NM should embrace role as bowl game host

Some people in the U.S. don’t know that New Mexico is a member of the union, let alone that the state hosts a Bowl game.

But over the last two years, the rest of the country ought to have picked up on the New Mexico Bowl.
Wyoming — led by first-year head coach Dave Christensen and freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels — defeated Fresno State, 35-28, in a double-overtime thriller in the fourth installment of the Land of Enchantment’s very own ESPN football game.

I didn’t think that the game would be a contest between the Cowboys and the Bulldogs, or that it would go into two overtimes.

It promised to be a tough act to follow after last year’s performance, in which Colorado State scored 20 points in the fourth quarter, showing a brilliant and victorious rallying effort against  who else?  Fresno State.

Led by senior running back Gartrell Johnson, the Rams beat the Bulldogs, 40-35, in what might have been the best bowl game of the 2008-09 bowl season.

But this year Carta-Samuels and Fresno State tailback Ryan Mathews — who was the nation’s leading rusher heading into Saturday’s bowl game — matched and raised the excitement of last year.

Carta-Samuels, who used his instincts to garner the offensive MVP award, finished the New Mexico Bowl with 67 rushing yards. He threw only 16 passes but made each of his 10 completions meaningful. These included a 13-yard, go-ahead strike to wide receiver David Leonard in the second overtime.

I was one of the bowl’s first critics when the game was introduced in 2006. I thought there was no way that the game could survive in Albuquerque when University Stadium struggles to fill the seats at Lobo home games.
It was a great sight to see Wyoming fans pack the east stands at University Stadium and rush the field after Bulldogs’ quarterback Ryan Colburn was stopped on a fourth and five in double overtime.

Even in two straight defeats in Albuquerque, Fresno State head coach Pat Hill said he’s enjoyed his time during the holidays at the New Mexico Bowl in 2008 and 2009.

“The hospitality was great,” Hill said. “Great job by the New Mexico Bowl.”

Obviously, the New Mexico Bowl will never ever obtain the tradition or prestige of the Cotton or Rose Bowls, but to hear approval from a head coach like Hill should make Albuquerque community members and the Western Athletic and Mountain West Conferences proud.

Albuquerque should also appreciate and respect what Jeff Siembieda, the executive director of the New Mexico Bowl, has worked so hard to put together for the last five years.

I applaud Siembieda for what he’s done to help Albuquerque start its own holiday tradition by hosting the opening act of the college bowl season.

Here’s to hoping the New Mexico Bowl continues to prosper.