For a second straight season, Colorado State spoiled New Mexico’s division title aspirations, beating the Lobos to win its final game ever at Hughes Stadium, 49-31, to earn bowl game eligibility.
New Mexico head coach Bob Davie said there was a lot of energy in the stadium and the student section was “on fire” in helping to cheer the Rams to victory.
The Rams dominated play on both sides of the ball, consistently putting their playmakers in position to make an impact — and they wasted no time getting things started.
Colorado State (6-5, 4-3 MW) had just given up 485 rushing yards at Air Force last week, and had to contend with the Lobos’ No. 1 rushing attack in the nation Saturday night — but the Rams were up for the challenge.
New Mexico (7-4, 5-2 MW) ended the game with 285 yards rushing, but much of that came in the later stages after victory was well out of reach. CSU limited the Lobos to just 55 yards on the ground in the first half.
Colorado State found its running game, gashing the Lobos for 412 rushing yards. The team had three 100-yard rushers and they all had less than 15 carries.
Rams quarterback Nick Stevens was also efficient through the air. He completed 9-of-10 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns, and also found the endzone on a 14-yard run.
Two different New Mexico quarterback threw touchdowns, but that probably wasn’t the game plan going in.
During the telecast, commentators said Davie mentioned he didn’t like the chances of winning if the team had to pass more than 15 times. But the coach started the game with senior quarterback Austin Apodaca, who has shown more talent with his arm than his legs.
After falling behind 14-0, the Lobos got a break by starting near midfield on their next drive. Apodaca responded with a 24-yard touchdown pass on third down to cut the deficit in half.
The Lobos got the ball back with a chance to tie the game, but went nowhere with it. The Rams showed great discipline in defending the run-pass option and always seemed to have defenders to fill the gaps.
Perhaps the highlight of the game for New Mexico was a booming 80-yard punt off the foot of Corey Bojorquez that pinned Colorado State at its own 2-yard line, but even that was fleeting.
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The Rams drove 98 yards after that punt to score its fourth touchdown in as many possessions to take a 28-7 lead.
Lamar Jordan, who is more adept at running the triple option, entered the game and led the team to scores in its next two drives to provide some relief, but the Lobos still couldn’t get stops on defense.
“I thought Lamar came in, and (he) played pretty good,” Davie said. “But they played at a different speed than us tonight.”
The big problem for New Mexico came on the defensive side of the ball, where it was anything but disciplined. The Lobo defense looked lost for much of the game, and it was arguably their worst performance this season.
Colorado State had seven plays that went for 20 or more yards, several of which resulted in players strolling into the endzone untouched.
The Rams continued to pour it on, scoring on its first three possession of the second half to take a commanding 49-17 lead late in the third quarter.
New Mexico put up a couple of late touchdowns to make the final score look a bit closer than the game actually was.
Davie said the talent of Colorado State didn’t take his team by surprise, but a culmination of things led to their dominant performance.
“I know this — they knocked us back with bigger bodies and they made us miss with faster bodies, and that’s the reality of what that was,” the head coach said.
The Lobos could still earn a share of the Mountain Division title, but have lost the opportunity to play for the conference championship. In addition, New Mexico needs Boise State to lose its final regular season game against Air Force.
“We’ll get another test next week at about this same time to see if we’re for real or not,” Davie said.
New Mexico will host Wyoming in its regular season finale. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. at University Stadium and is expected to be broadcast on ESPN2.
Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers football and men’s and women’s tennis. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
