/16/2013
*New Mexico won for just the second time when throwing for more yards than rushing. They also turned that trick against Hawai’i.
*The 74 pass attempts by Boise State were the most ever thrown against New Mexico. The previous high for pass attempts was 69 by Sonny Cumbie on Sept. 11, 2004. That was a 27-24 Texas Tech win.
*Thomas Sperbeck’s 281 yards receiving were the most ever allowed by the Lobos to a single receiver. The previous high was 263 by Jay Miller of BYU on Nov. 3, 1973, a 56-21 Lobo win in Provo.
*Boise State had won 21 straight games coming off a bye week until this loss.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
*Ryan Langford intercepted a pass at the UNM 3-yard line to thwart BSU’s opening drive. It was his first career interception. He also recovered a fumble in the second quarter. Langford was making his first start of the season in place of Kimmie Carson, who was suspended for the first half.
*Jhurell Pressley’s 74-yard touchdown was his fourth career touchdown run of 70 or more yards.
*Pressley had his eighth career 100-yard rushing game when he had a 40-yard run in the second quarter. He went over 100 yards on just his third carry of the game. He finished with 132 yards.
*Pressley moved into eighth-place on the UNM career rushing list. He now has 2,419 yards.
*Pressley’s rushing touchdown was his 30th of his career. He remained in fifth on the UNM list. Teriyon Gipson’s touchdown was his 19th of his career.
*Delane Hart-Johnson connected on an 81-yard pass play to the Bronco 1-yard line in the fourth quarter. It marked the first time in school history that a player has recorded two 80-yard receptions in the same season. He is the second player to have two 80-yard receptions in his career, accomplishing the feat in back-to-back games. Dwight Counter is the only other player with two 80-yard receptions in his career.
LONGEST PASS PLAYS
No. Player Year
98 Al Owens from Barry Garrison vs. BYU 9/26/1987
89 Emilio Vallez from Rick Beitler vs. Arizona 10/8/1966
88 Sam Scarber from Terry Stone vs. UTEP 9/21/1968
87 Martinez Williams from Graham Leigh vs. San Diego State 10/17/1998
86 Delane Hart-Johnson from Lamar Jordan vs. USU 11/7/2015
85 Dwight Counter from Casey Kelly vs. CSU 11/17/2001
84 Herb Bradford from Jim Cromartie vs. UTEP 10/7/1961
84 Tori Brown from Billy Rucker vs. NMSU 9/14/1985
84 Turhon O’Bannon from Stoney Case vs. TCU 9/11/1993
82 Eric Morgan from Jeremy Leach vs. Wyoming 10/28/1989
81 Delane Hart-Johnson from Austin Apodaca at BSU 11/7/2015
81 Chris Hernandez from Brad Gruner vs. TCU 8/30/2008
80 W.B. Calland from Cecil Sapanski vs. Texas Tech 11/18/1944
80 Ricky Martin from Brad Wright vs. Texas Tech 10/14/1978
80 Keith Magee from Brad Wright vs. NMSU 9/27/1980
80 Dwight Counter from Casey Kelly vs. Utah 10/26/2002
80 Deon Long from B.R. Holbrook vs. UNLV 11/12/2011
Lobos Take Down Broncos 31-24 in Boise
