Quarterback Austin Apodaca proved he’s ready for any situation.
After sitting on the bench the entire game, Apodaca was inserted into the game to construct an 80-yard drive with just 2:14 left in the game and the Lobos trailing Hawaii 27-21. The Lobos had the opportunity to win the game after Hawaii missed a short field goal attempt that would have sealed the victory.
Apodaca came through when he hit wide receiver Dameon Gamblin for a 28-yard touchdown off a double-move for a 28-27 win over Hawaii at University Stadium on Saturday. The quarterback finished the drive 6 of 10 for 70 yards.
“I just tried to stay focused the whole game. Whether or not I got my number called I didn’t know, but I can’t control that,” Apodaca said. “But when I did, I just tried to make the most of my opportunities. I went in there in the huddle and we were all confident in our abilities and I had no doubt from the first play in the huddle that we were going to go down and score because of the look in all the guys’ eyes.”
For most of the game, it looked like UNM (4-3, 2-1 Mountain West) would suffer a letdown after making several mistakes. The Lobos hurt themselves with two turnovers —one of which was inside Hawaii’s 5-yard line — and with penalties at different moments.
UNM killed one of its own fourth quarter drives when, on fourth-and-1, quarterback Lamar Jordan was forced onto one knee to corral a low snap, but the Lobos converted the short-yardage situation. The refs didn’t see Jordan hit his knee at first but after a review it was ruled he was down.
“Honestly, my first thought right now is that we have to get better. We have to get better,” head coach Bob Davie said. “Before we talk about the good things, I think you just have to go through and see what made it so difficult for us.”
The Lobos defense had a complete turnaround in the second half. After allowing almost 300 yards of total offense to the Rainbow Warriors in the first half, UNM held Hawaii (2-5, 0-3 MW) to just 139 yards and three points.
Safety Lee Crosby stepped up in the second half by picking off two of quarterback Ikaika Woolsey’s passes, including the final throw of the game to seal UNM’s victory.
“Again, we bowed up a little bit in the second half and made some plays,” Davie said. “There wasn’t one X or O thing different.”
UNM’s offense still had trouble establishing the run as it finished with just 197 yards on 53 carries. Tailback Teriyon Gipson led the Lobos with 16 attempts for 83 yards, while running back Jhurell Pressley was second with 71 yards on 13 attempts and a touchdown.
Running back Paul Harris had a solid game for the Warriors with 125 yards on 24 attempts with two touchdowns. Woolsey finished 13 of 25 for 195 yards and a touchdown.
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Carlos Wiggins returned a first quarter kickoff 100 yards that tied the game at 7-all. That return gave him five for his career on kickoff returns for a Mountain West and school record.
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
