Senior Casey Kelly threw for 230 yards and sophomore DonTrell Moore rushed for 132 yards on 30 carries to lead the Lobos to a 34-7 win over the Utah State Aggies Saturday at University Stadium.
The Lobos were pleasantly surprised by the ease of the win.
"They're a decent team, but I expected a little bit more than what they showed," senior wide receiver Dwight Counter said. "It was big for us to finally do something on offense, and defense played a good game."
Kelly opened play on a 24-yard pass to receiver Adrian Boyd, moving UNM to the Aggie 41. Kelly connected on one other attempt in the first quarter, completing only two of seven.
Junior Travis Cox took over for the Aggies at the 34-yard line, but did not have a chance to move the ball, as senior right end Daniel Kegler broke through and sacked Cox on his first touch.
Shortly after, the UNM defense forced another Aggie turnover and Jerrell Malone recovered Jerome Eason's fumble to regain possession for the Lobos.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
With the scoreboard blank late in the first quarter, Moore took matters into his own hands - no other Lobo touched the ball on UNM's fourth drive. Moore rushed for 19 yards on four carries, scoring the first touchdown at the 3:14 mark.
UNM head coach Rocky Long said Moore did just what the Lobos needed him to do.
"We are trying to establish our running game," Long said. "Because the past few weeks we haven't been able to run the ball very well."
The Lobos' running game is suffering due to the absence of two big men on the offensive line. Long said he is hoping "hitman" Jason Lenzmeier will be ready to play in the next game. Lenzmeier has been sidelined for the past two weeks recovering from a torn medial collateral ligament.
Junior kicker Wes Zunker was perfect on the night and kicked a field goal with 12 minutes remaining in the first half, giving UNM a 10-0 advantage.
USU's only score came on an 11-second drive in the second quarter when Cox fired a 79-yard shot to the wide-open Barry Tolli.
"We got beat," Long said. "Their guy outran us and caught the ball, and our guy didn't knock him down. That was a great throw and a great catch. We had a guy in position, and he just couldn't make the play."
UNM matched the score when Counter caught a 39-yard pass in the end zone.
Counter said he and Kelly have had plenty of practice on the long plays throughout the years.
"We redshirted together," he said. "We've been here a long time, and we knew when we got our chance we were going to make the best of it."
The Lobos scored again with three minutes remaining in the half, when Moore rushed for a collective 34 yards, and his second touchdown.
UNM's 24 points are the most the Aggies have allowed in the first half all year.
Early in the second half, Kelly and Counter connected on another long pass play, this time for 46 yards, which carried UNM to the three-yard line.
However, the Lobos were penalized for holding in the red zone and failed to score a touchdown.
Zunker salvaged the drive with a 41-yard field goal, adding three points to UNM's advantage.
With a comfortable 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, the second-stringers had an opportunity to gain some experience. They kept the momentum in the Lobos' favor.
The final touchdown came from junior D.D. Cox on a six-yard run.
Freshman redshirt Kole McKamey went in for Kelly in the final period. McKamey completed one pass to senior Rashaun Sanders for 14 yards.
Kelly said the victory was the result of hard work in practice this week.
"It always starts in practice," he said. "And we had good practices this week. We had some good plays and everybody did their job."
The Lobos have a bye this week, which Long said came just in time.
"It's the perfect time for a bye week," he said. "We've got a lot of guys beat up with pulls and strains and bumps and bruises."
Long said he hopes everyone will be healthy and rested when UNM faces the Aztecs on Oct. 18 in San Diego.
