ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Richard “Rock” McQuarley, who tied a 21-year old New Mexico record with five rushing touchdowns, was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week by league officials, marking the first time that San Diego State’s Rashaad Penny didn’t win the honor. Other conference honors went to Utah State’s Jalin Davis and San Diego State’s Juwan Washington.
McQuarley, who also earned the same honors from College Sports Madness and was an Honorable Mention pick for National Player of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards, rushed for a career-high 179 yards on just 11 carries, scoring five rushing touchdowns. It was the most rushing touchdowns in a game for UNM since Reginal Johnson against Tulsa on November 2, 1996, and he joined Johnson Chuck Hill (Sept. 23, 1950 vs.s Northern Arizona) and DonTrell Moore (Nov. 30, 2002 vs. Wyoming) as Lobos with five total touchdowns in a game. McQuarley scored four of his touchdowns in the second half, including his final two runs of 63 and 65 yards, both career longs.
McQuarley is UNM’s first MW Offensive Player of the Week since Kasey Carrier picked up the honor in September of 2013 for his four-TD performance at UTEP, and he is UNM’s 44th Offensive Player of the Week since 1980. UNM joined San Diego State as just the second team in the league to have picked up Player of the Week honors this season for offense, defense (Jake Rothschiller) and special teams (Jasaon Sanders). UNM’s three honors this season is the second-most in the league, behind San Diego State which has eight.
The Lobos have their bye this weekend, and then head to Fresno State on October 7 to take on the Bulldogs in a game that will be broadcast on AT&T Sports Network at 8 p.m. Mountain Time.