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Someone’s defense had to step up in the end.
It just so happened that the New Mexico football team’s did after a high-scoring affair that came down to who had the ball last.
There was no game-winning drive, but still plenty of drama in UNM’s first Mountain West Conference victory of the season.
UNM wide receiver Carlos Wiggins recovered Air Force’s onside kick attempt to seal a 45-37 victory at University Stadium on Friday.
“To beat a team like Air Force, you better have some toughness and you better have some discipline,” head coach Bob Davie said. “It was just what I thought it was going to be — we’re really mirror images of each other.”
The Lobos’ (3-6, 1-5 MWC) offense dominated from the start by running over, around and through the Falcons (2-8, 0-6 MWC) all night. UNM finished with 451 yards rushing on 65 attempts with a 6.9 yards per carry average.
Senior running back Kasey Carrier, who set the MWC single-game rushing record with 338 yards last season at Air Force, finished with 27 attempts for 179 rushing yards. Sophomore quarterback Cole Gautsche contributed 140 rushing yards on 20 attempts, while sophomore tailback Jhurell Pressley added 87 yards on four carries.
“It’s a big win for us,” Davie said. “Just to be able to match a team like that … it’s a heck of a win.”
The best of the theatrics occurred in the fourth quarter. Gautsche gave UNM a 42-34 lead on an 11-yard score that capped an eight-play, 76-yard drive with 10:22 left in the game. AF found the endzone to begin the fourth thanks to a 1-yard run by halfback Broam Hart.
The Falcons looked poised to answer the Lobos as they drove to UNM’s 25 yard line, but an illegal block penalty pushed them back to the 40 with a fresh set of downs. On fourth-and-24, quarterback Nate Romine was sacked for a 13-yard loss by UNM defensive end Brett Bowers.
UNM took over and promptly drove to AF’s 7 yard line, and after a timeout settled for a 24-yard field goal on fourth-and-1, pushing its advantage to 45-34 with 2:32 left. AF answered with a field goal of its own, but the onside kick was recovered by the Lobos for a 45-37 win, snapping a five-game losing streak to the Falcons.
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“I’ve played Air Force many times and they never, never go away,” Davie said.
Romine exposed UNM’s secondary early, but struggled late. He completed 15 of 23 passes for 188 yards with three scores. Running back Anthony LaCoste led AF in rushing, going for 177 yards on 21 attempts.
After a couple of weeks of trying to be a balanced offense, UNM decided to just stick to the run versus AF. The Lobos ran 55 consecutive rushes to end the game.
The win also keeps the Lobos’ slim bowl chances alive. UNM would have to win out in order to receive a bowl bid. The Lobos finish the year with Colorado State, at Fresno State then at Boise State in the regular-season finale.
Before the game, Lobo Legend Brian Urlacher gave the team a speech. Davie said Urlacher was straight to the point.
“‘Go whoop their butts,’ that’s all he said,” Davie said. “He’s simple and he doesn’t need to say much and that’s what I like about him.”
The Lobos had a 14-0 lead after the first quarter thanks to two scores from Gautsche. The Falcons outscored UNM 14-7 in the second and went into halftime down 21-14.
Romine tied the game at 21-all with a 10-yard score to Jale Robinette to begin the third quarter. Pressley then had a spectacular 61-yard touchdown run, which saw him juke several AF players on his way to pay dirt, but the point after attempt was blocked.
AF seized its first and only lead of the game when Romine found Garret Griffin in the back of the endzone for a 7-yard score and a 28-27 advantage.
