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The 105th installment of the Rio Grande Rivalry witnessed the New Mexico football team’s offense at its best.
UNM dominated longtime in-state rival New Mexico State in a 66-17 rout on Saturday, tying the school record for most points scored against the Aggies.
“I really start to feel our young skill guys (are coming into their own),” head coach Bob Davie said. ”Just the explosiveness of those young guys. As they continue to mature we’re going to continue to see that. We really recruited for this offense.”
The Aggie defense couldn’t stop the Lobos’ triple option attack at all that night. UNM rushed the ball effectively when it pleased and finished with 541 yards on the ground on 56 attempts for a 9.7 yards-per-carry average. The Lobos basically had a first down every time they ran the ball.
As a team, the Lobos had 10 players carry the football. Sophomore quarterback Cole Gautsche led the team with 127 yards on 12 rushes with one touchdown, while senior running back Kasey Carrier finished second with 126 yards on 14 runs to go along with three scores.
“I think we’ve got a lot of good young skill players in this program along with those older guys,” Davie said. “It’s a good combination of some different style players.”
The Lobos quickly built a 21-0 lead at the game’s start thanks to three touchdowns from Carrier, two from 1 yard out and the other from 11 yards out.
Carrier’s final touchdown was set up by linebacker Tevin Newman, who picked off NMSU quarterback Aaron McDonald and returned the ball 26 yards. That defensive play was one of several the Lobo defense made throughout the game. UNM had another interception in the fourth quarter and recovered NMSU’s lone fumble. Junior defensive end Brett Bowers sacked McDonald three times.
“It’s building a defense; at least tonight we made some plays,” Davie said. “It’s just going to take time, patience and doing the same things over and over again. But it was good to see some guys make some plays.”
NMSU finally got on the scoreboard when wide receiver Adam Shapiro capped a 13-play, 75-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 14.
But on the ensuing kickoff, UNM sophomore wide receiver Carlos Wiggins returned the ball 100 yards for a touchdown, giving the Lobos a 28-7 lead less than a minute into the second quarter. It was the first kickoff return for a score this year for UNM and Wiggins finished the day with 217 all-purpose yards — 57 rushing, 33 receiving and 117 on kick returns.
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UNM would go on to outscore NMSU 21-7 the rest of the first half to take a 42-14 lead at halftime.
“Really, momentum came on our side very quick,” Carrier said. “Our O-line just dominated from the start and didn’t let up the whole game.”
In the second half, the Lobo offense continued to march down the field at will, outscoring the Aggies 24-3 over the final two quarters. The third quarter saw kicker Justus Adams hit his first field goal since Sept. 14 at Pittsburgh, a 33-yard conversion.
Later in the third, Gautsche hit a wide-open Wiggins in stride down the left sideline for a 33-yard touchdown pass. Gautsche had one of his better passing days of his career despite only completing 2 of 4 passes for 48-yards and that lone score.
Gautsche added a 33-yard touchdown to begin the fourth quarter and freshman running back Jhurell Pressley found the endzone from 29 yards out for the final score of 66-17.
Despite one of its better defensive performances of the year, UNM still allowed NMSU to take 451 yards of total offense. McDonald threw for 269 yards, converting 20 of 34 passes with two interceptions. Junior tailback Brandon Betancourt gained 139 yards on 23 carries.
Mitchem suffers injury
Davie said junior signal caller Clayton Mitchem hurt his back in the second quarter when he got drilled by an Aggie defensive linemen.
Mitchem was slow to get up after the play and was clearly in pain. He didn’t see another snap after taking that hit.
