LAS CRUCES — It was judgment day for two of the statistically worst football teams in the country, and New Mexico State survived.
The UNM football team dropped to 0-6 overall in a 16-14 loss to NMSU (1-4) at Aggie Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Despite leading the game for nearly 45 minutes, the Lobos surrendered a Tyler Stampler 22-yard field goal with 1:56 left in the game.
“The guys got the game into the fourth quarter, which is something I have asked of them,” head coach Mike Locksley said. “We didn’t make the plays we needed to win the game.”
UNM freshman quarterback Stump Godfrey fumbled in UNM territory to set up the Aggies’ go-ahead, fourth-quarter score. Godfrey, who scrapped his redshirt by playing against NMSU, was stripped by Aggies’ Donte Savage and Augafa Vaaulu recovered at UNM’s 44-yard line.
NMSU’s freshman quarterback Andrew Manley replaced starter Tanner Rust on the Aggies’ game-winning drive. Manley was 2-of-2 for 32 yards, which included a huge 21-yard hook-up with wide receiver Marcus Allen at the UNM four-yard line.
Led by Rust, the Aggies scored the first six points of the contest before UNM took a 7-6 lead with 1:46 remaining in the first quarter.
Brad Gruner, who started the game for the Lobos, hit Bryant Williams for a 42-yard touchdown pass. The Lobos looked set to take control of the game when, on their next possession, tailback Kasey Carrier scampered for a six-yard touchdown run to give UNM an 11-point lead.
Carrier’s score was set up by a 37-yard reception by Williams. Despite the help of Williams’ career-high 97 yards receiving, the Lobos wouldn’t score again.
Godfrey replaced Gruner early in the third quarter, and the two played quarterback shuffle the rest of the night.
“I knew it was coming,” Gruner said. “I just got to perform, and it goes both ways.”
The Aggies’ lone touchdown came at the cost of another Lobo special teams’ blunder, something that’s plagued UNM all season.
Wide receiver Ty Kirk muffed a Jake Capraro punt and the ball rolled into the end zone, where NMSU’s Robert Clay recovered for the score to bring it to 14-13.
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It would stay like that for the rest of the night — until Stampler’s field goal gave NMSU the advantage for good.
In what was their best defensive performance to date, the Lobos held the Aggies to 206 yards of offense and only 38 yards passing. UNM also didn’t allow an offensive touchdown.
“It hurts,” defensive end Jaymar Latchison said. “We tried to fight the whole game, and we really have to give the Aggies credit. They stepped up, made the plays and we didn’t. With rivalry games, it’s always going to be a battle, and it’s always going to be a fight. Today, it was a fight.”
The Lobos continued their propensity for self-inflicted wounds, turning the ball over five times and finishing with eight penalties for 115 yards.
“Obviously, when you turn the ball over five times, you don’t give yourself a chance to win,” Locksley said. “As I have said every time, it’s my job as a head coach to find a way to stop the turnovers and stop the dumb penalties.”
