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This isn’t the Lobo football team that rolled over for teams in years past.
That’s what the No. 24 Boise State Broncos found out at University Stadium on Saturday when they escaped with a narrow 32-29 victory.
UNM fought back from a 25-0 deficit at halftime to come within 3 points of pulling one of the greatest comebacks in school history.
The Lobos fumbled the ball three times in the first half, resulting in 25 points for the Broncos, and first-year head coach Bob Davie said those turnovers proved critical.
“It was two different games, two halves of football and two different games. The biggest reason was because of turnovers,” Davie said.
UNM rallied in the second half thanks to two Boise State fumbles, a crucial goal line stand and an option attack that gashed the Broncos for 267 yards in the second half.
Freshman quarterback Cole Gautsche was the catalyst in the second half effort with 71 yards on 11 rushes and two scores.
But on fourth and 4, down 32-29 with 2:09 left in the game, Gautsche came out for senior starting quarterback B.R. Holbrook, who played sparingly in the second half. Holbrook dropped back to pass and threw it in the direction of senior wide receiver Lamaar Thomas, but it was deflected by a Boise State defender to end the Lobo comeback venture.
The Lobos attempted only two passes in the second half, and Davie said he thought throwing the football then gave the Lobos the best chance at continuing the drive.
“We just felt like it gave us our best opportunity. Really, (Holbrook) was a little late getting the ball out,” Davie said.
The offense gained 330 yards on the ground but only 44 yards through the air all in the first half. Junior running back Kasey Carrier had a team-high 18 attempts for 86 rushing yards and one touchdown along with two fumbles.
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Davie said he knows this is a one-dimensional offense at the moment.
“It’s good. If we get some more explosives in there … If we get to where we have a few more explosive plays, it’ll be really good,” he said. “And when we can just throw it just a little better, which we’ll be able to do at some point, you can see we’re in the right scheme.”
UNM’s defense was shredded by Boise State, giving up 514 yards of total offense, but the backbreaker for the squad was allowing the Broncos to convert eight of 13 third downs.
Senior linebacker Joe Stoner said third down defense is the Achilles heel of the team.
“That’s our next step, and that’s been our problem area. That’s something we’re going to put a lot of effort into next week, and we’re going to keep going up,” he said.
Boise State scored the first touchdown of the game when junior quarterback Joe Southwick tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Potter to put the Broncos up 10-0 with 14:28 left in the second quarter.
Southwick added his second touchdown pass of the game with a 9-yard strike to Miller, increasing the Lobo deficit to 18 with 2:40 left in the half.
The Broncos scored the final touchdown of the quarter when freshman running back Jay Ajayi rumbled in for a 1-yard score to make it 25-0 at the half.
UNM received a much-needed break when Boise State fumbled the second-half kickoff and the Lobos drove 26 yards for their first score of the game.
Stoner said the turnover shifted the tides.
“That’s all we needed was a turnover,” he said. “That gave our offense a spark.”
Carrier added his only touchdown of the game on the Lobos’ next possession to cut the Broncos’ lead to 25-14.
Boise State answered UNM’s 14 straight points when Southwick threw his final touchdown pass of the day, connecting with freshman Shane Williams-Rhodes from 8 yards out.
Gautsche went on to score the final two touchdowns for New Mexico from 7 and 1 yards out, respectively, closing the gap 32-29.
Davie said this is a preview of what the Lobos could become.
“I really appreciate our team in the second half. I really appreciate the fight,” Davie said. “The second half shows you what this can be. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric. You could feel it. And when that atmosphere is electric and we play decent to good football, you can see the results of that. It looked like a different team.”
