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The UNM football team’s bowl aspirations went up in smoke on Saturday.
The Lobos lost a 28-23 heartbreaker to Wyoming at University Stadium in front of an announced crowd of 17,839.
Senior wide receiver Ty Kirk recorded his first 100-yard receiving game of the year, tallying 108 yards with a touchdown, but he said he’d rather make blocks all game and get the win.
“It hurts. Of course it hurts. But I’m still going out there these next two games and play 110 percent,” he said. “These are still my teammates and the season’s not over. We can’t make a bowl game, but these next two games we’re going to play like it’s a bowl game.”
The Lobos (4-7, 1-5 MWC) dominated the Cowboys in several statistical categories. UNM outgained Wyoming 551-429 in total yards, had 11 more first downs and led in time of possession 38:11 to 21:49.
But UNM once again allowed several big plays to Wyoming in the first half and trailed at halftime 21-7.
The Lobos’ last two games are against Nevada next Saturday and at Colorado State on Nov. 24. Junior linebacker Dallas Bollema said the team still has a lot to play for, despite not being bowl eligible.
“We’re just going to go out and finish this season how it needs to be finished. We’re playing for them (the seniors) and they’re playing for us,” he said. “We’re just going to make the best of it and enjoy the time we have left in this season.”
Down 28-23 with 6:22 left in the game and the ball at their 10-yard line, the Lobos began to march downfield. On third-and-6 from the UNM 42-yard line, junior running back Kasey Carrier ran up the gut for 4 yards, but sophomore guard LaMar Bratton received a personal foul penalty that pushed the Lobos from fourth-and-2 to fourth-and-17. UNM punted on the next play.
Head coach Bob Davie said the plan was to score the go-ahead touchdown with little or no time left in the game.
“We were going to take it down and score. That’s what we are, and we felt really good right there in that situation,” he said. “I hate to see that call made, and I think most people hate to see that call made in that situation.”
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The UNM defense came up with a stop on Wyoming’s next possession and forced a punt. The Lobos got the ball back at their own 39-yard line with 1:40 left. But freshman quarterback Cole Gautsche threw three straight incomplete passes to end the game.
Gautsche ran for a career-high 149 yards on 17 carries, and threw for a career-high 155 yards with two touchdowns on 8-15 passing.
Gautsche entered the contest with only 67 yards passing and zero touchdowns through the air.
“He’s still got some limitations. We’re not a team that’s going to drop back in a two-minute drill. He made some throws in the passing game,” Davie said.
UNM gave up touchdown throws of 81, 64 and 33 yards in the first half to Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith. On the day, Smith passed for 374 yards with four touchdowns.
Davie said big plays continue to haunt UNM’s defense.
“We continue to give up the big plays; it’s no secret,” he said. “People continue to expose us.”
The Lobos hit the end zone first, scoring on a 7-yard pass from Gautsche to junior tight end Andrew Aho.
The Cowboys answered with three scoring drives in a span of 7:11 to make it 21-7 at the half.
UNM responded with a 52-yard bomb to a wide open Kirk with 10:04 left in the third quarter. On the Lobos’ next possession, kicker Justus Adams nailed a 20-yard field goal to trim the Cowboys’ lead to four.
The Lobos gave up only 121 yards in the second half, and Bollema said the team didn’t make any halftime adjustments.
“We just had a few mental errors in the first half… in the second half everyone was a little more locked in and getting off the field when we needed to,” he said.
Wyoming pushed the lead to 28-17 thanks to Smith’s fourth and final touchdown pass from 19 yards out to a wide open Jalen Claiborne. The Lobos came back with an eight-play, 71-yard, 4:21 second drive of their own, capped by Carrier’s only touchdown of the game to cut the lead to the final score of 28-23.
