LAS CRUCES - UNM cornerback Glover Quin capped Saturday night with a message for Aggie fans.
"Tell them to get in their little bitty cars and drive home," he said.
Of course, NMSU was already home.
It was the sweetest possible way for the Lobos to win - and the most unsavory way for the Aggies to lose.
Before a sellout crowd of 33,043 at Aggie Memorial Stadium, UNM made it six wins in a row, defeating the Aggies 35-24.
But at first glance, the Lobos looked like they were going to have to come back to Albuquerque dejected.
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Quicker and louder than NMSU's ROTC could shoot off its cannon, the Aggies' Chase Holbrook air-mailed two touchdown passes less than four minutes into the game - the first going to wide receiver A.J. Harris from 84 yards out.
Harris lined up a split to the left. At the snap of the ball, UNM cornerback DeAndre Wright got off a good jam that sent Harris tumbling out of bounds. But Harris continued on his route and Holbrook dropped it right in the seam of the zone.
"In all honesty, I thought he still caught the ball out of bounds," Wright said. "But the referees gave it to him. I was supposed to have help over the top."
With 11:19 left in the first quarter, the Lobo secondary got burned again.
Holbrook hit Marcus Anderson in stride and Anderson turned on the jets. Seventy-four yards later, it was 14-0 Aggies.
"It looked bad early," head coach Rocky Long said.
The Lobos cut the deficit to 14-7 with 13:56 left in the second quarter off a 1-yard run by Rodney Ferguson.
The Lobos and Aggies each tacked on a field goal, making it 17-10 at halftime.
In the second half, the Lobos' defense clamped down on the Aggies' offense, holding NMSU scoreless in the third quarter.
Two field goals by James Aho - one from 42 yards out and another from 28, pulled the Lobos within 1, 17-16, heading into the fourth quarter.
But the Aggies put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive that took 4:02 off the clock. Holbrook hooked up with Anderson for the second time, and the Aggies led 24-16 with 12:27 left.
The Lobos took the ensuing possession 80 yards - 46 of those yards coming off a quarterback keeper by redshirt freshman Brad Gruner.
Two plays later, Gruner hit Jermaine McQueen, who wiggled free of an NMSU defender and dove into the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown.
UNM went for 2 but failed, making it 24-22.
After an NMSU three-and-out, the Lobos looked to wear down the Aggies' defense.
Gruner handed the ball off to tailback Paul Baker on six out of the 10 plays. Baker capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
UNM opted to go for two and was unsuccessful, as the Lobos led 28-24.
Just like it has all year, the Lobo defense had to take the field for one last time.
And just like they did against quarterback Willie Tuitama and Arizona, UNM stopped Holbrook and the Aggies on fourth-and-four and forced them to turn the ball over on downs.
"Coach called us over and said, 'Here at UNM, we get after people,'" UNM linebacker Zach Arnett said. "'We're not going to sit back and play zone. We're going to go after them.' So, we went all-out blitz. Herbert Felder came around scot-free, got pressure on him and didn't allow him to find the open guy."
UNM worsened the agony of defeat when tailback James Wright dashed 44 yards into the end zone, leading to the final score of 35-24.
"Hail, to thee, New Mexico. Thy loyal sons are we. Marching down the field we go. Fighting for thee," Lobo players jubilantly celebrated, Aggie fireworks exploding in the background.
"They didn't want to waste the fireworks," some Lobos exclaimed. "They didn't want to waste the fireworks."
