IRVING, Texas — Terance Mathis, perhaps the greatest offensive player in the history of Lobo Football, has been bestowed the ultimate honor. Mathis on Monday was named as a part of the National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023. Mathis joins Brian Urlacher as Lobos to be enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Mathis will be inducted along with a star-studded class on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at the 65th NFF Annual Awards Dinner at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The announcement of the 2023 call was made earlier on Monday during ESPN’s pre-game coverage of the national championship.
Mathis lettered at UNM from 1985-87 and 1989, playing for Joe Lee Dunn and Mike Sheppard. He finished his career as the first player (and to this point, still the only player over 30 years later) in school history with 250 receptions, 4,000 receiving yards and 6,000 all-purpose yards.
Mathis still holds several school records, including career receptions (263), career receiving yards (4,254), single season receiving yards (1,315), career touchdown receptions (36), single-season touchdown receptions (13) and touchdown receptions in a game (3). Additionally, his five straight 100-yard receiving games still stands as a school record.
In September of 2017, Mathis was honored by UNM as the sixth player to be inducted into the Lobo Football Ring of Honor. “God has truly been good to me. I am truly grateful and humbled by this moment,” Mathis said at the time.
It’s impossible to look the Lobo record book and not find Mathis’ name dotting the various lists. He is second, third and seventh on the single-game receptions list (16 vs. Utah, 14 vs. Arkansas and 12 vs. San Diego State); he is second, third, fourth, eighth, ninth and 10th on the single-game yardage list; second and sixth on the single-season receptions list; first and fourth on the single-season receiving yards list; first, third and eighth on the single-season touchdown receptions list; and first and third in single-season all-purpose yardage. His three kickoff returns for touchdowns in 1989 has been tied, but not broken, at UNM.