Late Score Spoils Debut of Bronco Mendenhall

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Montana State outscored New Mexico 21-0 in the final quarter as the No. 4 FCS Bobcats defeated the Lobos.  The Bobcats got the winning score on a 4-yard Scottre Humphrey run with 10 seconds left in the game.  That score gave MSU its first lead of the game.

Until that fourth quarter, it was a stellar performance by the Lobos, which got two touchdowns by the offense and two by the defense to take a 31-14 lead.  The Lobos scored twice on fumble recoveries, the first that that has happened in at least 50 years.

The Lobos got into Montana State territory on the opening possession but had to punt, but the defense ended up scoring first.  On second down from midfield, Jayden Wilson sacked Tommy Mellott, who fumbled, and the ball bounced right to Christian Ellis, who raced 41 yards for his first career touchdown.  Luke Drzewiecki added a 45-yard field goal later in the quarter and UNM led 10-0 at the break.

It was 17-0 after Devon Dampier hit Trace Bruckler for a 12-yard touchdown and just 1:15 into the second quarter UNM led 17-0.  After that, Montana State started to get its offense in gear, and they got on the board with a 5-yard pass from Mellott to Rylan Schlepp.  That was the first of five 75-yard touchdown drives for the Bobcats.

Mellott threw a second TD, this to an open Ty McCullouch to make it 17-14, but UNM answered as Dampier scored untouched from 24 yards out on a drive in which UNM never faced a third down.  That made it 24-14, and it stayed that way into halftime.

UNM’s only score in the second half came on the opening drive for Montana State when Gabe Lopez sacked Mellott and knocked the ball loose with Noah Avinger picking it up and scurrying 13 yards for a second defensive touchdown.  That made it 31-14 and set up the fateful fourth quarter.

The Bobcats, after getting stopped by Ellis and Bobby Arnold III on the fourth-and-1 at the Lobo 25 in the third quarter, opened the fourth with a 15-yard run by Mellott.

UNM drove from its 25 to the Bobcat 23-yard line, but on third-and-5, Eli Sanders lost two yards and with the wind suddenly whipping to 40 miles per hour, Drzewiecki missed his second field goal of the game.  In the end, UNM’s defense got a stop as Ellis and Randolph Kpai got in Mellott’s face and forced an incompletion from the Bobcat 42.  UNM had the ball up 10 in MSU territory with just 6:15 to go.

However UNM couldn’t kill much clock and on third down, Luke Wysong dropped an out-pattern that had the first down and a lot more, forcing UNM to punt.  On the second play of the drive, Adam Jones went around the left end and raced 93 yards for the second-longest rushing touchdown in MSU history, and the second-longest one given up by UNM.  That made it 31-28 with 4:35 left.

UNM again got the ball back, and picked up one first down, but another critical third-down drop, this by Caleb Medford, force a punt.  A catch there would have forced MSU to use its final timeout with the two-minute warning and at worst-case gotten the ball back with under 30 seconds.  Instead, a Rodriguez punt meant the Bobcats would start with 1:59 left at its 11.

The key plays on the drive were a pair of third-down conversions.  The first was a broken play that went for 37 yards and put the Bobcats in field goal territory.  The second came on third-and -6 from the Lobo 16 and set up MSU at the 4, where they took the lead on the next play.

UNM on its final drive tried to start a lateral play but MSU recovered to end the game.

Postgame Audio Clips

New Mexico Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall

Defensive Back Noah Avinger

Quarterback Devon Dampier

Postgame Notes

This was the third meeting between the two teams.

Montana State leads the series 2-0-1

Montana State leads the series 2-0 in Albuquerque

The series is tied 0-0-1 in San Diego

Starting lineup changes for UNM from published two-deep

Offense: Ryan Davis started as a fourth WR for TE Trace Bruckler

Defense: Bryce Santana at DT for Tyler Kiehne, Dimitri Johnson at BUCK for Randolph Kpai, Cam Watts at BCB for Noa Pola-Gates.

*New Mexico’s captains were Gabe Lopez, Luke Wysong, Richard Pearce and Noah Avinger.

*New Mexico’s Isaiah Chavez carried the state flag of New Mexico onto the field and Randolph Kpai carried the United States flag.

*New Mexico won the toss and elected to receive and Montana State elected to kickoff South to North.

TEAM NOTES:

*The loss was UNM’s first to an FCS team since 2011 when the Lobos lost to nationally-ranked Sam Houston State on Homecoming 48-45 in overtime.

*New Mexico’s season opening score was a 41-yard fumble return by Christian Ellis.  The last time that UNM opened the season with a defensive touchdown was August 31, 2013 when SaQwan Edwards returned a fumble 45 yards against UTSA.

*Gabe Lopez had a strip sack that Noah Avinger picked up for a touchdown, giving UNM two fumble recoveries for touchdowns.  Those two defensive scores equaled the total number of defensive touchdowns dating back to September 28, 2019, a span at 52 games.

*UNM was just 1-8 on third down.

*UNM held Montana State to 0-for-3 on fourth down.

*UNM allowed 362 yards on the ground, meaning UNM has given up 300-yard rushing games back-to-back going back to the 302 rushed for by Utah State last year in the season finale in double overtime.

*Montana State’s 93-yard touchdown run by Adam Jones was the second-longest ever allowed by UNM, behind only a 94-yard touchdown by Alvester Alexander of Wyoming in 2010.  It was the longest-run allowed by UNM since a 76-yard touchdown run by Cole McDonald of Hawai’i on October 26, 2019.

*UNM allowed two rushers (Adam Jones, 167 and Scottre Humphrey 140)  to break 100 yards for the second straight game.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

*Christian Ellis’ fumble recovery was his first career takeaway.

*Jayden Wilson’s sack and strip were both the first of his career.

*Aaron Rodriguez had one touchback in 2023.  His first punt of the season went for a touchback.

*Trace Bruckler’s 12-yard touchdown was his first since November 6, 2021 against UNLV.

*Luke Wysong’s 53-yard reception to set up a field goal was a career-long as was his 95 yards receiving.  His previous long was 41 yards last season against New Mexico State and his previous most yards was 75 at New Mexico State in 2022.

*Devon Dampier’s 17 completions was a career-high for a game and his 26 tied his career-high.  He went 17-for-26 in his only other career start, against Boise State last year.

*Noah Avinger’s 14 tackles were a career-high.  He had eight as a member of the SDSU Aztecs against Arizona on September 3, 2022.