Box Score | 2016 Season Statistics
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico Lobos got plenty of stops on defense, just enough offense and one heck of a big-time field goal as the Lobos defeated the UTSA Roadrunners 23-20 to win their first bowl game since 2007, and just their second in the last 55 years.
Quarterback Lamar Jordan won Offensive MVP honors with by rushing for a game-high 81 yards on 13 carries, and then hitting 3-of-4 passes for 77 yards while Dakota Cox won Defensive MVP honors with 10 tackles, including 1.5 for loss and a pass break-up.
The win gave the Lobos a final mark of 9-4, the second-most wins in school history, and it also tied the record of 16 wins in back-to-back seasons. For head coach Bob Davie, it marked his first bowl victory as a head coach in five tries.
Despite being held to its lowest offensive output of the season, the Lobos moved the ball when it needed to. UTSA actually opened up the scoring with a 27-yard field goal from Victor Falcon, but UNM answered right before the end of the first quarter with an 9-play, 66-yard drive capped off by Richard McQuarley’s 1-yard run. UTSA scoring first was probably good, as the team that has scored first in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl has lost the last five games.
Late in the first half, UTSA got down inside the Lobo 1-yard line for a first and goal, but couldn’t get a touchdown. Back-to-back penalties moved the ball just outside the 10-yard line, and then Dalton Sturm threw two incompletions. After the second, a personal foul made it 3rd-and-goal from the 26, and UTSA moved it closer for another Falcon field goal.
UNM then got the ball back with 1:32 left in the half, and got a first down at the Lobo 47 with 12 seconds left as Jordan scrambled on 3rd-and-2. Jordan then threw his first pass of the game, completing a pass to Teriyon Gipson to the UTSA 35. Jason Sanders then trotted out for a 52-yard field into the teeth of a 26 MPH wind. Sanders drilled it, and it cut through the wind like a knife for a career-long kick and a 10-6 lead.
UNM then got the ball to start the second half and scored on a 10-yard Teriyon Gipson run after converting on 4th-and-1 at the 12. The extra point was blocked, making it 16-6, and that’s where it stayed until the fourth. In the fourth, UTSA cut the lead to 16-13 when Sturm hit Trevor Stevens for a 16-yard pass and with 9:43 to go, UNM needed a drive.
They got one.
Starting at the Lobo 25, Jordan went to work. On 2nd-and-12, he lofted a perfect pass to Dameon Gamblin for 34 yards to the ‘Runner 43-yard line. McQuarley then converted a 3rd-and-6, and followed with a 15-yard hitter around the edge. All the while, the clock was ticking down as UNM grinded down the field. From the 12, McQuarley ran for two, Gipson followed with six and McQuarley rushed for one to the 3-yard line, setting up fourth down. Head Coach Bob Davie went for it, and McQuarley barreled to the 1-yard line. He would score on the next play to make it 23-13 with 2:22 left.
That was all UNM needed. UTSA did score with 25 seconds left to cut it to 23-20. However, Chris Davis grabbed the onside kick, and UNM took three knees for the win.
Postgame Notes: New Mexico 23, UTSA 20
This was the third meeting between the two teams.
New Mexico now leads 2-1
The series is tied 1-1 in Albuquerque
New Mexico leads 1-0 in San Antonio
New Mexico has won two in a row overall.
Starting lineup changes for UNM from published two-deep
Offense: RB-Richard McQuarley for Tyrone Owens.
Defense: DE-Cody Baker for Garrett Hughes, NT-Taylor Timmons for William Udeh
*New Mexico’s captains were Lamar Jordan, Dakota Cox, Daniel Henry and Austin Apodaca
* Michael Walsh carried the flag for this game.
*UNM won the toss for the fifth time in a row after losing the first eight. The Lobos deferred for the first time this season.
TEAM NOTES:
*New Mexico was the designated road team and wore white, despite the game being played in University Stadium. The last time UNM wore white at home was September 26, 2014, a 35-24 loss to Fresno State.
*New Mexico is 3-8-1 in bowl games all-time.
*New Mexico’s first play of the game went for 27 yards, giving UNM the single-season total offense record. The Lobos finished with 5,939 yards of total offense.
*UNM extended its season-record for rushing touchdowns to 47.
*UNM allowed just its second sack since October 7.
*New Mexico and UTSA have played three times, and all three games have had a missed extra point or conversion of some kind.
*New Mexico finished 9-4, tying for the second-most wins in school history.
*New Mexico won 16 games in the last two seasons, tying for the most wins in back-to-back seasons in school history.
*UNM’s 296 yards overall and 219 yards rushing were both seasons lows.
*New Mexico’s 36.7 points per game and 477 points overall were both season records.
*UNM didn’t have a 100-yard rusher for just the second this this season (New Mexico State).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
*Richard McQuarley scored his 17th and 18th rushing touchdowns of the season. It’s the second-most rushing touchdowns in school history for a season, behind DonTrell Moore’s 19.
*McQuarley broke the 100-point mark for the season. He’s the first Lobo to do so since 2007 when kicker John Sullvian scored 117 points and the first field position player to do it since DonTrell Moore had 104 in 2005. McQuarley finished with 110, and it’s the third-most points in school history.
*Jason Sanders hit a career-long 52-yard field goal into a knifing wind to end the first half. It was one yard short of the Gildan New Mexico Bowl record of 53 yards, set by John Sullivan of New Mexico in 2007.
*Dameon Gamblin and Steven Romero tied the UNM record for career games played with 50, joining former teammates David Anaya, Marquis Bundy and Jhurell Pressley.
*Jason Sanders had an extra point blocked in the third quarter, his first career miss, ending his school record streak at 82 in a row, and UNM’s streak ends at 114 straight. UNM’s last miss was November 22, 2014 at Colorado State.
*Senior Lee Crosby picked off a pass in the third quarter, his first of the year and third of his career.
*Teriyon Gipson’s touchdown run in the third quarter gave him 13 for the season and 32 for his career.
*Dakota Cox had a game-high 10 tackles, making him the third Mountain West player to reach 400 tackles, finishing with 403. He finished sixth on the UNM career list.
*Teriyon Gipson finished with 1,269 yards, good for the fourth-most in a season in UNM history, and Tyrone Owens finished with 1,097, putting him 12th on the single-season list.
*Gipson ended his career with 3,146 career yards, finishing sixth on the UNM list. Lamar Jordan finished the season with 2,158 yards after three seasons, putting him in 11th place to start next year.
*Bob Davie won his 27th game at UNM and moved back above .500 at 62-61. He improved to 1-4 as a head coach in bowl games.
Post Game Quotes
Gildan New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico vs UTSA
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Bob Davie
Richard McQuarley
Lamar Jordan
New Mexico Lobos
New Mexico – 23, San Antonio – 20
COACH DAVIE: After the game, I brought our team up in the locker room. I was getting them ready, was going to speak. Garrett Hughes, our defensive end, looked at me and said, No words, coach, no words.
I think that’s what this is. There wasn’t a whole lot of jumping up and down, a whole lot of screaming, a whole lot of carrying on. I think after a win like that, after the season we’ve had, I think it’s more a feeling. You don’t get to experience this a whole lot of times.
These players, I’ve talked to them in-depth about enjoying the moment. Definitely this afternoon was a great moment that doesn’t come along very often. I’m so happy that these players, we’re sitting here December 17th, and they have a chance to go home to the holiday season with their families, get around ex-teammates, ex-coaches, and feel good about what they finished.
I think it would have been a hollow feeling, even though we had a good season at 8-4, I think it would have been hollow if we couldn’t have won this game.
With that said, UTSA was everything we thought they would be, everything we thought they would be. This is the third time we’ve played them. Every one of the games have been two equal teams. Today was that.
Some keys to the game, you know, to play in these conditions with the wind the way it was, it really takes away your focus, it really does. It takes away your focus. The fact we came out of the game with only two penalties, on a day like today, is very impressive to me.
Obviously we didn’t have a lot of offense. When we needed it there in the fourth quarter, after UTSA scored to make it a field goal game, we had enough offense.
I thought Lamar Jordan, again, competed, showed his athletic ability when he got outside the pocket. The throw he made to Gambo on that last drive when we went in and scored was key.
Richard McQuarley really stood out today. It’s a great example of I think what’s ahead, what’s in his future. I think he’s a heck of a player. He just showed me on video, he did that double backflip, whatever the heck that was, at the end of the game. So I know he’s a good athlete.
It wasn’t our best offensive performance, but I think UTSA obviously had a lot to do with that. Jason Sanders, again, the 52-yard field goal before the half, Chris Davis fielding punts in the wind, Chris Davis recovering the on-side kick. We did have an extra point blocked.
The one negative, fourth-and-one, we went for it, didn’t make it. But we did go for it on fourth down and make it, punched the ball in the end zone.
Defense, first of all, I think their quarterback is a really good athlete, really hard to tackle, takes off and runs. They’ve got two good tailbacks. They head us a little bit on a lee draw. For the most part our defense played solid all afternoon.
It was a well-played game. I thought the atmosphere was fantastic. Credit to UTSA for bringing all those people over here. Very educated. You can tell they’ve been around a lot of football. They responded when they needed to respond.
Our crowd, I thought our crowd, I don’t know what the numbers were, but there was some energy in that stadium, there was some excitement in that stadium. Just the emotion of people after the game, the things that they said to our coaches and to our players of appreciation, resonates with me.
Again, I mean, there’s not much to talk about. We all know what kind of season it was. To play the first bowl game of the year on ESPN, get a win like this, finish up with nine wins, is a credit to these guys, man. It’s always, always has been, about players. I’m very proud of these guys.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. Bob, they were very strong in the middle defensively. How important was it not to give up on the dive and keep Richard in there, convert some third downs?
COACH DAVIE: There’s no question they were athletic. They also had some depth up in there. They rotated guys in there.
I could see in pregame warmup they had some size and they had some athletic ability up front. We really didn’t get the ball going like we normally have. Probably held us, I don’t know what the numbers ended up, maybe our lowest offensive production of the year.
It’s not because they had extra time, because people have had extra time before. I just thought they had a really good plan and they executed.
I think we could have thrown the ball a little more. I think we had opportunities to throw it. The conditions were so tough that we couldn’t.
With a guy like Richard, he can make yards when there’s nothing there. He does. He can make something out of nothing.
At the end we rode him. He became the guy that was hot, had the hot hand. I think it’s important to know he’s not just a short-yardage back. He can break the thing. He can get outside, and he has speed. I’m expecting big things from him next year.
Tyrone Owens reinjured his foot, didn’t play the second half. Also note Daniel Henry didn’t play the second half. Ryan Santos didn’t play the first half. We were up against it a little bit with some key players out.
Q. It’s been a long journey from where you started to get here. How can you use this win, this victory, going forward as another block for the future?
COACH DAVIE: Yeah, I think that’s what it is. I met with our young players this morning, our young players, our developmental guys, all of our young guys. I brought them in at 9:00 after these guys ate breakfast. Had a different breakfast for all of our returning players. I talked about, Okay, you’ve made it through the difficult part. Now from this moment on, it’s on you.
There’s no question the young players having a chance to see the success that older players have had, and more importantly feeling the responsibility of what older players have done, is the most important thing. That’s what a college football program is. Just keep taking steps and building and building and building.
I met with them this morning setting the stage for what I hoped would happen this afternoon. Again, that’s how we’ll use it. It’s another building block. Again, we graduate a lot of really good players. But it does come time when it is time for guys to move on. As much as we hate to see Dakota leave, Donnie white, Nik D’Avanzo, it does become time when it’s time for those guys to go on and do things that are going to come their way, and it’s time for other guys to step up.
Yeah, winning the last game of the year… I remember two years ago, three years ago now, we beat Wyoming out here in this stadium. What did they win, our fourth game of the year? We had a goal line stand, they threw the ball four times from the six yard line. That win was big. If you look back to that win right now, that probably got us jump-started.
There’s no question that winning the last game is big.
Q. Bob, could you speak about the drive they had where they had first-and-goal at the one late in the second quarter, then you got the big field goal into the wind right at the end of the first half.
COACH DAVIE: Yeah, I talked to our players about the biggest, to me, factor with wind is to keep your concentration. Everybody worries about the kicking game. Everybody worries about what the wind does to the football.
But to me, when that wind is howling like that, it’s concentration. UTSA did have some mistakes, penalties, got a little bit discombobulated, which helped us.
I do think two penalties on a day like today, I really appreciate. It does distract you. It does distract you. It plays kind of a mental game with you when that wind’s blowing.
Q. Coach, you mentioned briefly earlier the fourth quarter pass. Was that something you just saw an opportunity there?
COACH DAVIE: No, I told Lamar at halftime, We’re going to let it rip a little more. For us, we threw six passes, I guess five in the second half. We really I felt could have thrown the ball. I have confidence we can throw the ball.
But, no, there were some things that were there. It was just the way the conditions were. We didn’t do it as much. I’ll let Lamar talk about it when he gets up here.
Q. You were talking about the energy from the fans. What was that like? I saw you in that scrum, all the fans around you showing they really support you. What was that like?
COACH DAVIE: Yeah, it meant a lot. Again, it was kind of like after the 1:12 a.m. game against Nevada when they asked fans to send an email saying they were there and give a reason why they decided to stay for the game. I think we got 150 emails. It wasn’t 22,000 emails, but it’s what they said.
Just like after the game, I don’t know how many people were there, but more important to me is what they said. I mean, there were legitimately some tears and people saying thank you.
I’ve said it many times. A lot of times we want to blame everybody, pick whose fault it is that there are not more people there. I think what we really ought to do is really appreciate the people that are there and start building with that.
It’s what they said to me after the game and to these players, the sincerity. I know we made a difference to somebody, some people today, as we moved this program forward. It meant a lot to me, it really did.
Thank you.
THE MODERATOR: We have Lamar Jordan, Dakota Cox, and Richard McQuarley.
Q. Lamar, you and Dakota are walking with the player of the game hardware from both sides of the football.
LAMAR JORDAN: Yeah, I mean, to be honest, you really got to give the player award to the offensive line because none of this could happen without them.
From Reno to Chris Lewis, Blaise, Big A.J., Avery, they are the real MVPs.
It’s a blessing to get this award, but those five up front really deserve it, as well as Richard McQuarley. That’s on his own, to take on two, three people. You got to thank him as well as the receivers. Very well-disciplined, blocking on the edge. You got to thank the whole offense.
DAKOTA COX: It was a great opportunity to go out there for the last home game here in the Lobo uniform for me. It meant a lot for me to go out with that award.
Credit the whole defense. We did our job the whole time. We held them to a lot of field goals. I credit a lot of people out there. Kimmie did an awesome job. Everyone stepped up. Safeties. Stan filling in. It’s just a huge opportunity to build off this going into next season. It just feels great to get this win for this community.
Q. Lamar, the fourth quarter pass you completed there, how big was that to get that drive moving?
LAMAR JORDAN: I mean, it’s big. We practiced that play almost a hundred times in practice. I trusted Gambo. One-on-one with Gambo, that’s a win automatically. That’s how we roll in our receiver group.
Like I said, I saw him, I knew I had to get it to where he could catch it. You have to thank the O-line.
Q. Lamar and Richard, how can you guys use this for all the returning guys, confidence, what you can build on for next year?
LAMAR JORDAN: There’s definitely momentum, like I said. Last year when we lost, there was a lot of momentum. The next day we were in there working. Like I say, to get this win is truly a blessing.
Me and Rick, we got one more year together. That’s my boy since he came in. He’s a ju-co, but we’re always with each other 24 hours of the day. It’s good to have one of your best friends back in the backfield with you.
RICHARD McQUARLEY: I feel like starting off we wasn’t really like what we are now. I feel like we can tell the younger guys about this motivation, have them continue to grind hard in practice, let them know what we could be.
We need to go in there and do the whole 110, stay focused, listen to the coaches, execute.
Q. Lamar, the crowd was pretty electric today. Did you feed off of that, all the positive energy?
LAMAR JORDAN: Oh, without a doubt. In every interview, I’m always trying to get the fans to come out. We feed off the fans. I can speak for everyone in that locker room, the whole building. When that stadium is packed, we play our best game.
If this could just be a lead-on to next year, hopefully we can have this every home game. We want to put on a shows for those guys. We do it for them.
DAKOTA COX: Yeah, I definitely think just for the fans coming out to support us, it gave us just a tremendous energy throughout the team to go out there and play every down, get them pumped up. They were great the whole game.
Sticking through the wind, all that, not wondering if it was going to rain again like it was this morning. I give credit to this whole community. I know this win means so much to them.
Q. Dakota, in the past big plays have been a problem for the defense. They moved the ball, got some yards, but only had one play over 25 yards. How important was that?
DAKOTA COX: I think playing every play no matter what happens, it shows the discipline of this defense and the maturity that we’ve grown up together. We’ve all been through it.
The whole defense stepped up when they needed to. No matter what happens down the field, if they get a big gain, we’re going to come back, we’re going to bend but not break every time.
Q. You came into the game today leading the nation in rushing. UTSA held to you to 125, below average. What did they do to make it so difficult for you? Did they surprise you in any way by what they were able to do containing both the offensive guys?
LAMAR JORDAN: They did a great job. They did a lot up front. That was really new to us. They contained the outside very well. You have to give credit when credit’s due.
Like I say, we kept grinding, we kept pushing. Like I say, when you got guys like Gip and Rick who can make one, two, even three guys miss, you really can’t scheme that at all. You got to tell them to try to tackle those guys. Really got to thank those guys as well as the O-line.
RICHARD McQUARLEY: Defensively, they rushed to the ball. At the same time, like what Lamar was saying, we’re real humble at whatever we do. We always compete. We have the best hands out of the backfield.
I’ll mess with them, I’ll hit you. It’s just a thing to keep everybody going, to let Gip know we can do whatever we put our mind to. Like I say, they physical, but we was more physical.
DAKOTA COX: I’d like to add one more thing about this guy. It’s fun watching him progress every year, be more than just a power back. You saw a little bit of his speed tonight. Being a senior, I know he’s going to put this offense on his back, and Lamar is going to help lead those guys.
It’s exciting to watching both of these guys progress. I’m excited to see what they can do next year.
Q. Rick and Lamar, since both of you are coming back next year, talk about the significance of nine wins. That’s really a lot to build on. You have a good foundation.
RICHARD McQUARLEY: I feel like that’s great. Nine wins, that’s a biggy. A lot of people doubted us. That’s what we really wanted to do, use the people that doubted us as motivators.
It hurt us a little bit because their coaches were saying that we were New Mexico State. We were really bothered by that. Everybody had one mindset, and that was to win tonight. I feel like we gave him the answer that he wanted.
LAMAR JORDAN: Just feeding off of what Rick said, I feel like this whole year nobody really respected us. You look at October against Boise, I didn’t play my best game. Like I said, they were a lucky team. That’s the vibe we were getting.
Like Rick say, when we heard the Wyoming coach say New Mexico State, the whole week was, Man, we just need to get our respect. It’s more than just this win, just respect in the whole country.
I feel like, I mean, nationally televised game, ESPN first bowl game, I feel like we really got our respect.
Q. Lamar and Dakota, a couple weeks ago we talked about the Utah State game being a breakthrough. How does this game compare to that? And Lamar, what happened when you missed those two plays?
DAKOTA COX: Getting that ninth win, going out there, it’s a huge achievement for this whole program. It hasn’t been done in a little while. So it feels great.
Building off what Lamar said, we wanted to go out there and earn our respect, understanding that we’re here to play, we’re going to go out there and play hard every down.
Going out there and getting the win just means so much to this whole team.
LAMAR JORDAN: Like I say, feeding off of Utah State, this game, defense played their butts off. When you can keep a team below 21 points, the offense has to win that game. Both those games we kept them under 21 points. It’s on us.
You got to thank those guys. Dakota, countless games, double-digit tackles. You don’t really hear about that a lot in America. You really got to thank him.
You got to thank the D-line, Nick Hughes, D’Avanzo. The secondary, you have Nias Martin, Lee Crosby, IB Brown, you really got to thank those guys. When they play good, it’s like a muscle offense. You got to put points on the board.
Those two plays, I mean, I fell on the ball and I couldn’t really breathe. I was trying my best to get air. I mean, I knew the whole time it wasn’t going to be a repeat of last year. I wasn’t going to sit out that game.
I went right to the sideline and told coach, I’m ready to go back in. I just needed to relax myself, talk to God a little bit, ask Him for some more oxygen.
I’m good. Thank God.
Q. Dakota, last game, it was a defensive battle, you killed it. Can you leave the University of New Mexico knowing you left it all out on the field?
DAKOTA COX: I think I definitely can. I’ve been honored to play for this program, Coach Davie, Coach Cos gave me the chance to come in as a freshman and trusted me to play. To go out there, really get that award, it’s something I’ve been wanting to do ever since I saw Skippy Wright do it last year. Going out there and doing that shows off all the hard work I put into everything.
I mean, I just give credit to this whole team. It’s never one person, it’s everyone. I’ve created a brotherhood, friendships for life that I’m going to have a long time down the road. That’s one thing I can take away from this whole thing.
Q. Richard, your first touchdown, you ran the ball four times in a row, you called a timeout, you put your hands together. Were you pleading to get the carry one more time?
RICHARD McQUARLEY: I told coach, I know things happen, the majority probably knew I would get the ball in any type of close situation. I really was, like, upset because I like to compete, like I said. 55 linebacker, it was a good hit. I don’t take credit away from nobody. Like I tell coach, the Lord man win. I wanted to get him back.
I told coach, Don’t try to change the play, just let me get the ball, get my chance back.
At that time I didn’t. My last touchdown, I did. Like I say, it was a successful game. Everything went as planned.
Q. Lamar, we spoke earlier in the season, you talked about some of your goals. You said you wanted to do some things for Markel Byrd. You scratched all the things off the list. Talk about what that means to you and the team.
LAMAR JORDAN: I mean, this whole season, ever since he passed away, it’s coming up in a couple days on a whole year, we wanted to do it for him.
A lot of guys knew Markel, as well. Like I say, me and ha bib, we probably knew him the most. My foundation of this season was for him because I know if he was here, he definitely would compete his butt off. He’d probably compete with Dakota on offensive MVP of the game. I love him to death, I miss him.
This whole season, this win, any award I get is for him. It’s not only one season for Markel. It’s a lifetime trait for me. As long as I can play football, I will definitely honor Markel.
Q. Lamar, after they cut it to 16-13, you drove 75 yards, took seven minutes off the clock. What was the mindset going into that drive? Did you say anything to the guys on offense?
LAMAR JORDAN: It was nothing different. Like I said, every drive get points on the board, get six. You have to thank the O-line as well as the backs and receivers.
It’s kind of simple. I tell the boys, Let’s get six. If that’s what you want to hear, that’s about it. We got six. You got to thank God for that.
Q. Now that the season is over, what is the one word you would use to describe it?
LAMAR JORDAN: I’d probably say blessed. You look at us three, completely three different backgrounds. I could tell you countless stories. You got a guy like Gambo who lost 12 people this year as well as Donnie lost his whole family. I mean, this whole team is full of different stories. A lot of people really coming out of the mud, coming from nothing.
I’d say blessed. You really got to thank God, that He put us all together. He put us together for a reason, made this day happen for a reason.
DAKOTA COX: I think it was just very exciting, the whole season. To go out on a win, a nine-win season, for these guys to build off of it next year, I think the best word to describe it is exciting. The way we pulled through everything, going through a little bit of a rough patch at the beginning of the year, pulling it together after that bye week, really just pulling it together, guys understanding what we could really do if we all worked together. I think it’s a season to be remembered. Just a very exciting season to build off of.
RICHARD McQUARLEY: My word, as a team, we humble because we really started off, we going one back to two backs, then three backs in the backfield. That was something new to us. It was kind of different because it was confusing, for one. We was always mad at the coaches or us because we didn’t know what to do.
What we did, though, we stayed afterwards, put in extra work. If he wanted the year to be ours, we had to do what it takes. I feel like my word for this team is humble.
Q. (No microphone.)
DAKOTA COX: I think he learned after last year not to throw out those dance moves anymore.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
Gildan New Mexico Bowl: New Mexico vs UTSA
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Frank Wilson
Jarveon Williams
Michael Egwuagu
UTSA Roadrunners
New Mexico – 23, San Antonio – 20
THE MODERATOR: We are joined by San Antonio. We’ll open it up to questions.
Q. Coach, obviously a tough loss. What did you tell your team in the locker room following the game?
COACH WILSON: Yeah, I told them to hold their heads up high and to recognize they had nothing to be ashamed of, that they gave a valiant effort against a very quality football team.
Today unfortunately our best wasn’t good enough. I thank the seniors for their leadership and getting us to the point where we are right now. I challenged the youth of our team, our juniors, sophomores and freshmen to take us to the next steps that we’d like to be in as a program.
It was tough. It was tough because you want it so bad for these guys to my right and to my left, and to the other seniors, to all of the kids of this program. You wanted them to have that moment, to capture and to reach out and achieve a bowl championship.
They did make history. We’re very fortunate to get to this bowl game. What an experience it was. Learned a lot from it. But here is what you saw: resiliency, you saw a team that refused to quit, that did what they did best, and that was fight all the way until the last whistle of the game.
Q. Coach, obviously a disappointing outcome for you. For the first bowl experience for the program, what was this week like with the New Mexico Bowl as your first one?
COACH WILSON: This part is a little bitter right now. The game itself, it was phenomenal. The enthusiasm, the excitement from the fans, the bands, the support was everything that you could ever ask for in a bowl game atmosphere.
I’m going backwards here. The preparation throughout the week, the New Mexico Bowl and Gildan is outstanding. They went above and beyond to extend themselves to our university, our young men, and make this an experience they would enjoy for a lifetime.
We did. It was first class. We enjoyed it to the fullest.
Q. Michael and Jarveon, can you tell us where this game was lost? You out-gained them on the ground, through the air, and defensively stat-wise.
MICHAEL EGWUAGU: It’s one of those things where it’s one play here or there. I feel that we played a good game for the most part.
Just like coach said, our best wasn’t good enough. We’ve got things to correct.
COACH WILSON: I’d like to chime in on that. The difference in the game was opportunities were far and few. When either team was able to get in striking distance to score, it was a premium. Unfortunately it was times we had to kick three. Fortunately we did make those three even against the gusting winds and climate. We were able to capitalize.
If we’re able to score touchdowns there, you could see a different outcome. You have to attribute our opponent for us not scoring touchdowns down in there. But you like to think that those opportunities down there, of course we were four-of-four in the red zone, that you can convert those into six and seven points as opposed to three.
We had one series that was uncanny of us, that we had three back-to-back-to-back penalties. That’s not the trademark of our program. We’re better than that, more disciplined than that. For a moment, we weren’t ourselves.
We rebounded from that. That’s the good thing. We came back. Even in that series, we got three out of it. But you would like to think that we can get touchdowns down in that area.
Q. Coach Wilson, how did the weather, the cold and the wind affect your passing game today? Looked like there might have been some catchable balls out there.
COACH WILSON: I think at times there were individuals who caught the ball well, and there were other times certainly that we had drops. Off the top, I’m going to say three or four critical ones that we usually make that we did not.
I watched us in pregame and I watched the quarterbacks throw the ball against the wind, with the wind. It did not disturb us then. We caught the ball very efficiently. So going into the game, I didn’t think it would be a concern for us because we had shown the ability to do so.
Unfortunately, we did not. Was the weather a part of it? Whether it was physically or mentally, I guess. I’d like to think that it would not be because we played so well in so many other parts of the game.
But, you know, not sure.
Q. Frank, speaking about specific penalties, what about the illegal substitution penalty? What did the referees explain to you?
COACH WILSON: We disagreed on it. I was trying to get them to understand that Kerry did not come out of the game, come from the sideline, he was already in the game. He ran halfway, went back, then came out.
In his mind, he thought our intent was to deceive, which wasn’t the case at all, but probably more so that the intent or thought was that he came from the sideline.
I assured him that he was in the prior play, that it was totally legal. He explained to me, Well, it was confusing.
So I asked the question, So you were confused? It wasn’t illegal, you were confused?
His rebuttal to me was, It’s illegal.
You are not illegal if you are already in the game. You can go from the field to the sideline to the field and back any time you want to. In my opinion, it was a legal play, and should not have been called.
Q. This is for all three of you. Talk about what it was like to come out and see so many people from San Antonio and what you think it means going forward that on a nationally televised game the UTSA sideline was almost full of fans.
JARVEON WILLIAMS: It was amazing just being able to look up in the stands and see all the blue and orange, everybody traveling, coming out to support us for our first bowl game appearance. Just really gives you a great appreciation for this program and the direction it’s headed in. I couldn’t be any more proud of our fans. I’m thankful they traveled all this way to come watch us.
MICHAEL EGWUAGU: Yeah, I think it’s a testament to the program, a testament to these fans. It shows that they’re dedicated, diehard fans. We really do have support in Roadrunner Nation.
COACH WILSON: For me, the fourth quarter came and you began to hear the chants. You looked up, you saw the sea of orange and our family engaged in the game, not a person sitting down.
It swelled my heart. I was very humbled, thankful and appreciative of our fans. They never sat down. We were able to mount a comeback because we drew energy from them.
Even in defeat, finishing second, we lined up in front of our band to sing the alma mater. They sung it with us verbatim, word for word, with their heads held high. I said to our players that they should hold their heads high because they had nothing to be ashamed of.
Even last night, you go to the pep rally in Old Town, just watch the city of San Antonio and Roadrunner Nation take over, take over. Constant feeds on your phone of orange and blue, orange ties from newscaster to politician to everyday people. Just fell in love with this program and gave us a moment that we’ll have for a lifetime. Very appreciative.
Q. Michael, can you walk us through those final moments after the game. You were down on a knee, obviously upset. Your teammates are coming up and comforting you.
MICHAEL EGWUAGU: Upset, yes. But I think more so it’s just surreal. It’s surreal that I’ve been here for four years, when this program was a little baby. To see it grow into where it is now…
I had my teammates come around me and embrace me. It was a bitter feeling. But, man, I’m just happy to have been a Roadrunner, seriously. It’s probably the single most pivotal point in my life, the single most thing that has impacted my life.
These are family members. These are coaches. These are brothers that I’ve met and made for life.
Q. You talked about the weather, but what about the altitude? Did that really play a factor for you guys in this game?
JARVEON WILLIAMS: In my opinion, it didn’t really play a factor in the game. Mouth might have been a little dry. As long as you stayed hydrated, hydrated properly, that wasn’t an issue. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.
MICHAEL EGWUAGU: Yeah, I agree with Jarveon. If you stay hydrated, it’s all right.
COACH WILSON: We prefaced coming into this game being weatherproof. Whatever the weather may be, it would be UTSA weather. How you see these guys is how they played the game. They embraced the climate, they lived in the moment. It didn’t deter us.
We finished second today, period. The weather didn’t determine the outcome of the game because we were prepared for it mentally and physically, whatever may happen.
Q. Jarveon, you guys out-rushed the number one rushing team in the nation today. Considering the outcome of the game, do you take some pride in that or does that make you feel worse?
JARVEON WILLIAMS: I mean, we’ve always had a good rushing attack, in my opinion. Today we just didn’t come out on top. We didn’t make enough plays to win. I’m very confident and very proud to say that I’ve been a part of this offense that’s worked so hard and established an identity as a physical football team, physical, downhill football team. They’re going to continue to build on that.
COACH WILSON: You know what, they had two thousand-yard rushers on their team. We had two guys right at 800 yards.
It was interesting. As we lined up, people waiting on the rushing attacks, which would be more pivotal in the outcome of the game. Certainly they are a force to be reckoned with schematically in the things that they do, well-coached, do what they do very well.
I wouldn’t trade our two for anyone. I thought they played outstanding today. I was not surprised by the productivity of our offensive line or our backs.
Q. Frank, Jevonte Domond wasn’t here with your team today. Could you explain the circumstances why that happened, how much you feel like your team missed him not being there, and how I guess Darryl was a starter in there at that position, how he did?
COACH WILSON: I think Reed Darragh stepped in and played extremely well for us. We had some unspecified team rules, policies that were not adhered to, so Jevonte was not able to play today. As we did throughout the remainder of the year, we didn’t flinch. The next man went up. He didn’t give up a sack. He handled his position. He manned his area. He was very productive because of the preparation that was put in.
It was no different than him getting injured the first play of the game in our mindset. But with this program, we’re going to continue to run it in a manner that does not allow us to compromise the integrity of what we do, by no means, by anyone, because no one will ever be bigger than the team.
However minute it may seem, we’re going to adhere to that, and it’s going to allow us to be a program to be reckoned with in the future because of it, because of the consistency of how we do things around here.
Q. Coach and Michael, fourth quarter you guys scored a three, you have the tackle for a loss. They pull off the 34-yard pass play. How big an effect was that on you defensively?
MICHAEL EGWUAGU: I think anytime you have an explosive play, it affects the drive, for sure. But the good thing about my defense is we always step up and play the next play just like it’s the next play.
Unfortunately today, our best wasn’t good enough. We came out second.
COACH WILSON: I think when you look at a team that leads the nation in rushing at about 360 a game, they’re held well under 100 of that, that defense played well, did a very good job, an admirable job in holding this opponent.
They’re a good team. They’re a very good football team. So for them to get an explosive play was not unrealistic to us. We wanted to limit it. We wanted to be in position to make plays. I thought we did that for the most part.
But they’re a quality team. They’re well-coached. That happens. In the midst of the game, plays like that happen.
I thought we responded after it. Was it a big play for them? Of course, it was. But we still had other opportunities where we could have gone and played better at times.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.