When it rains, it pours.
The UNM football team - 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain West Conference - shut out the Wyoming Cowboys 24-0 on Saturday.
Wyoming never gained traction on a soaked, soggy University Stadium field and was pummeled by a tough Lobo defense.
It was UNM's first shutout in conference play since 1983, when the Lobos blanked UTEP 35-0.
Safety Frankie Solomon buried the Cowboys early.
He picked off Wyoming quarterback Karsten Sween 15 seconds into the first quarter and, with nothing but green in front of him, scored easily.
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UNM extended its record to 47-15 when it scored first, and Saturday was the first time the Lobos had a first-quarter lead this season.
The interception by Solomon was the 20th turnover for the Wyoming Cowboys this season.
Turnovers and inefficient execution was the story for the Cowboys.
UNM forced two more turnovers, and Wyoming left Albuquerque with a nation-leading 22.
The Lobo defense also forced Wyoming into three straight first-quarter punts.
Even without the Lobos' biggest offensive contributor - starting running back Rodney Ferguson, who sat out with a bad right shoulder - UNM's running game was unrelenting.
Running backs Paul Baker and James Wright shared carries throughout the course of the game. Baker had 22 carries for 92 yards, and Wright ran for 122 yards off 15 carries.
The duo ground out an eight-play, 47-yard drive that lasted 4:46, capped by Wright's fourth-down, 1-yard touchdown run.
The score gave the Lobos a 14-0 lead.
A back and forth punt-fest highlighted the second quarter, until Wyoming's Sween fumbled the snap on 4th-and-8 with just over six minutes left in the half. Zach Arnett recovered the football.
On the ensuing possession, Lobo quarterback Brad Gruner scrambled for 52 yards to set up his 1-yard touchdown run. The score put the Lobos up 21-0 with 5:58 left in the second quarter.
"The offensive line played real hard - they kept the running game going," Gruner said. "The line got me a few rushes, and it is nice to know we have a running game behind with a lot of depth."
The Lobos' offense finished with 350 total yards - 317 on the ground and only 33 passing yards.
"We are struggling throwing the ball," head coach Rocky Long said. "We are not throwing it and catching it very well. The only chance you have to win is play good defense, control the line of scrimmage and run the ball pretty well."
Kicker James Aho ended a scoreless second half by booting a 37-yard field goal that put the Lobos up 24-0 with 7:18 remaining in the game.
It was another strong performance for UNM's defense, as it collected three Wyoming turnovers and limited the 'Pokes to just 201 total yards.
Arnett had a career-high 16 tackles.
After missing last week's game, safety Ian Clark came back and averaged 17 yards per punt return against Wyoming.
"He did a great job of punt returns," Long said. "Of course there are 10 other guys out there getting in people's way, so we can do that. Some of our points were scored because of field position made by punt returns."
