| Game Recap | Highlights | Postgame Press Conference |
The University of New Mexico Lobos are going bowling. In this seven-part series by Assistant A.D. for Communications Frank Mercogliano, we will look back at each of UNM’s seven wins that brought UNM to bowl eligibility. Part two is UNM’s Mountain West opening victory over Wyoming.
LARAMIE, Wyo. — In the week leading up to The University of New Mexico’s Mountain West opener against the Wyoming Cowboys in Laramie, there was a lot of talk on two subjects. The weather, and the quarterbacks.
The weather came up because let’s face it, when one travels to Laramie, Wyoming, one doesn’t quite know what to expect. The Lobos have made that trip before in October needing a state trooper escort because the highway was closed from Cheyenne to Laramie. Jason Lenzmeier as a player can recall easily beating Wyoming in a blizzard in a game where the Lobo offensive line famously wore short sleeves, insane as that probably was. However, this was September 26, and the weather was perfect…sunny, slight breeze. Couldn’t be calmer.
The other discussion was the quarterbacks after Lamar Jordan had started the first three games, but it was Austin Apodaca who moved the offense near the end of the Arizona State loss the week before. Coach Bob Davie was fairly emphatic before the game saying UNM needed to re-establish its identity as a triple option team that runs the football, but throws it effectively when necessary.
Lamar Jordan did just that.
UNM’s sophomore quarterback defeated the Cowboys for the second time in his career, rushing for 147 yards and throwing for 107 in a masterful performance as UNM won 38-28 in a game that was never as close as the final score would indicate.
It took Jordan just 46 seconds to show that this would be a performance by UNM to remember. He kept on an option play, tore past everyone on the right side and raced untouched for a 56 yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead, and truly, UNM’s lead was never really threatened after that.
Wyoming tried to tie … twice in fact, but the Lobo defense stood tall. First, Wyoming drove inside the Lobo 35, but the Cowboys passed on a long field attempt, and a semi-long fourth down conversion attempt for a punt. After a Lobo punt, Wyoming got inside the red zone, but Dakota Cox’s first career sack ended the drive on fourth down. Jhurell Pressley then added a late first quarter touchdown to make it 14-0.
Wyoming would eventually score to make it 14-7, but more than anything, that served to anger UNM. After both teams traded punts, Jordan hit Carlos Wiggins on the first play from scrimmage in stride for a rainbow 64-yard touchdown toss, and then after a 3-and-out, Jordan mixed run and pass well, culminating a long drive with a Richard McQuarley 3-yard touchdown run and it was 28-7 Lobos.
Wyoming did score right before the half and got the ball to start the second half, but a pair of fourth down calls on each teams’ opening second half drive told the story. On fourth-and-1 from the Lobo 46, Wyoming elected to punt on the opening possession while down 28-14. UNM then drove and one fourth-and-1 from the Wyoming 43, Bob Davie rolled the dice and went for it. The result was a 43-yard McQuarley touchdown run and a 35-14 lead.
After that, it was fairly academic. A Dakota Cox interception set up a short Jason Sanders field goal which answered a Wyoming touchdown to make it 38-21 fairly late. That interception was the second in two defensive plays for UNM, as Markel Byrd picked off Wyoming on the previous possession.
The Cowboys did catch a break when pass was tipped by two different Lobos into the arms of Josh Harshman, who wasn’t involved in the pattern at all, for the final score in the game at 38-28.
While Jordan was easily the offensive star, he had a lot of help. McQuarley had two touchdowns on five carries, and Pressley added 103 yards on the ground and UNM rolled up 302 rushing yards.
Defensively, linebackers Dakota Cox and Kimmie Carson was unstoppable, combining for 18 tackles, two sacks, six tackles for loss and Cox’s interception. UNM rolled up 10 tackles for loss on the day and limited Wyoming to just 42 yards rushing. Brian Hill, who at the time led the NCAA in rushing and would go on to finish third overall at the end of the year, had just 49 yards, his lowest output of the season.
The win made the Lobos 1-0 in Mountain West play for the first time in nine seasons, and it pushed the Lobos back to .500 at 2-2. New Mexico would never again slip below .500 the remainder of the season. It was an important win in terms of defeating a team that UNM should in theory beat (Wyoming would finish the season 2-10), but also in reestablishing the identity that Bob Davie was looking for.
“I thought today was a key, key game for us, more than just the first conference game for us,” said Bob Davie, “but just to get back to our identity and see if we could have success with our identity.”
New Mexico will be playing in its first bowl game since the 2007 season. UNM will learn its bowl fate on Sunday, December 6. Tickets can be purchased through the UNM ticket office at www.unmtickets.com.