The UNM football team couldn’t have asked for a better opening play, better field position to start drives or better scoring opportunities—but not having better ball protection proved to be too much to overcome.
New Mexico fell to 3-5 on the season and 1-4 in Mountain West conference play, succumbing to the Utah State Aggies 24-10.
Utah State (5-5, 3-3 MW) didn’t have to do much, especially in the first half—as the Aggies were able to sit back and watch New Mexico play the role of its own worst enemy.
The Lobos were able to drive into Aggie territory on all seven of their first-half possessions—four of which started on the Utah State side of the field. But five different UNM players coughed up the ball, three times when the team was in the red zone and it looked like the Lobos were about to score.
Head coach Bob Davie described UNM as a “hard-luck team” and said it is impossible to win a game when things go sideways the way they have recently with all the turnovers and penalties, but seemed to take ownership of the mistakes.
“You are what your record says you are,” Davie said. “And you are what those turnovers and those penalties say you are.”
He said sometimes things like turnovers go in cycles, and if the team stays together and keeps working, the cycle will turn. UNM was presented with a golden opportunity to switch that cycle against Utah State, but couldn’t capitalize.
New Mexico appeared to catch a huge break as Lobo defensive back Stanley Barnwell Jr. intercepted Jordan Love on the first offensive play of the game and returned it to the Utah State 34-yard line.
But quarterback Lamar Jordan fumbled the ball after picking up first down yardage inside the 10, and Utah State took over, avoiding having to pay for its early mistake.
It was one of three turnovers the Lobos had in the red zone, something Davie lamented as he left the press conference. UNM won several key statistical components of the game, but the head coach acknowledged none of it matters if the team is going to put the ball on the ground.
The New Mexico defense stepped up to force a couple of punts and the offense was able to flip field position and start another drive on the opponent’s side of the field, before running back Romell Jordan was dislodged from the ball while fighting for extra yards.
Then the defense got a little bit sloppy—committing a penalty when the Aggies were going to be limited to a field goal attempt. Instead Utah State decided to trot its offense back on the field to go for it on fourth down and eventually cap the drive with a touchdown to go up 7-0 at the 1:10 mark of the first quarter.
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The Lobos seemed to be on track to tie the game as they drove deep into Aggie territory, but Richard McQuarley was stood up and lost the ball at about the Utah State 10-yard line—taking potential points off the board again.
The offense got another crack at tying the game after an Aggie three-and-out, but Tyrone Owens lost the ball on a fourth down carry. He recovered the ball, but possession still changed as he failed to pick up enough yards to move the chains.
Ball security was likely a point of emphasis in practice, considering the Lobos turned the ball over seven times last week against Wyoming. Whether it was lack of technique, fighting for extra yards or just “hard-luck”—the Lobos found themselves on the wrong side of the turnover battle again.
Running back Daryl Chestnut said the fumbles were costly on Saturday, but the team is a family and players have to rally around one another.
“You get put in that position and it just happens,” he said. “It’s part of the game—fighting for extra yards, trying to make a big play.”
UNM safety Jake Rothschiller was able to get the ball back for New Mexico with a third chance to tie the game after he recovered a Utah State fumble. Instead, it led to a Jason Sanders’ field goal to cut the lead to 7-3 with 2:08 left in the half.
But two minutes and change was plenty of time for the Aggies, as the Lobo defense finally relented a big play. LaJuan Hunt broke off a 65-yard touchdown run to put Utah State on top 14-3, and the score held as the teams headed to the locker room.
Utah State tacked on a field goal to increase its lead to 17-3 early in the third quarter, but New Mexico had perhaps its best drive of the game up to that point and had a chance to slice the lead to 17-10 as Patrick Reed hauled in a pass from Jordan in the end zone.
But the wide receiver was flagged for offensive pass interference, which negated the would-be score and the Lobos walked away with no points after Sanders pushed the subsequent field goal attempt wide left.
Davie said he understood why the referee threw the flag, though the head coach saw Reed’s exchange with the defensive player as a 50-50 play—but he said those calls typically stop swinging in the favor of a hard-luck team, especially after it has made some mistakes.
UNM still had its chances though as the Lobo defense continued to mount multiple stands, forcing three consecutive Utah State three-and-outs—but more offensive miscues actually caused the defense to lose more ground during that time.
Freshman quarterback Tevaka Tuioti tried to make an ill-advised pitch after driving the Lobos into scoring position, and put the ball on the turf. The Aggies scooped up the loose ball and returned it 70 yards to essentially drive the final nail in the coffin, taking a commanding 24-3 lead with 8:56 left in the game.
The fumble was UNM’s fifth of the game—and arguably the one that cost the team the most.
It was bad enough that New Mexico failed to score any points on four trips into the red zone for the game—but allowing the opponent to get a touchdown on one of them was potentially a 14-point swing, which happened to be the final margin of victory.
Tuioti did bounce back to score on a 34-yard scamper to cut the deficit to 24-10 with 3:20 to play, but that was as close as the Lobos got.
The Aggies ran out the clock to hand UNM its fourth-consecutive defeat, its longest single-season streak since the Lobos lost the final six games of the 2012 season—Davie’s first year as the New Mexico head coach.
New Mexico now has no margin for error, as the team will have to win each of its final three contests to earn bowl eligibility.
That will be a tall order as the Lobos must travel to College Station to face Texas A&M on Saturday, Nov. 11.
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.
