For the first time since 2016, the University of New Mexico Lobo football team earned bowl game eligibility. This comes after the Lobos went on the road and defeated the University of Nevada Las Vegas Rebels 40-35 on Saturday, Nov. 1.
There was not much action early in the first quarter, but things started to pick up towards the quarter’s end. After the Lobo defense was able to force a turnover on downs, New Mexico’s offense was able to put the first points of the game on the board.
UNM strung together a drive that ended when Lobo quarterback Jack Layne found running back Damon Bankston open in the endzone for a 30-yard touchdown pass.
UNLV would end up fumbling on their next drive after a botched handoff that was swiftly recovered by UNM. The Lobos drive bled into the second quarter, and they would capitalize off of the Rebels mistake, finding the endzone again.
UNLV went three-and-out on the following possession, and on the first play of the Lobo drive Bankston took a screen pass 84-yards for a score, giving the Lobos a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
What seemed like a secure 21-0 lead for the Lobos quickly evaporated. The Rebels put their signature on the board following the Lobos score, as Rebels quarterback Anthony Colandrea found wide receiver DaeDae Reynolds for a seven-yard touchdown pass. UNM went three-and-out on their next possession — which UNLV took advantage of — scoring another touchdown.
With their lead trimmed to seven, the Lobos looked to bounce back, but instead Layne would throw a pick-six, leading to the game being knotted up at 21. With the momentum of the game shifting in the Rebels favor, the Lobos would silence the UNLV crowd in just two plays, as after a four-yard gain by Layne, he would proceed to launch a deep ball to Lobo wide receiver Keagan Johnson for a score.
Johnson led the team in receiving yards, tallying up 158 on six receptions, adding on the aforementioned touchdown to boot. When that ball goes up to Johnson, he is locked in on making big plays, he said.
“I wanna make plays for (Layne) He trusts me, he’ll throw 50-50 balls to me and I just wanna make the play” Johnson said.
UNLV would not score again in the second, and UNM would tack on a field goal just before the end of the half. The Lobos went into halftime leading 31-21.
Things came to a bit of a standstill in the second half as both teams relied on their defenses to make plays. UNM was only able to put up a field goal in third, while UNLV had a touchdown. The Lobos held onto 34-28 after three.
The fourth quarter brought on a dramatic finish to this game. After back-to-back punts by both teams, UNLV had possession of the ball while still only down by six. It would only take the Rebels seven plays to find the endzone, giving them a one point advantage over the Lobos. With just under seven minutes left to play in the game, the Lobos did not flinch.
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They responded accordingly, taking back the lead on an eight play 75-yard drive that was capped off by Lobo running back D.J. McKinney with a 13-yard touchdown run. The Lobos did go for a two point attempt to make it a seven point game, but the conversion failed.
With the Lobos up by five and looking to close out the game, their defense came through not once, but twice. The first time came on a Rebel fourth down, as with just under two minutes left to play Lobo safety Tavian Combs made a tough play on the ball, forcing a turnover on downs.
After the Lobo offense couldn’t get a first down to seal it, the Lobo defense shut down any last second antics by the Rebels to propel UNM to a win.
“Our defense has been good, we rep a lot of two minute situations in practice, and they’re good in those situations,” Lobo Head Coach Jason Eck said.
The Lobos are now 6-3 on the year, 3-2 in conference, and will enjoy this win for the whole week as they will go into a bye week. On Nov. 15, UNM will face the Colorado State University Rams at University Stadium.
Rodney Prunty is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @rprunty05
