AUBURN, Ala. — New Mexico threw a critical interception in the third quarter on a fourth-and-5 and UNM couldn’t capitalize in the red zone in the first half and Auburn was able to outlast the Lobos 45-19 in a game that was playing in the rain for most of the game. Auburn pulled away after halftime in a game that was just 17-13 Tigers at the break.
UNM had four first half drives in the red zone but only got 13 points on a touchdown and two field goals. UNM opened the game with a 60-yard drive that led to a 33-yard Luke Drzewiecki field goal. UNM missed a shot at an early touchdown when Devon Dampier, who threw for a career-high 291 yards in the game, just missed a diving Luke Wysong in the end zone. It marked the second straight game in which Dampier threw for a career-high.
Auburn got a 66-yard kickoff return to the UNM 32, and the Tigers took nine plays to get into the end zone for a 7-3 lead. The Loibos answered right back with its lone touchdown drive of the opening half. A 3-yard Naquari Rogers touchdown was set up by a wild over-the-shoulder catch from Caleb Medford on a season-long 42-yard reception. The Lobos ran a version of the swinging gate and Justin Holaday ran the ball in for a two-point conversion, but a motion penalty negated that, so UNM was up 10-7.
Auburn eventually scored on its next two possessions for a 17-10 lead, sandwiched around a richochet interception for the Tigers. UNM went down and got a second Drzewiecki field goal to make it 17-13, but could have had six as a long pass from Dampier to Jacobs was a little behind the running back, and he adjusted to make the catch but got caught from behind.
After a three-and-out, UNM again drove into the red zone, but Drzewiecki missed a 37-yard field goal in a driving rain storm as the game got sloppy due to the conditions.
After the break at 17-13 Auburn, the Tigers took the second half kickoff and went 75 yards in 10 plays with Hunter Brown tossing a 3-yard touchdown pass to Micah Riley. UNM drove the field but on fourth-and-5 from the 25-yard line, Bronco Mendenhall passed on a field goal and went for it, but a pass to Ryan Davis had its timing thrown off when he was clipped by a defender, and the pass was intercepted, eventually leading to a touchdown and a 31-13 lead.
The Lobos got back in it early in the fourth when Caleb Medford hauled in a four-yard touchdown pass from Dampier to make it 31-19, missing on a two-point conversion. Auburn then gave itself breathing room with a third straight second half touchdown after a long kickoff return to the UNM 43 set up a short field, with a third Hank Brown touchdown pass making it 38-19, and a fourth quarter TD after a missed fourth down conversion made it the final of 45-19.
UNM gained 448 yards on offense and allowed 503 but were hampered by a 16 penalties, third-most in school history, although they went for just 112 total.