The first final drive of the game ended just as the opening drive did — with the Lobo football team trying to execute on fourth down.
Unfortunately for New Mexico, (3-4, 1-3 MW) neither attempt was fruitful. In the latter case, freshman quarterback Tevaka Tuioti was sacked before he was unable to send up one last desperation heave, and Colorado State walked away with a 27-24 victory.
The Rams (6-2, 4-0 MW) got a big stop on UNM’s opening drive after the Lobos elected to go for it on 4th and 3 instead of attempting what would’ve been a 49-yard field goal.
The Lobo defense started the game with back-to-back offside penalties but shored things up later in the drive and returned the favor, stopping Colorado State short of the first-down marker on its 4th and 1 run attempt.
New Mexico’s offense appeared to be clicking on the subsequent drive. Quarterback Lamar Jordan executed the option game efficiently as the Lobos converted a couple of first downs and eventually surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark after 14 straight runs to start the game.
After a holding penalty took UNM out of the red zone, Jordan connected with Patrick Reed on a 21-yard pass to move the chains again. Running back Richard McQuarley, who had a big run earlier in the drive, capped things off as he barreled his way into the end zone on a 3-yard run and the Lobos went on top 7-0.
UNM had a chance to extend the lead to 10-0 on its next drive, but kicker Jason Sanders’ attempt was wide left early in the second quarter. The Rams, perhaps realizing they were fortunate not to be down two scores, appeared to come to life after the miss.
Colorado State executed with razor-sharp precision and scored quickly on consecutive possessions to assert itself in the game and take the lead. Both drives were quick strikes as the Rams held the ball for less than four minutes on each possession.
The first drive was aided by some sloppy play on defense and multiple Lobo penalties, culminating in a 7-yard pass from Nick Stevens to Dalton Fackrell to tie the game 7-7.
Despite Jordan seemingly playing well at quarterback, head coach Bob Davie inserted Tevaka Tuioti into the game and set things in motion for the two to share time throughout the night.
After New Mexico went three-and-out and sent off a booming 78-yard punt off the foot of Corey Bojorquez, the Rams went back to work again. New Mexico had a chance to get off the field, but allowed CSU to convert a big play on 3rd and 13 and the Rams made the Lobos pay.
With 2:19 remaining in the half, Stevens threw his second touchdown pass to put Colorado State on top 14-7.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
New Mexico was able to tack on a 51-yard field goal to temporarily cut the lead to 14-10 with 1:16 remaining before the break. But instead of trailing by just four points going into the locker room, Colorado State raced down the field for another touchdown to snag a 21-10 advantage—a crucial score considering the Rams would get the ball again to start the second half.
But the Lobo defense came to play in the second half, as has been the case for much of the season, forcing Colorado State to punt on each of its first three possessions. The defense stopped CSU on the opening possession of the second half, but Davie continued to gamble hard on the offensive side of the ball.
UNM elected to go for it again on 4th and 4 from the CSU 33-yard line, in lieu of kicking a Sanders field goal that could have made it a single-possession game again. Instead, Jordan’s pass was incomplete and came away empty handed.
But after the defense held the Rams to negative yardage on their second drive of the half, Tuioti found Q’ Drennan for a deep 47-yard pass to put the Lobos in business. Running back Tyrone Owens capped the scoring drive on the next play, a 25-yard scamper for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 21-17 about midway through the third quarter.
Colorado State eventually increased the lead to seven points, getting an early fourth quarter field goal to make the score 24-17.
The UNM offense couldn’t answer, but Bojorquez and the special teams were able to pin the Rams deep with a punt that was down at the 1-yard line. The Rams narrowly avoided disaster after a holding call — which would’ve been a safety if called in the end zone — was ruled to have occurred in the regular field of play.
Still, New Mexico appeared to be in good shape after a decent return by Chris Davis Jr. on the ensuing CSU punt and the Lobos began the drive on the Ram 42-yard line. But the promising drive didn’t last long.
McQuarley fumbled on the first carry on the drive after getting upended by a defender. Colorado State was able to make use of a short field and make it a two-possession game again with a long 52-yard field goal with just over five minutes remaining in the game.
Tuioti engineered a time-consuming drive that was ugly at times and littered with flags on both teams. The Lobos had burned all their timeouts, but the quarterback managed to find Aaron Molina on fourth down from the 12-yard line for a touchdown to cap a 14-play drive and give the Lobos life, making the score 27-24 with an onside kick imminent.
The Lobos were able to recover Sanders’ onside attempt, but there was no margin for error with time dwindling down. Tuioti narrowly avoided the CSU rush and scrambled for 6 yards on first down and threw an incomplete pass on second down.
He appeared to find Drennan on a pass near the 30-yard line, but it was ruled incomplete and confirmed on a review and everything hinged on one final fourth-down play. But the rush got to Tuioti quickly and he was planted before he ever had a chance to wind up for a pass, ending the game.
"I'm proud of the way we competed. We put ourselves in a position to win it at the end. The fumble hurt, but we didn't cave in and then we got the onside kick," Davie said in a release. "I was proud of our spirit, our fight. We had some injuries. We played really hard but I'm encouraged, we're encouraged."
The loss dealt a big blow to New Mexico’s postseason aspirations considering the remaining quality opponents that are on the schedule. UNM will travel to Wyoming to face the Cowboys on Saturday, Oct. 28 for its next contest.
Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers basketball, football and tennis. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Robert_Maler.
